Loom was the category-defining async video tool. Quick screen recordings, shareable links, comment threads, emoji reactions — it made async video communication feel effortless. Then Atlassian acquired it in 2023, prices went up, free limits came down, and a lot of teams started looking around.
Loom's free plan now caps at 25 videos total (not per month — total). Pro is $15/user/month. For teams doing heavy async video communication, that's a meaningful cost. And for individuals or small teams, the 25-video cap is reached embarrassingly fast.
Here are five genuine alternatives worth considering in 2026.
1. Tella — Best for Polished Video Presentations
Price: Free (limited) / $19/mo (Pro) / $49/mo (Business)
Free limit: 5 videos, up to 5 minutes each
Best for: Sales teams, educators, anyone who wants studio-quality async video
Tella's differentiator is production quality. While Loom records screen + webcam in a straightforward split layout, Tella offers:
- ▸Backgrounds and layouts: Choose from multiple webcam layouts — bubble, side-by-side, spotlight, with custom background options
- ▸Teleprompter: Scroll your script while recording, which is genuinely useful for instructional videos or sales demos
- ▸Chapters: Add chapter markers so viewers can jump to specific sections in long recordings
- ▸Trim and cut editor: Remove filler sections without re-recording
- ▸Custom branding: Pro and Business plans allow custom domain, logo, and brand colors on the share page
Tella's free plan is more restrictive than Loom's (5 videos vs 25), but the Pro plan at $19/mo gives unlimited videos with all editing features. For teams that care about presentation quality, sales, marketing, customer success. Tella's output looks significantly more polished than Loom's.
Downside: The free plan is genuinely limited. Tella is a paid product for regular use.
2. Screencastify. Best Free Chrome-Based Option
Price: Free (unlimited 5-min videos) / $49/year (Basic) / $99/year (Enterprise)
Free limit: Unlimited recordings, but max 5 minutes per video
Best for: Teachers, support teams, anyone who wants unlimited short recordings
Screencastify runs entirely as a Chrome extension, no desktop app, no download. The free plan is remarkably generous: unlimited recordings with no video count cap, just a 5-minute length limit per video.
For most async use cases, quick walkthroughs, bug reports, support responses, team updates. 5 minutes is sufficient. The recordings save automatically to Google Drive, which makes sharing via Google Workspace smooth.
Screencastify's paid plan ($49/year per user) removes the time limit and adds a video editor, quiz/engagement features (useful for education), and mp4 export.
Key difference from Loom: Screencastify's free plan doesn't cap video count, just length. If you're making lots of short recordings, this is a better free option than Loom's 25-video limit.
Downside: Chrome-only. No Firefox, Safari, or desktop recording outside a browser. Not ideal for recording content outside the browser.
3. Veed.io. Best for Video Editing Alongside Recording
Price: Free / $18/mo (Basic) / $30/mo (Pro) / $59/mo (Business)
Free limit: 10-minute max video length, Veed watermark on exports
Best for: Content creators who want to record and edit in one tool
Veed.io is primarily a video editor that added screen recording. That origin shows in what it does well: if you want to record something, then add subtitles, trim sections, add text overlays, or apply background blur, Veed handles the whole workflow in-browser without needing a separate editing app.
The auto-subtitle feature is Veed's killer feature. Paste a Loom-style recording into Veed, click "Auto Subtitle", and get accurate captions in minutes. This alone is worth the tool for anyone posting content publicly or making videos accessible.
Veed's free plan adds a watermark to exported videos, noticeable and difficult to recommend for professional use. Basic at $18/mo removes the watermark and is the practical entry point.
Key difference from Loom: Veed is a recording + editing tool. Loom is recording + async collaboration (comments, reactions, CTAs). Veed is better if you need polished edited output; Loom is better for quick async communication.
Downside: The watermark on the free plan makes it impractical for professional use without paying.
