4 Cheap Loom Alternative Screen Recorders (Free & Paid, Tested 2026)
ShareRec is a cheap Loom alternative with a genuinely free tier — 5-minute recordings, no watermark, a link ready the moment recording stops, Pro at $8/month ($6/month billed annually). Loom's own free tier caps recordings at 5 minutes and 25 videos per person, with Business starting at $18/user/month. Three more alternatives cover the rest of the range: OBS Studio (free forever, unlimited, no watermark), Screencastify (free tier with a watermark, Starter at $7/user/month billed annually), and Tella (no free tier, 7-day trial, Pro at $26/month or $13/month billed annually). See the full breakdown in the Quick Answer section below.
Quick Answer: Which Cheap Loom Alternative Should You Use?
- OBS Studio — Best for power users and developers who need unlimited free recording with no watermarks | Free forever
- ShareRec — Best for instant async feedback with a link ready the moment recording stops, on every tier (30-day default expiry, keep any forever in one click) | Free tier available; Pro $8/mo ($6/mo annual)
- Tella — Best for polished video presentations and storytelling for marketers and creators | No free tier, 7-day trial; Pro $26/mo ($13/mo billed annually)
- Screencastify — Best for educators and Chrome-based workflows | Free tier (watermarked); Starter $7/user/mo billed annually ($19/mo monthly)
Cheap Loom Alternative Screen Recorders: Free vs. Paid Comparison
| Tool | Free Tier | Paid Price | Watermark on Free | Recording Limit | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OBS Studio | Yes — unlimited | Free forever | No | None | Power users, streamers |
| ShareRec | Yes — keeps 25 most recent videos; 5-min cap per video; 30-day default expiry (keep any forever in 1 click) | $8/mo Pro ($6/mo annual) | No | 5 min (free) / 30 min (Pro) | Instant async feedback |
| Tella | No — 7-day trial only | $26/mo Pro ($13/mo annual) | N/A | Up to 6 hr per clip (trial & paid) | Polished video presentations |
| Screencastify | Yes — 10 videos | $19/mo Starter ($7/mo annual) | Yes | 30 min (free) / 60 min (Starter) | Educators, Chrome users |
Prices verified as of publication — check each tool's pricing page for current rates.
OBS Studio — Best Free Screen Recorder for Power Users
OBS Studio is completely free, open-source, and imposes no recording time limits or watermarks — making it the strongest truly-free Loom alternative for users who need full control. Used by millions of streamers and developers worldwide, OBS is the de facto standard for free screen recording across Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Core strengths include unlimited recording length, multi-scene switching, audio mixing with per-source volume control, and support for multiple simultaneous capture sources (screen, webcam, microphone). Every feature is available at no cost, forever. OBS outputs recordings in multiple formats including MP4, MKV, and FLV, giving you flexibility depending on where you plan to host or share the file.
The trade-off is complexity. OBS has no one-click record-and-share workflow: setup requires configuring scenes, sources, and output settings before your first recording. Expect 30–60 minutes of initial configuration. There is no built-in shareable link, no cloud hosting, and no viewer analytics — you record locally and distribute the file yourself.
A typical workflow looks like this: configure your scene once, record your walkthrough, locate the output file in your designated folder, upload it to Google Drive or Dropbox, and share the resulting link manually. It adds steps compared to Loom, but costs nothing.
OBS also has an active plugin ecosystem — extensions are available for adding virtual cameras, browser source overlays, advanced audio filters, and automated scene switching — making it extensible well beyond its default feature set for users who want more.
Best for: Developers, streamers, and power users who record frequently, need unlimited length, and are comfortable with a 30–60 minute initial setup. Not suitable for anyone who needs a shareable link in under a minute.
ShareRec — Best for Instant Recordings and Async Feedback
ShareRec generates a shareable link the moment recording stops — with no upload step — and its Pro plan runs $8/month ($6/month billed annually), less than half the cost of Loom's Business plan at $18/user/month. The free tier includes basic trim and clip editing and no watermark, with a shareable link on every recording. Videos auto-expire 30 days after recording by default — keep any one forever in one click. The free tier keeps your 25 most recent videos and caps each individual recording at 5 minutes.
