Loom changed how teams communicate by making async video stupidly simple. Record your screen, share a link, done. But after using it since early 2024, I've noticed some gaps that push people toward alternatives.
The pricing jumped significantly when Atlassian acquired them in late 2023. What used to be a generous free tier now caps you at 25 videos total (not per month, total). That limit hits fast if you're recording demos, bug reports, or training content regularly. The Creator plan costs $12.50/month, which isn't terrible, but alternatives offer similar features for less or more capabilities at the same price.
Then there's the editing situation. Loom's editing is basic: trim the start and end, remove filler words with AI. That's it. No cutting middle sections, no adding annotations after recording, no multi-track editing. For quick async updates, that's fine. For anything polished, you're exporting to a real video editor.
The search and organization tools drive me nuts too. Finding old videos means scrolling through thumbnails or hoping your title was descriptive enough. Folders help, but there's no tagging system, no advanced filters, nothing like what you'd expect from a tool people use to build video libraries.
That said, Loom absolutely nails the core experience. The Chrome extension makes recording frictionless, the link sharing works flawlessly, and the emoji reactions are surprisingly useful for async feedback. If those features meet your needs and you're okay with the pricing, stick with Loom. But if you need better editing, unlimited recordings, or specialized features for sales or education, there are solid alternatives worth considering.
Why Look Beyond Loom?
Loom works great until it doesn't. After months of testing screen recording alternatives, here are the real reasons people switch.
The 25-Video Wall
Loom's free plan caps you at 25 videos total. Once you hit that limit, you need to delete old content or upgrade. This is frustrating if you're building a library of bug reports, training materials, or client updates. I hit this limit in about six weeks of normal use, which felt aggressive compared to competitors offering 50-100 videos or unlimited storage with watermarks.
Other tools handle this better. Tella gives you unlimited videos with a watermark on free. ScreenRec offers unlimited recording time and cloud storage completely free. The difference in approach is stark.
Editing Limitations
Loom's editor lets you trim the beginning and end. That's basically it. The AI filler word removal is handy (it cuts "um" and "uh" automatically), but you can't remove sections from the middle, add text overlays after recording, or do any real post-production work.
For quick team updates, this is fine. For anything customer-facing or training content that needs polish, you'll export the video and edit elsewhere. Tools like VEED or Camtasia let you edit properly within the same platform, which saves the round-trip to Premiere or Final Cut.
Platform Lock-In Concerns
Loom videos live on Loom's servers. You can download them, but all the analytics, comments, and engagement data stay trapped in Loom's ecosystem. If you ever migrate to another platform or want to host videos yourself, you lose that context.
Some alternatives let you export to YouTube, Vimeo, or your own hosting with full metadata intact. The flexibility matters if you're building long-term content.
Pricing for Teams
Loom's Business plan costs $12.50/user/month (annual billing). For a 10-person team, that's $1,500/year. Alternatives like Vidyard or Guidde offer comparable features with different pricing models that might save money at scale. It depends on your team size and needs, but it's worth running the numbers.
Specialized Use Cases
Loom is general-purpose async video. If you're in sales, Vidyard's CRM integrations and analytics might serve you better. If you're creating software documentation, Guidde's automatic step detection and AI voiceovers speed up the workflow. If you want beautiful marketing videos, Screen Studio's motion graphics blow Loom away.
Loom is the Swiss Army knife. Sometimes you need a specialized tool.
What Makes a Good Alternative?
Switching screen recorders is annoying, so you want to get it right the first time. Here's what actually matters.
Recording Quality and Performance
This sounds obvious, but not all screen recorders handle high-res displays or fast motion well. If you're recording demos with lots of scrolling or animations, you need 60fps support and good compression. Loom handles this well at 1080p, but some alternatives cap at 720p or stutter on older machines.
Test your alternative with your actual workflow before committing. Record a typical demo, watch it back, and check for lag or blurriness.
Sharing and Playback Experience
Loom's magic is the instant shareable link. Record, copy link, paste in Slack. Three seconds total. Your alternative needs to match this speed, or you'll feel the friction every single time.
Also consider the viewer experience. Loom's player has emoji reactions, comments, and transcripts by default. If your team relies on these for async feedback, make sure your alternative has equivalent features.
Storage and Video Limits
How many videos can you record? How long can each video be? Where do they store (cloud vs local)? These constraints matter more than you think.
