Loom is screen recording software for quick, shareable video messages. According to Loom's own pages, you can capture your screen, camera and audio, get a link the moment you stop recording, and add light edits and viewer comments. This guide covers what Loom documents about itself, where to verify details it does not state, how it compares with a few alternatives, and a simple test to run before you commit.
Disclosure: this article is published by the team behind Cinemak, a Mac screen recorder, so we have a commercial interest in one of the alternatives. We keep Cinemak to one short section, label its details as company claims, and recommend ordinary tools wherever they are enough.
What Loom does
According to Atlassian's Loom page, Loom works like this:
- Capture: it records screen and audio on macOS, Windows and Chrome, and records screen and voice on iOS and Android. You can choose the full screen, a single window or a custom region, and record the screen, the camera, or both.
- Instant link: after you stop, the file uploads to your Loom account and the link is copied to your clipboard, so there is no separate upload or rendering step.
- Editing: the browser editor can trim and stitch clips, add backgrounds, and add text, arrows and box overlays.
- Feedback: viewers can leave comments and emoji reactions. The App Store listing describes them as time-based.
- Accessibility and embedding: Atlassian lists closed captioning and embeds. Loom's homepage also lists transcriptions and closed captions, plus video and viewer insights.
- Mac-specific options: Atlassian says the Mac app records in 4K and runs natively on macOS 15 or later. It also lists teleprompter-style speaker notes, a one-click option to hide desktop icons, docks and menu bars, and several camera bubble shapes.
- Chrome extension: Atlassian says the extension offers basic features. For drawing, virtual backgrounds or HD recording, it points to the desktop app.
What the sources do not tell you
The official pages we reviewed do not state Loom's current plan prices, free-plan video limits, recording-length caps or storage allowances. We have not included numbers for those. Check Loom's current pricing page before you plan around a limit. Any figure you find on a third-party site should be treated as unverified until you match it to Loom's own page.
The pages also do not describe AI editing features, so this guide does not assess them.
Privacy and sharing controls
If you share recordings with customers or across teams, Loom's privacy documentation is worth reading before you record anything sensitive:
- Three access levels on every plan: Public (anyone with the link, no login needed), Open to workspace (logged-in workspace members), and Restricted (only the people you add by email).
- Defaults: the documentation says default privacy is Public unless workspace admins change it. Admins on paid plans can switch new videos to workspace-only.
- Stricter controls: the documentation lists public-link restrictions and link expiration for Enterprise and Premium (Business+AI) plans. Check which plan you are on and how your workspace is managed.
- Search: it says public Loom videos are not indexed by Google or other outside search engines, but they can be found in Atlassian search by people in your workspace.
Check your default setting before the first team recording.
When ordinary software is enough
For many teams a standard tool like Loom is all they need. If your recordings are internal updates, bug walkthroughs, quick feedback or support answers, and viewers just need a link with comments, Loom's documented capture, trim and share workflow covers it. Switching tools only pays off if you hit a specific gap, such as:
- You need a more polished look than a plain capture gives you.
- You need a different platform than the one Loom fits.
- You need stricter privacy controls than your plan offers.
- You need a different cost structure.
If none of these apply, stay put. Extra tooling or a custom production service only makes sense when polished output is a real business requirement and you would otherwise spend hours editing by hand.
Loom, OBS Studio and Cinemak compared
| Loom | OBS Studio | Cinemak | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Described purpose | Async video messages with instant sharing (Loom and Atlassian pages) | Free, open-source video recording and live streaming (Fedora package listing) | Mac screen recorder that polishes recordings automatically (company claim) |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Chrome, iOS, Android | See the OBS project for platform details | macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel (company claim) |
| Sharing | Automatic link after recording | Not covered by the sources we reviewed | Cinemak Cloud hosting: up to 3 videos on the free plan, more with Pro (company claim) |
| Editing | Trim, stitch, backgrounds, overlays | Not covered by the sources we reviewed | Auto-zoom, cursor smoothing, backgrounds, manual keyframes (company claim) |
| Cost | Free to get started; check Loom's pricing page for plans | Free and open source (license listed in the Fedora package metadata) | Free with a small watermark on exports; Pro is $9/month or $84/year, per Cinemak's terms |
The sources we reviewed do not compare these tools with each other. Treat the table as a starting point for your own test, not as a ranking.
Cinemak, briefly
Cinemak is relevant if you record on a Mac and mainly want demo videos that look edited without a manual editing pass. According to the Cinemak site (company claims, not independent measurements), it offers:
- automatic zoom that follows the action
- cursor smoothing
- custom backgrounds
- 4K / 60fps MP4 export
- iPhone recording over USB
The app is free with a small watermark on exports. Per its terms, Cinemak Pro costs $9/month or $84/year and removes the watermark and adds unlimited hosting, shareable links, viewer analytics, comments and reactions. It is Mac-only, so mixed-OS teams will need another option for Windows users.
A practical test before you choose
Run the same recording through each candidate rather than relying on feature lists. Allow about an hour in total.
- Write a 3-minute script that matches your real use, such as a product walkthrough that includes typing, scrolling and switching windows.
- Record it once in each tool on the machine your team actually uses. Include audio and, if you use it, the camera.
- Time the path to a shareable result from the moment you stop recording to the moment a colleague can watch it. Count every manual step.
- Open the result on another device and check the audio, the sharpness of on-screen text, and whether the link plays without a login.
- Check controls: try the privacy settings, confirm who can view each video, and see whether a watermark or limit appears.
- Ask a colleague for feedback through each tool's comment feature and note how easy it is for them.
- Score each tool from 1 to 5 on speed to share, output quality, editing effort, privacy controls, platform fit and reliability of upload. Pick the one that wins on the criteria you care about most.
Hypothetical example: a three-person support team might care mostly about speed to share and privacy controls, and pick Loom. A solo Mac founder making landing-page demos might weight output quality most and test Cinemak against it. Your weights will differ.
Reliability is worth testing for its own sake. Some individual App Store reviewers report upload problems on iOS. Those are single user opinions and may be outdated, but it is a good reason to record a few clips and confirm that they upload and play back reliably.
FAQ
Is Loom screen recording software free?
Loom's site says you can get it for free, and the Atlassian page links to a free sign-up. The official pages we reviewed do not state plan limits or prices, so check Loom's current pricing page for the details that matter to you.
Does Loom work on Mac and Windows?
Yes. Atlassian's page says Loom works on Mac (macOS 10.15 and above) and on Windows 10 (64-bit) and 11, with a Chrome extension for basic features and apps for iOS and Android. The Mac app's 4K recording is described as native to macOS 15 or later.
Is Loom or OBS Studio better?
They are aimed at different jobs. Loom is built around quick recording with an automatic link. OBS Studio is described in the Fedora package listing as free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Set up each tool in your own test and note how much configuration your use case needs.
Can viewers comment on a Loom video?
Yes. Loom's Apple App Store listing describes time-based comments and emoji reactions, and Atlassian's page lists comments and emojis from recipients.