After recording, ShareRec automatically generates a shareable link without requiring any manual upload step — the link is ready the moment you stop recording. Videos auto-expire in 30 days by default on every tier including Free, and you keep any video forever in one click — so a walkthrough you share today still opens weeks later, while clips you no longer need tidy themselves. A countdown shows on each video and you're emailed 3 days before anything is deleted. The link is ready to paste into Slack, email, or a project management tool right away.
A practical example: a developer recording a 2-minute bug reproduction walkthrough for a colleague can record, stop, and paste the link directly into a GitHub issue — no file management, no cloud storage setup, no account required from the recipient.
The instant record-to-link workflow is a genuine differentiator: there's no processing queue and no manual upload, and one-click keep-forever means the link never silently disappears on the recipient while everything else tidies itself after 30 days.
Free tier recordings are capped at 5 minutes per video, and the free tier retains your 25 most recent videos — older links retire as you record new ones, while Pro and Business unlock unlimited videos. There are no AI features — no transcripts, no summaries, no chapter markers. Editing is limited to trim and clip only; no annotations, drawing tools, callouts, or effects. No reactions, team workspace, shared library, or third-party integrations. Screen, webcam, and screen-plus-webcam (with a repositionable webcam bubble) are all available on every tier, including Free.
Best for: Remote teams, customer support agents, developers doing code walkthroughs, and freelancers giving client feedback who want instant recordings without a manual upload step. Not suitable for teams who need AI transcription or advanced editing.
Tella — Best for Polished Video Presentations and Storytelling
Tella is a native Mac and Windows screen recorder (plus a Chrome extension and browser recording), with a Pro plan at $26/month, or $13/month billed annually. It targets creators, marketers, and sales teams recording up to 4K video, 6 hours per clip, on every tier including the trial.
Pro adds AI-generated titles, descriptions, and video chapters, plus transcription in 106 languages. Premium, at $39/month ($19/month billed annually), removes Tella branding, adds a custom domain, shares in 4K at 60fps, and includes advanced analytics.
Tella has no ongoing free plan — every account starts with a 7-day free trial of the full Pro plan, no credit card required, with recording up to 6 hours per clip during the trial.
At $26/month billed monthly, Pro is the most expensive option in this comparison.
Best for: Product marketers, course creators, and sales teams who need recordings polished enough to share externally without additional editing. Not cost-effective for users who only need basic async walkthroughs.
Screencastify — Best for Educators and Chrome-Based Workflows
Screencastify is a Chrome or Edge extension with a Starter plan at $7/user/month billed annually ($19/month billed monthly), and its free tier carries a watermark, making it a step down from ShareRec or OBS for anything shared outside a classroom. It requires no desktop installation; the extension handles recording directly inside the browser.
The free tier caps recordings at 30 minutes, keeps up to 10 videos, and watermarks every export — the "Remove Castify Watermark" feature starts at Starter. Starter raises the recording cap to 60 minutes and removes the watermark.
MP4/audio/GIF exports and AI tools (captions, transcripts, titles) require the Pro tier at $10/user/month billed annually ($25/month billed monthly).
Chrome and Edge are the only supported browsers — no desktop app, no Firefox or Safari support, no recording outside a browser window.
Best for: Teachers, students, and anyone whose entire workflow lives inside Chrome or Edge. Starter's $7/user/month annual rate is close to the cheapest paid tier in this comparison. Not suitable for users who need a desktop app.
How to Choose the Right Cheap Loom Alternative
The fastest way to choose: answer two questions — do you need a shareable link immediately, and do you need recordings longer than 5 minutes?
If you need unlimited length and full audio/video control at no cost, OBS Studio is the answer — budget 30–60 minutes for setup.