I personally prefer tools that let me record unlimited videos even if there's a watermark. I can always upgrade later when I need to remove branding. Tools that hard-cap video counts or force deletion feel restrictive.
Editing Flexibility
Decide how polished your videos need to be. Quick team updates don't need editing. Customer-facing demos or training content might need trimming, annotations, or background music.
If you need editing, get a tool that does it natively. Exporting to a separate editor doubles your workflow time.
Integration Ecosystem
Do you share videos in Slack, Notion, Google Docs? Make sure your alternative embeds properly. Loom has great embed support everywhere. Some alternatives generate basic links that don't preview nicely, which hurts adoption.
Also check for integrations with your CRM (for sales teams), LMS (for training), or project management tools (for bug reports). Loom has these, and you don't want to lose critical workflow automation.
Tella
Tella feels like what Loom would be if designers rebuilt it from scratch today. The interface is gorgeous, the editing tools are actually useful, and the free plan is surprisingly generous.
What I love about Tella: the editing happens inline. You can trim, cut sections from anywhere in the timeline, add text overlays, zoom in on specific areas, and layer multiple clips together. This is huge if you're making tutorials or product demos that need polish. Loom makes you export and edit elsewhere. Tella lets you finish everything before sharing.
The layouts are another standout feature. You can position your camera bubble anywhere, resize it dynamically, or hide it completely for pure screen recordings. Loom's camera is stuck in the corner with limited sizing options. This flexibility matters for creating professional-looking content.
Free tier gives you unlimited videos with a Tella watermark. That's way more generous than Loom's 25-video cap. The watermark is small and unobtrusive, so you can use the free version for internal team stuff indefinitely. Paid plans start at $19/month, which is more than Loom but includes all the editing features and removes branding.
Where Tella falls short: it's newer, so the integrations aren't as deep as Loom. Sharing works fine (you get a link), but the embed experience in tools like Notion or Confluence isn't as smooth. Also, the mobile apps feel less polished than Loom's. If you record a lot from your phone, that might matter.
Bottom line: if you need better editing and prettier videos, Tella is hard to beat. If you need the most mature ecosystem and integrations, Loom still edges ahead.
VEED
VEED started as a video editing platform and added screen recording later. That DNA shows, in a good way. The editor is powerful enough for real production work.
The workflow is different from Loom. You record your screen (or upload existing video), then edit in VEED's timeline editor. You get multiple tracks for video, audio, text, and graphics. Add subtitles with one click (auto-generated and surprisingly accurate), insert B-roll footage, apply filters, whatever you need. This is overkill for async team updates but perfect for marketing videos, tutorials, or anything customer-facing.
VEED's subtitle feature is genuinely impressive. It auto-generates captions, lets you edit them inline, and styles them with templates (think TikTok-style animated text). Loom has transcripts but not stylized captions burned into the video. For social media content or accessibility, VEED wins easily.
The collaboration features are solid too. You can share projects with team members, leave timestamped comments, and review edits together. This works better than Loom if you're producing content collaboratively rather than just recording quick updates.
Pricing is complicated. Free tier gives you basic features with a watermark and limits exports to 720p. The Basic plan costs $18/month (not cheap), but you get 1080p exports, no watermark, and 10GB storage. For comparison, Loom charges less but doesn't include editing tools.
Where VEED struggles: it's slower. Recording is fine, but editing takes time because you have so many options. If you just need quick async video, Loom's simplicity beats VEED's flexibility. But if you're making polished content, VEED saves you from exporting to Premiere.
Use VEED if your videos need production value. Stick with Loom if you value speed over polish.
ScreenRec
ScreenRec is the best-kept secret in screen recording. It's completely free, offers unlimited recording time and cloud storage, and the performance is shockingly good.
Here's how it works: you install the lightweight app (Windows, Mac, Linux all supported), hit a hotkey to start recording, and your video automatically uploads to ScreenRec's servers when you stop. You get a shareable link instantly. No account required for viewers, no video limits, no storage caps. Actually free, not freemium.
The catch? It's bare-bones. No editing tools beyond trimming. No fancy player features like emoji reactions or comments. No integrations with Slack or Notion. Just pure screen recording and sharing. Think of it as Loom stripped down to the absolute essentials.
