A Loom alternative without a time limit
Need to record longer than Loom's free 5 minutes? Free and paid screen recorders with no time limit, what each gives up, and when Loom is still right.
Loom's free Starter plan stops every recording at five minutes. For a quick "here's the bug" message that is plenty. For a code review, an onboarding walkthrough or a product demo, it isn't. This guide lists screen recorders that let you record as long as you need, on the free plan, and says plainly what each one gives up compared with Loom.
Loom details come from loom.com/pricing and Loom's help center, checked on 14 October 2026. We make Dolly, so weigh our description of it accordingly. If you only need the background on the limit itself, read Loom's 5-minute limit, explained.
What "no time limit" really means
Almost every recorder that records to your own disk has no artificial time limit; the limit is your free space. The time limits you run into are on cloud plans, where someone else stores and streams your video. Loom Starter caps recordings at 5 minutes, with 25 videos at 720p and a Loom watermark. Cap's free plan has no limit on local recordings but caps shareable links at 5 minutes. Slack's own clips are up to five minutes long.
So the real choice is: do you need a hosted link, or is a video file fine? If a file is fine, the limit disappears.
The options
| Free time limit | Hosted link | Polish (zoom, cursor, frame) | Price to remove limits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolly (Mac) | None | Yes, 10 active links on Free | Yes, automatic | Free; Pro (€59 a year) removes the logo |
| Loom Business | None on paid plans | Yes | No | $18 per user per month |
| Cap (Mac, Windows, Linux) | None locally; links up to 5 min | Yes | Studio mode with zooms | $58 once (commercial), Pro $12/user/mo |
| macOS ⇧⌘5 / QuickTime | None | No | No | Free |
| OBS Studio | None | No | No | Free, open source |
Prices as listed on each product's site on 14 October 2026, before tax.
Dolly: long recordings that stay readable
Dolly records your Mac's screen, a window or an area, with your microphone, your Mac's sound and an optional camera bubble. There is no time limit and no video count on the free plan, and you can export up to 1080p.
Long recordings have a particular problem: the interesting part is a small button on a big screen. Dolly zooms in on your clicks and typing automatically, redraws the cursor so it glides, and puts the recording on a clean background. Auto edit, also free, cuts the pauses and speeds up long typing in one click, so a rambling take comes out tighter without you scrubbing through it.
To send it, Quick share renders a 1080p MP4 the moment you press Stop and puts it on your clipboard. Press ⌘V in Slack, Mail or Notion and the video itself is pasted. No upload, no account.
The honest gaps: Dolly's share links (Dolly links) are new, and there's no team workspace. It runs on Macs with Apple silicon only. Free exports carry a small "Made with Dolly" logo in the corner; Pro or Lifetime removes it.
Loom Business: the same Loom, no limit
If you like Loom and your team watches Loom links, upgrading is the least disruptive fix. Business is listed at $18 per user per month, Business + AI at $24, with up to 17% off yearly. It lifts the 5-minute and 25-video limits, adds uploads and downloads, and goes up to 4K.
Cap: open source, with links
Cap is open source and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. The free plan records locally with no time limit, and its shareable links go up to 5 minutes. A commercial license is $58 once, which also includes 20 cloud links a month of up to 5 minutes each; Cap Pro ($12 per user per month) adds unlimited cloud sharing. If you want Loom-style links without Loom, Cap is the closest.
The built-in recorder and OBS
Press ⇧⌘5 on a Mac to record the screen with no limit and nothing to install. You'll get a raw .mov file: no camera bubble unless you use a QuickTime trick, no zoom, no cursor polish. OBS Studio is free and can record anything for as long as you like, with scenes and overlays, but it's a streaming tool with a learning curve.
Pick Loom if…
- You need a link the second you stop, and viewers shouldn't download anything.
- You rely on comments, reactions and viewer insights to know who watched.
- Your team shares a workspace and library of videos.
- Half your team is on Windows, Chromebooks or phones.
In those cases, the time limit is a reason to upgrade Loom, not to leave it.
Pick Dolly if…
- Your videos run longer than five minutes and you're fine sending a file or a Dolly link.
- You'd like zooms and a clean cursor without editing by hand.
- You'd rather pay nothing, or once, than per seat per month.
See the free Loom alternative page for a side-by-side, or download Dolly.
Sources
- Loom pricing, checked 14 October 2026
- How long can I record?, Loom help center
- 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, Slack help center
