7 Best Free Loom Alternatives in 2026 (Tested & Compared)

Loom changed the way teams communicate asynchronously. Record your screen, get a shareable link, done. But in 2026, the honeymoon is over for many users. Loom's free plan now caps you at 25 videos with a 5-minute limit per recording, and the Business plan runs $12.50 per user per month. For freelancers, educators, and small teams, that math stops working fast.

Then there are the privacy concerns. Every Loom recording lives on their servers. If you are recording internal demos, client data, or anything sensitive, you are trusting a third party with that footage whether you intended to or not.

The good news: there are excellent free alternatives that match or beat Loom on features, privacy, or both. We tested seven of the most popular options so you do not have to. Here is what we found.

Quick Comparison: 7 Free Loom Alternatives at a Glance

Pricing and features current as of April 2026. See individual sections below for details.

1. YoRecord — Best Overall Free Loom Alternative

Free • Browser-based • No account required • All platforms

YoRecord is a completely free, browser-based screen recorder that requires zero setup. Open the page, click record, and you are capturing your screen, webcam, and audio within seconds. No downloads. No sign-ups. No credit card wall lurking behind a "free trial" button.

What sets YoRecord apart from every other tool on this list is its privacy-first architecture. Your recording never leaves your browser. There are no servers processing your video, no cloud uploads happening behind the scenes. The entire recording, editing, and export pipeline runs locally using browser APIs and WebAssembly-powered FFmpeg. If you record a confidential client call or an internal product demo, that footage stays on your machine unless you explicitly choose to share it.

Despite being browser-based, YoRecord packs editing features that rival desktop apps. The built-in editor supports zoom effects, chapter markers, trimming, and AI-powered automatic subtitles (via Groq Whisper). You get a polished MP4 file ready to share — not a raw screen dump. For a deeper look at the subtitle feature, see our guide to auto-subtitles in screen recordings.

2. OBS Studio — Best for Power Users and Streamers

Free • Open-source • Windows, Mac, Linux

OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) is the go-to tool for live streamers and power users who need granular control over every aspect of their recording setup. It supports multiple scenes, audio sources, webcam overlays, custom transitions, and plugin extensions. If you can imagine a recording configuration, OBS can probably do it.

The trade-off is complexity. OBS was designed for broadcasting, not quick screen captures. First-time users face a wall of settings: output resolution, encoder selection, bitrate, scene composition, audio mixer routing. It is a professional tool that rewards investment but punishes impatience. There is no shareable link feature — you get a local video file and handle distribution yourself.

3. ScreenPal — Best Freemium Option with Cloud Hosting

Free tier (15-min limit) • Paid from $3/mo • Web + Desktop

Formerly known as Screencast-O-Matic, ScreenPal has been in the screen recording space for years. It offers a solid free tier that includes screen and webcam recording, basic trimming, and cloud hosting for your videos. The interface is approachable, making it a reasonable middle ground between Loom's simplicity and OBS's power.

The catch is the 15-minute recording limit on the free plan. That is three times Loom's 5-minute cap but still restrictive for longer tutorials or walkthroughs. Paid plans start at $3/month (billed annually) and unlock unlimited recording, drawing tools, and better export options. It is cheaper than Loom but still not free.

4. Vimeo Record — Best for Existing Vimeo Users

Free with Vimeo account • Chrome extension

If you already have a Vimeo account, Vimeo Record is a no-brainer to try. It is a Chrome extension that records your screen and webcam, then uploads the result directly to your Vimeo library. The recording experience is clean and minimal — very Loom-like in its simplicity.

The limitation is that it ties you to the Vimeo ecosystem. Every recording goes to Vimeo's cloud, and the editing tools are basic (trimming, thumbnail selection). If you want to download a raw file or use a different hosting platform, the workflow gets cumbersome. It is also Chrome-only, so Firefox and Safari users are out of luck.

5. Screenity — Best Open-Source Chrome Extension

Free • Open-source • Chrome extension

Screenity is a free, open-source Chrome extension with a surprisingly rich feature set. It supports screen and webcam recording, on-screen annotations (drawing, text, arrows), push-to-talk, and basic editing. For a browser extension, it punches above its weight.

Being a Chrome extension means it works within Chrome's sandbox, which keeps things lightweight but limits what it can do. Longer recordings can strain memory, and the editing tools are functional but basic compared to dedicated editors. Since it is open-source, you can audit the code yourself if privacy matters to you — a meaningful advantage over closed-source alternatives.

6. ShareX — Best for Windows Power Users

Free • Open-source • Windows only

ShareX is a Swiss Army knife for screen capture on Windows. Screenshots, screen recordings, GIF creation, OCR, color picking, scrolling capture — it does everything. The screen recording feature supports region selection, audio capture, and outputs to MP4 or GIF. It also has built-in upload destinations (Imgur, Google Drive, Dropbox, custom servers) so you can share recordings with a single hotkey.

The downside is that ShareX's interface reflects its feature density: it is complex and can feel overwhelming. The settings menus are deep, and the learning curve is non-trivial. It is also Windows-only, so Mac and Linux users are out. But if you are a Windows user who wants a free, endlessly configurable capture tool, ShareX is hard to beat.

7. Awesome Screenshot — Best Screenshot-First Tool with Recording

Freemium • Chrome, Firefox, Edge extensions

Awesome Screenshot started as a screenshot annotation tool and later added screen recording. The screenshot features are genuinely excellent: full-page capture, annotation, blur, crop, and instant sharing. The recording feature is capable for quick captures with webcam and mic support.

The free plan limits recordings to 5 minutes and adds a watermark. The premium plan ($6/month) removes limits and adds cloud storage. Since recording was bolted on to an existing screenshot tool, it lacks the polish of dedicated recorders. But if you primarily need screenshots and occasionally want to record, it is a reasonable two-in-one.

Which Loom Alternative Is Right for You?

The right tool depends on what you actually need. Here is a quick decision guide based on common use cases:

Feature Comparison at a Glance

Why Are People Leaving Loom in 2026?

Loom is still a capable product, but several changes have pushed users to look elsewhere:

• Pricing increased. The Business plan costs $12.50/user/month (billed annually). For a 10-person team, that is $1,500/year for screen recording.
• Free plan restrictions. The free tier is now limited to 25 videos with a 5-minute cap per recording. Power users burn through that in days.
• Privacy concerns. Every recording is processed and stored on Loom's servers. After the Atlassian acquisition, data handling policies became a question mark for some users.
• Vendor lock-in. Exporting videos from Loom in bulk is tedious. Your content lives on their platform, and leaving means downloading each video individually.

None of this means Loom is bad. For enterprise teams that need viewer analytics, CRM integrations, and centralized admin controls, it delivers. But for freelancers, educators, startups, and anyone who values simplicity and privacy, the alternatives above are genuinely better fits. For a deeper dive into how YoRecord compares to Loom and other paid tools, check out our full screen recorder comparison.