What's wild is the performance. ScreenRec uses less system resources than Loom or any alternative I've tested. I can record 4K video on an older laptop without dropped frames. The file sizes are tiny too, thanks to aggressive compression that somehow doesn't destroy quality.
The privacy angle is interesting. ScreenRec is built by a small team focused on data security. Videos are encrypted during upload and storage. They don't track viewer analytics like Loom does, which might be a pro or con depending on your needs. For internal IT teams or anyone handling sensitive information, the privacy-first approach matters.
Where ScreenRec obviously falls short: no editing, no team features, no integrations, minimal analytics. If you need any of those, look elsewhere. But if you just need to record your screen and send someone a link, ScreenRec does it better than tools charging $10-20/month.
I keep ScreenRec installed alongside other tools because it's perfect for quick throwaway recordings. Bug reports, quick demos, explaining something to a colleague. For anything more polished, I use Tella or VEED.
Vidyard
Vidyard is what you use when video is central to your sales or marketing workflow. It's built for teams who send hundreds of personalized videos to prospects and need deep analytics on engagement.
The core recording experience is solid, similar to Loom. Chrome extension, instant sharing, all that. Where Vidyard separates itself is what happens after you share. You get detailed analytics: who watched, how long they watched, which parts they rewatched, whether they clicked any CTAs in the video. For sales teams, this data is gold. You know if your prospect watched your demo before following up.
Vidyard integrates deeply with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRMs. Record a video, send it in a sales email, and the watch data flows back into the contact record automatically. Loom has CRM integrations too, but they feel basic compared to Vidyard's native support.
The free tier is generous for individual users: unlimited videos, but you're limited on storage and advanced features. Paid plans start at $19/month for individuals or $300/year for teams, which is steep compared to Loom. But if video is core to your sales process, the ROI is there.
One feature I appreciate: CTAs and forms embedded in videos. You can add a calendar booking link, contact form, or custom button at any point in the video. Viewers click without leaving the player. This turns videos into actual conversion tools instead of just content.
Where Vidyard feels heavy: it's overkill if you're not in sales or marketing. The interface has way more options than casual users need. And honestly, the player isn't as clean as Loom's. It works fine, but Loom's simplicity feels more polished for internal team communication.
Go with Vidyard if you're in sales, customer success, or marketing and need analytics. Stick with Loom for general team collaboration.
Snagit
Snagit has been around forever (TechSmith launched it in 1990), and it shows in both good and frustrating ways. It's incredibly mature and stable, but the UX feels dated compared to modern tools.
Snagit's strength is combining screenshots and screen recording in one tool. You can capture stills, annotate them with arrows and text, then record a quick video to explain further. For documentation workflows, this combo saves switching between tools. Loom only does video, so you need a separate screenshot app.
The editing tools are solid for quick work. Trim videos, add callouts, blur sensitive information, adjust audio levels. It's not as powerful as Camtasia (TechSmith's pro editor), but it's way more than Loom offers. The annotations look professional too: clean arrows, text boxes, and blur effects that don't feel clipart-y.
One thing I genuinely appreciate: everything stays local. Snagit doesn't require cloud accounts or force uploads. Record a video, save it to your drive, share it however you want. For teams with security requirements or people who just don't trust cloud storage, this matters.
The downside is sharing. Loom gives you an instant link. Snagit makes you manually upload videos to Screencast.com (TechSmith's hosting), which adds friction. You can skip this and just attach the file to emails or upload to your own hosting, but then you lose the easy sharing experience.
Pricing is a one-time purchase around $62.99, which is reasonable if you use it regularly. No subscription means no recurring costs, though updates cost money after a year or so. Compare that to Loom's $12.50/month ongoing, and Snagit pays for itself in six months.
Use Snagit if you need screenshots plus video in one tool and prefer local storage. Skip it if instant link sharing is critical to your workflow.
Camtasia
Camtasia is the big brother to Snagit, built for serious video production. If Loom is a smartphone camera, Camtasia is a cinema camera with a full editing suite.
The recording is straightforward: capture screen, webcam, or both, with high quality up to 4K. But the real power is in post-production. Camtasia's editor rivals entry-level versions of Premiere or Final Cut. Multi-track timeline, transitions, animations, green screen effects, audio mixing, the works. You can create professional training videos, product demos, or YouTube content without leaving the app.