4. Cap. Best Open-Source Loom Alternative
Price: Free (open source) / $9/mo (Cap Pro)
Free limit: Unlimited, fully open source
Best for: Privacy-conscious teams, developers, anyone who wants to self-host
Cap is the open-source answer to Loom. It's built to look and feel like Loom, quick screen + webcam recording, shareable links, a clean viewer, but the source code is public on GitHub and you can self-host the backend if you want full control over where your videos live.
Cap Pro at $9/mo adds cloud hosting, custom domains, and password-protected sharing. The free version stores videos locally and generates shareable links via Cap's cloud with some limitations.
For engineering teams that want a Loom-style tool without sending recordings to Atlassian's servers, or for teams subject to data residency requirements. Cap's self-hosting option is a genuine differentiator.
Key difference from Loom: Open source and self-hostable. Loom is fully proprietary. For privacy-sensitive content (customer demos, internal strategy), Cap gives you control Loom can't.
Downside: Less polished than Loom. The viewer and editor are functional but not as refined. The community is smaller, meaning fewer integrations.
5. CleanShot X. Best for Mac Users Who Need Screenshots Too
Price: $29 one-time / $8/yr for cloud hosting upgrades
Free limit: N/A (paid only, but one-time purchase)
Best for: Mac power users who want screenshots and screen recording in one tool
CleanShot X is Mac-only and takes a different approach: it's a screenshot and recording tool designed for power users, with a one-time purchase model rather than monthly subscription.
For async communication, CleanShot X excels at:
- ▸Annotated screenshots: Arrows, highlights, blur, text, all in the capture tool
- ▸GIF recording: Record short interactions as GIFs for bug reports or quick demos
- ▸Screen recording with audio: Up to 2 hours, saved locally
- ▸CleanShot Cloud: Share with a single link (included free, ~1GB/mo storage)
- ▸Scrolling capture: Capture full web pages or long documents in one screenshot
At $29 one-time for the app, it's a different pricing model than Loom's monthly subscription. Teams that do heavy screenshot and short recording work (QA testers, support agents, designers giving feedback) find it pays back quickly.
Key difference from Loom: CleanShot X is a Mac productivity tool that happens to do recording, not a dedicated async video platform. No viewer with comments or reactions. Great for capture; limited for async communication features.
Downside: Mac only. No cloud-based viewer with Loom-style comments, emoji reactions, or team analytics.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Tool | Free Videos | Max Length (Free) | Paid From | Standout Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loom | 25 total | 5 min | $15/user/mo | The strongest async collaboration |
| Tella | 5 total | 5 min | $19/mo | Polished layouts, teleprompter |
| Screencastify | Unlimited | 5 min | $49/year | Unlimited free short recordings |
| Veed.io | Limited | 10 min | $18/mo | Built-in editor + auto-subtitles |
| Cap | Unlimited | Unlimited | $9/mo (cloud) | Open source, self-hostable |
| CleanShot X | N/A | 2 hours | $29 one-time | Screenshots + recording, Mac |
How to Choose
- ▸Just want unlimited free short recordings? → Screencastify
- ▸Want a polished, studio-quality look? → Tella
- ▸Need to edit videos after recording? → Veed.io
- ▸Privacy-conscious or want self-hosting? → Cap
- ▸Mac user who also needs screenshot tools? → CleanShot X
- ▸Still want Loom's async features and integrations? → Stick with Loom free (25 videos is enough for occasional use) or pay for Pro
Bottom Line
Loom at $15/user/month is hard to justify for teams that primarily use it for quick internal communication, especially when Screencastify handles unlimited short recordings free.
For sales and customer-facing videos, Tella's production quality justifies the $19/mo cost if professional presentation matters. For teams building content or tutorials, Veed.io's editing features add value that Loom doesn't have.
The honest reality: Loom is still the best designed async video tool. The comments, reactions, viewer analytics, and Slack/Notion integrations are genuinely excellent. If your team uses those features heavily, Loom Pro at $15/user is probably worth it. If you're using Loom as a simple screen recorder and sharing tool, you're overpaying, and Screencastify or Cap will do the job for free.