Async video messages without Loom

An async video message replaces a meeting: you record your screen, talk through a change, and your colleague watches when it suits them. Loom made this popular, and it's still the most polished link-based way to do it. But you don't need a Loom account to work async. This guide covers three ways to send video messages without Loom, and is upfront about what you give up.

What Loom adds, and what you actually need

Loom does three things at once: it records, it hosts the video behind a link, and it tracks who watched, with comments and reactions. Its free Starter plan limits recordings to 5 minutes and 25 videos per person, at up to 720p, with a Loom watermark (loom.com/pricing, checked 14 October 2026; Layerpath, checked 7 September 2026).

For most async updates inside a team, you only need the first part plus a way to get the file to people. Your chat app or email already does the second part. The third, analytics, is genuinely useful for sales and external audiences, and much less so for "here's how I fixed the login bug".

Way 1: paste the actual video into chat

Instead of a link to a video, send the video itself. Slack, Microsoft Teams, Mail, Notion and Messages all accept video files, and your colleagues play them right there.

With Dolly (Mac), this takes no extra steps. Set After recording to Quick share in Settings, record, and press Stop. Dolly renders a 1080p MP4 in the background and puts it on your clipboard. Switch to Slack and press ⌘V: the video itself is pasted into the message. A small card shows the progress and lets you drag the file elsewhere, open it in the editor or use the macOS share sheet.

What you gain:

No upload to a third party. With Quick share the file goes from your Mac straight into the conversation; Dolly has no account, and nothing is uploaded.
No time limit, even on Dolly's free plan.
It looks better than a raw capture. Dolly zooms in on your clicks and smooths your cursor, so small UI is readable in a chat preview.

What you give up, honestly:

No link with Quick share. The video lives wherever you paste it. If you'd rather send a link, Dolly's Get link (Dolly links; up to 10 active links on Free, unlimited on Pro) gives one with views, comments and reactions.
No view counts, comments on the video or reactions when you paste the file. You'll see replies in the thread, nothing more.
Size limits are the chat app's. Slack allows files up to 1 GB (Slack help); a 1080p web MP4 of a few minutes is well under that.

The step-by-step for Slack is in how to send a screen recording in Slack.

Way 2: Slack's built-in clips

If everyone is in Slack, you can record a clip right in the message box, including your screen. Clips are up to five minutes long, available on all Slack plans, and come with captions and an optional transcript. It's the lowest-effort option, with no polish and the same 5-minute ceiling as Loom's free plan.

Record with any tool (even ⇧⌘5 on a Mac), put the file in Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or iCloud Drive, and share that link. Your company probably already pays for one of these, so there's no new account and no new bill. Drives preview video in the browser, and some show who opened a file. It takes a minute more than Loom and doesn't feel as instant, but it scales to long videos and outside viewers.

Good habits for async video

Say the point in the first ten seconds. "The login bug is fixed; here's what changed and one thing I need from you."
Keep it under three minutes when you can. Split long topics into separate videos.
Write a one-line summary next to the video. People search text, not video, and skim before they press play.
Show, don't scroll. Click on the thing you're talking about; auto zoom tools will then frame it for you.
End with the ask. What should the viewer do, and by when?

When you should use Loom anyway

You send videos to prospects or customers and need to know if they watched.
Your team wants one library of videos with folders, search and permissions.
Viewers are on phones or locked-down machines where a browser link works and a file doesn't.

For everything else, a video pasted into the thread does the job. If you want to try it, Dolly is free for Mac, with no time limit.

Sources

Loom pricing, checked 14 October 2026
Loom Free limits (5 minutes per video, 25 videos, 720p, Loom watermark) from Layerpath, checked 7 September 2026
Add files to Slack, Slack help center
Record audio and video clips in Slack, Slack help center