Loom alternatives for Mac in 2026
Five Loom alternatives for Mac, free, one-time or subscription: what each does better than Loom, what it lacks, and who it suits. Checked October 2026.
Loom runs well on a Mac. People look for an alternative for other reasons: the free plan's 5-minute and 25-video limits, per-seat pricing, wanting videos to stay on their own computer, or wanting the video to look better than a raw screen capture. This list covers five Mac options and is honest about where Loom is still the better tool.
Loom's limits and prices come from loom.com/pricing, checked on 14 October 2026: Starter is free with 25 videos per person, 5-minute recordings, up to 720p and a Loom watermark (Loom Free limits also checked at Layerpath on 7 September 2026); Business is $18 per user per month; Business + AI is $24. We make Dolly, so weigh our take on it accordingly.
At a glance
| App | Best for | Price | Hosted links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dolly | Polished videos, no time limit | Free · Pro €9.99/mo or €59/yr · Lifetime €99 once | Yes, 10 active links on Free |
| Cap | Loom-style links, open source | Free (personal) · $58 once · Pro $12/user/mo | Yes |
| Slack clips | Quick notes inside Slack | Included in Slack | Inside Slack |
| macOS ⇧⌘5 / QuickTime | A quick raw recording | Free, built in | No |
| Screen Studio | Polished videos with share links | $29 a month or $108 a year | Yes |
Prices as listed on each product's site in October 2026, before tax.
1. Dolly: free, no time limit, and it looks filmed
Dolly is a Mac screen recorder that does the camera work for you: it zooms in on your clicks and typing, redraws your cursor so it glides, and places the recording on a designed background. You can add a camera bubble (small, medium or large, round or rounded), your microphone and your Mac's sound.
Why it works as a Loom alternative:
- The free plan has no time limit and no video limit, and exports up to 1080p with a small Made with Dolly logo in the corner.
- Quick share: press Stop and a 1080p MP4 is on your clipboard. ⌘V pastes the video itself into Slack, Mail or Notion.
- Auto edit (free) cuts pauses and speeds up long typing in one click.
- Everything happens on your Mac, with no account. A video only goes online when you click Get link.
- Pro is €9.99 a month or €59 a year: no logo, 4K, GIF, unlimited links with stats, and your AI assistant can record demos through MCP. Lifetime is €99 once for everything that runs on your Mac.
What it lacks: a team workspace, and insights that name who watched. Its share links (Dolly links) are new: comments, reactions and view counts, with up to 10 active links on Free and unlimited links on Pro. It runs only on Macs with Apple silicon, and free exports carry a small "Made with Dolly" logo in the corner. More in Dolly vs Loom.
2. Cap: the closest thing to Loom, open source
Cap has an instant mode that uploads while you record, so you get a link right away, much like Loom, and a studio mode with zooms. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. The free plan covers personal use, records locally with no time limit, and makes shareable links of up to 5 minutes. A commercial desktop license is $58 once; Cap Pro is $12 per user per month for unlimited cloud sharing and team workspaces (pricing).
Pick it if you want Loom's link-first workflow without Loom.
3. Slack clips: if your team already lives in Slack
Slack can record audio and video clips, including your screen, right in a message. Clips are up to five minutes long, available on all Slack plans, with captions and an optional transcript. No extra app, no extra account. It's basic, but for a quick reply in a thread it's often enough.
4. The built-in recorder: free and already there
Press ⇧⌘5, choose the whole screen or an area, and record. There's no time limit and nothing to install. You get a plain movie file with no camera bubble, no zoom and no link. QuickTime Player can trim it, and you can float your webcam on top with a small trick, described in how to record your screen and webcam on a Mac.
5. Screen Studio: polish plus share links
Screen Studio makes polished Mac recordings with auto zoom, camera layouts and captions, and it has optional share links with comments and view counts. It costs $29 a month or $108 a year, and you need a plan to export. If you want both polish and links and the budget is fine, it's a strong pick. See Dolly vs Screen Studio.
Pick Loom if…
Be honest about why you use Loom. If it's because of any of these, stay:
- Hosted links that open instantly in a browser, with no file to download.
- Viewer analytics: who watched, how far, and reactions.
- A team workspace with a shared library, folders and permissions.
- Every platform: Loom has apps for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and a Chrome extension.
No app on this list matches all four. Cap and Dolly come closest on links and insights (Dolly's Free plan includes 10 active links); neither has a team workspace or apps on every platform.
How to choose
- You want links like Loom, but not Loom: Cap.
- Your message is short and your team is in Slack: Slack clips.
- Your video should look good, run as long as it needs, and you want to pay once or nothing: Dolly. Free Loom alternative for Mac.
- You need polish and links, and budget isn't the issue: Screen Studio.
Sources
- Loom pricing, checked 14 October 2026
- Cap pricing, checked 14 October 2026
- Loom Free limits (5 minutes per video, 25 videos, 720p, Loom watermark) from Layerpath, checked 7 September 2026
- Record audio and video clips in Slack
- Screen Studio