Templates and assets are a huge time-saver. Camtasia includes intro/outro templates, lower thirds, background music, and motion graphics. Drag and drop them into your project, customize the text, and you've got polished branding without hiring a designer. Loom offers none of this.
The quiz and interactivity features are unique. You can add multiple-choice questions at any point in the video, and viewers answer to continue. Perfect for training content where you need to verify comprehension. The analytics show who answered what, which is valuable for corporate training or education.
Obvious downside: complexity and price. Camtasia costs around $179.99 for a perpetual license (one-time payment, free updates for a year). That's 14 months of Loom Creator, but Camtasia doesn't include hosting or easy sharing. You'll export videos and upload them to YouTube, Vimeo, or your LMS.
The learning curve is real too. Loom takes five minutes to master. Camtasia takes hours to explore all the features and days to get truly efficient. If you're making one-off videos, this is overkill. If you're producing training content or marketing videos regularly, the investment makes sense.
Use Camtasia if you're creating polished, professional video content. Stick with Loom for quick async communication.
Cap
Cap is the new kid trying to rethink screen recording for the AI era. It's Mac-only (for now) and focused on making beautiful shareable videos with minimal effort.
Cap's hook is automatic zooming and highlighting. As you record, the app detects mouse clicks and important actions, then applies smooth zoom effects during playback. This makes your recordings feel professionally edited without any manual work. Loom doesn't do this at all, which makes Cap videos immediately more engaging.
The instant sharing works well. Record, stop, and Cap uploads to their cloud automatically. You get a link to share, and the viewer gets a clean player with your video. No account required for viewers, similar to Loom.
What's interesting is Cap is open-source. The code is on GitHub, which means transparency about privacy and the ability to self-host if you want. For privacy-conscious users or enterprises with strict data requirements, this is compelling. Loom is entirely closed-source and cloud-dependent.
The free tier gives you unlimited recordings with a small Cap watermark. Paid plans remove branding and add team features, but pricing isn't fully public yet since they're still in early development.
The problems: Mac-only (Windows and web versions are on the roadmap but not ready). The feature set is limited compared to mature tools: basic editing only, no integrations yet, minimal analytics. It's early days for Cap, which means rapid improvements but also bugs and missing features.
I'm watching Cap closely because the automatic editing is genuinely clever, and the open-source angle differentiates it from every competitor. But right now, it's not ready to replace Loom for most teams. Give it another year of development.
Try Cap if you're on Mac and want beautiful videos with minimal effort. Wait for platform expansion if you need cross-platform support.
Guidde
Guidde specializes in creating software documentation and step-by-step guides. It's less about async communication (Loom's strength) and more about building help center content at scale.
The magic is in the automation. Start a recording, click through your app or website, and Guidde automatically detects each step. Stop recording, and Guidde generates a written guide with screenshots and descriptions for each action. You can turn this into video with AI voiceovers in multiple languages or keep it as a text-based tutorial. This workflow is 10x faster than manually screenshotting and writing instructions.
The AI voiceover quality is surprisingly good. You can choose from different voices and languages, and it narrates your guide automatically based on the detected steps. For creating localized documentation or training content, this saves massive time compared to recording your own voice in multiple languages.
Guidde integrates with tools like Zendesk, Intercom, and Salesforce Knowledge. Record a guide, publish it directly to your help center or knowledge base. For support teams creating documentation, this tight integration eliminates copy-paste workflows.
Where Guidde feels limiting: it's purpose-built for documentation, so it's not great for general async video. No emoji reactions, no informal team updates, none of Loom's collaboration features. The videos feel instructional (because they are), not conversational.
Pricing starts free for individuals with limited guides, then scales to $16/user/month for teams. That's more than Loom, but the time savings on documentation might justify it if you're creating lots of help content.
Use Guidde if you're building software documentation, training materials, or help center content. Use Loom for general team communication.
Screen Studio
Screen Studio makes screen recordings that look like they were edited by a professional motion designer. It's Mac-only and unapologetically focused on creating gorgeous marketing videos.
The standout feature is automatic camera motion. Screen Studio tracks your mouse and cursor actions, then applies smooth zoom, pan, and focus effects that highlight what you're doing. The result looks hand-animated but requires zero manual keyframing. I've used this for product demos, and people consistently ask what editor I used. The answer: none. Screen Studio does it all in real-time.