If you're willing to pay, the decision splits by use case. Screencastify's Starter at $7/user/month billed annually is right if your workflow lives inside Chrome and you're in education. ShareRec at $8/month ($6/month billed annually) fits teams generating frequent short recordings who want a link ready the moment recording stops, with no upload step (30-day default expiry, keep any forever in one click). Tella at $26/month ($13/month billed annually) is justified only if video presentation quality is a core requirement — product demos, sales outreach, or course content where raw captures look unprofessional.
None of these tools replace Loom's full feature set. Loom's free tier (25 videos per person, 5-minute cap) remains reasonable for occasional use. The alternatives above win on price, limits, or both — but each makes trade-offs that Loom doesn't.
Is There a Microsoft Equivalent to Loom?
Microsoft offers three tools that partially cover Loom's use case — Clipchamp, Teams recording, and Microsoft Stream — but none replicate Loom's one-click async sharing workflow.
Clipchamp is built into Windows 11, free, and supports basic screen recording and editing, but generates no shareable link — you export a file. Microsoft Teams records meetings automatically with storage in SharePoint or OneDrive, but requires an active Teams subscription and is meeting-centric rather than async-first. Microsoft Stream handles enterprise video hosting and integrates with Teams and SharePoint for organized video libraries.
All three suit organizations already running Microsoft 365 better than individuals or small teams seeking a lightweight Loom replacement. For Microsoft 365 users who need async video without a new subscription, Clipchamp plus OneDrive sharing is the closest equivalent — but adds manual steps that Loom and its alternatives eliminate.
Key Takeaways
- OBS Studio is free forever with no watermarks, no limits, and no paid tier — but has no built-in shareable link.
- ShareRec Pro costs $8/mo ($6/mo annual) vs. Loom's $18/user/mo — free tier caps recordings at 5 minutes per video, keeps your 25 most recent videos, and gives a link ready the moment recording stops, with a 30-day default expiry (keep any video forever in one click) on every tier.
- Tella Pro costs $26/mo ($13/mo billed annually) — the most expensive option here; no free tier, only a 7-day trial.
- Screencastify Starter costs $7/user/mo billed annually ($19/mo monthly) — free tier caps at 30 minutes with a watermark; Chrome or Edge extension only.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there anything like Loom but free?
Yes — OBS Studio is completely free with no watermarks and no recording time limits. OBS requires initial setup and produces local files with no built-in sharing link. Screencastify's free tier caps recordings at 30 minutes but carries a watermark. ShareRec offers a free tier with a link ready the moment recording stops and no watermark, capped at 5 minutes per video and keeping your 25 most recent recordings — videos auto-expire after 30 days by default, and you keep any one forever in one click.
Can I record a Loom for free?
Yes, Loom has a free tier, but it limits you to 25 videos per person and 5 minutes per recording. Once you hit either limit, a paid plan starting at $18/user/month is required. The alternatives in this article offer more generous free tiers — OBS has no caps at all, and ShareRec gives a link the moment recording stops, with no watermark and a 5-minute cap, with a 30-day default expiry you can override by keeping any video forever in one click.
Which screen recorder is totally free?
OBS Studio is completely free with no paid tier, no watermarks, and no recording time limits. It is open-source and highly customizable, and free indefinitely — not a free trial or freemium plan with hidden limits.
What's the cheapest paid Loom alternative?
Screencastify's Starter plan starts at $7/user/month billed annually ($19/month billed monthly) — close to the lowest paid price in this comparison. ShareRec Pro is $8/month ($6/month billed annually) — cheaper on an annual basis. Tella Pro is $26/month ($13/month billed annually), the most expensive of the three. All three are cheaper than Loom's $18/user/month starting price. Screencastify is a Chrome/Edge extension; ShareRec runs entirely in the browser with no app to install; Tella has native Mac and Windows apps.
Related: Need a broader comparison beyond price? See our full Loom alternatives guide covering Vidyard, Descript, Camtasia, and more — matched by use case.
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