The backgrounds and layouts are another level. You can replace your screen background, add device frames (make your screen look like it's on a MacBook or iPhone), and customize the camera bubble position with precision. Loom's camera is just a circle in the corner. Screen Studio lets you create branded, polished content.
Exporting is straightforward: high-quality MP4 or MOV files ready for YouTube, Twitter, landing pages, wherever. Screen Studio doesn't do hosting or shareable links like Loom. You record, export, and upload the file yourself. This is a different workflow: less about quick async sharing, more about creating finished content.
The pricing reflects the focus: $89 one-time purchase for lifetime access. No subscription, no recurring fees. That's less than a year of Loom and you own it forever. Updates are included, though major version upgrades might cost extra eventually.
Limitations: Mac-only, no collaboration features, no hosting, no analytics. Screen Studio is a local recording and editing tool, not a platform. If you need Loom's ecosystem features, this won't replace it.
Use Screen Studio for marketing videos, product demos, social media content, anything where visual polish matters. Stick with Loom for team collaboration and quick async updates.
How to Switch from Loom
Switching away from Loom is pretty straightforward since most alternatives handle similar use cases. Here's what actually works.
Download Your Existing Videos First
Before changing tools, download all your important Loom videos locally. Go to your library, click each video, and use the download option. This gives you MP4 files you can re-upload to your new platform or keep as backups. Loom doesn't have bulk export, so this is tedious if you have dozens of videos. Set aside time.
Don't skip this. I've seen people switch tools and lose access to old Loom videos when their subscription lapsed. Your future self will thank you for having local copies.
Test Recording Workflows Before Committing
Every tool feels different. Loom's hotkey might be Shift+Cmd+R, but your new tool might use something else. The camera positioning, microphone selection, and countdown timers all vary. Spend an hour recording test videos in your alternative to build muscle memory before switching for real work.
Also test the viewer experience. Send a test video to a colleague or friend and ask how it looks on their end. Some alternatives have clunkier players or require account creation to view, which might hurt adoption.
Update Your Sharing Workflows
If you have Slack workflows, email templates, or project management automations that reference Loom, update them for your new tool. This seems obvious but it's easy to forget until you're in the middle of work and the old integration breaks.
Check if your new tool has browser extensions, Slack apps, or API access that matches what you were using with Loom. Not all alternatives have the same integration ecosystem.
Migrate Existing Links Gradually
If you've shared Loom videos in documentation, help centers, or evergreen content, you'll need to replace those links. Don't do this all at once. Prioritize high-traffic pages or critical documentation first, then chip away at older content over time.
Some teams keep their Loom subscription active on a downgraded plan just to maintain old video links. Annoying, but sometimes easier than re-recording everything.
Communicate the Change to Your Team
If your whole team used Loom, tell them what's changing and why. Share a quick guide or video (recorded in the new tool, obviously) showing how to use it. People resist change when they don't understand the reason or don't know how to adapt.
From experience, the biggest friction isn't the tool itself, it's getting everyone to remember to use the new hotkey instead of the old one.
Which Loom Alternative Should You Choose?
Honestly? It depends what you hated about Loom and what you need instead.
If Loom's 25-video limit killed you: ScreenRec (completely free, unlimited) or Tella (unlimited with watermark) solve this immediately. Both let you record as much as you want without constant deletion.
If you need better editing: Tella for inline editing on quick videos, VEED for more advanced production work, Camtasia if you're making serious training content. All of these beat Loom's trim-only editor.
If you're in sales or marketing: Vidyard wins on analytics and CRM integration. The engagement data and personalization features justify the higher price if video is core to your revenue process.
If you want beautiful marketing videos: Screen Studio makes recordings that look professionally produced with zero manual editing. Worth every penny of the one-time $89 purchase.
If you're building documentation: Guidde automates the tedious parts of creating help articles and training guides. The AI voiceovers and automatic step detection save absurd amounts of time.
If you want simple and cheap: ScreenRec is completely free forever. Snagit is a one-time $62.99 purchase. Both work great if you just need basic recording without ongoing costs.
The truth is, most alternatives do the core job (record screen, share link) about as well as Loom. The differences are in editing power, pricing models, specialized features, and ecosystem integrations. Figure out which of those matters most to you, then pick accordingly.
One last thing: you don't have to choose just one. I keep ScreenRec for quick throwaway recordings, Tella for polished demos, and Screen Studio for marketing content. Each tool has its place, and switching between them takes seconds.