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Best Open Source Alternatives to Loom in 2026

·OSSAlt Team
loomscreen-recordingasync-videoself-hostedopen-source2026

TL;DR

Loom Business is $12.50/user/month — $1,500/year for a 10-person team. The core feature (record screen + face cam → shareable link) is trivially replaceable. For self-hosted async video: Cap (the best Loom alternative, OSS) or Vdo.ninja (real-time, peer-to-peer). For straightforward screen recording without the "shareable link" workflow: OBS + Nextcloud or Shotcut. For teams wanting a hosted free tier: Clapit or Screenity (browser extension).

Key Takeaways

  • Loom cost: $12.50/user/month Business — adds up fast for teams
  • Cap: open source async video (most direct Loom alternative, self-hostable)
  • Vdo.ninja: peer-to-peer video sharing with no server required
  • OBS Studio: industry-standard free screen recorder, no subscription
  • Screenity: Chrome extension for quick recordings, exports to Drive
  • Self-hosting: your videos stay on your server, no storage limits

What Loom Does (The Features Worth Replacing)

  • One-click screen + webcam recording
  • Instant shareable link after recording
  • Viewer reactions and comments on the video
  • Basic AI transcription and summaries
  • Video trimming and editing
  • Team workspace with organization

The unique value is the instant shareable link — record, stop, get a URL. That's the workflow people pay for. Everything else is secondary.

The Alternatives

1. Cap — The Open Source Loom

Best for: Direct Loom replacement for individuals and small teams.

Cap is purpose-built as a Loom alternative — screen recording, webcam, instant sharing. It's the project closest to Loom's UX.

# Download Cap desktop app:
# https://cap.so/download

# Or self-host Cap Cloud:
git clone https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap
cd Cap

# Follow self-hosting docs:
# https://cap.so/self-hosting
# Uses S3-compatible storage for video files

Features:

  • Screen + webcam recording
  • Instant shareable link (like Loom)
  • Comments and reactions on video
  • Custom branding (self-hosted)
  • No recording length limits
  • Privacy-first: videos on your server

Self-hosting: ~$5/month VPS + S3 storage ($0.023/GB)

GitHub: CapSoftware/Cap — 8K+ stars

2. OBS Studio + Nextcloud

Best for: Teams already using Nextcloud for file storage, or power users.

OBS Studio is the gold standard for screen recording. Pair it with Nextcloud for automatic upload and shareable links.

# Install OBS Studio:
# macOS: brew install --cask obs
# Ubuntu: sudo apt install obs-studio
# Windows: https://obsproject.com

# Configure for quick recordings:
# Settings → Output → Recording Format: MP4
# Settings → Video → Base Resolution: 1920x1080
# Add Scene: Screen Capture + Webcam sources

# Auto-upload to Nextcloud with rclone:
rclone copy ~/Videos/OBS nextcloud:Videos/ --transfers=1 --auto-confirm

# Or use Nextcloud desktop client:
# Point Nextcloud sync to your OBS recording folder
# → Videos auto-upload and get shareable links

Combined workflow:

  1. Record in OBS → saved to ~/Videos/OBS
  2. Nextcloud auto-syncs → generates shareable link
  3. Share link in Slack/chat

Not as smooth as Loom but zero ongoing cost for unlimited storage.

3. Screenity (Chrome Extension)

Best for: Quick one-off recordings without installing software.

Screenity is a free Chrome extension with 1M+ users. Records screen, tab, or camera. No sign-up required.

Install: Chrome Web Store → search "Screenity"
Features:
→ Screen + webcam recording
→ Drawing tools while recording
→ Export to MP4, WebM, or GIF
→ Annotations and highlights
→ No account, no subscription
→ Export to Google Drive for sharing

For short async messages (5 minutes or less), Screenity covers 90% of Loom's use cases for free. Missing: automatic shareable link hosting — you export and share manually.

GitHub: alyssaxuu/screenity — 11K+ stars

4. Vdo.ninja (Formerly OBS.Ninja)

Best for: Real-time screen sharing without a server or subscription.

Vdo.ninja uses WebRTC peer-to-peer — no video is stored on any server. Generate a link, share your screen, the recipient watches in their browser.

# No installation needed:
1. Go to https://vdo.ninja
2. Click "Create a Room" or "Share Screen"
3. Share the generated URL
4. Recipient watches in browser, zero latency

# Self-host (optional):
git clone https://github.com/steveseguin/vdo.ninja
# Deploy as static site — no backend required!
# Signaling via Cloudflare TURN (or self-host coturn)

Vdo.ninja is different from Loom — it's synchronous (viewer watches in real-time, not async). But for "let me walk you through this right now" use cases, it's better than Loom.

GitHub: steveseguin/vdo.ninja — 3K+ stars

5. Plyr + S3 (DIY Loom)

Best for: Developer teams who want a custom solution baked into their tooling.

Build a minimal Loom replacement:

// Simple video upload + shareable link service
// Stack: Node.js + FFmpeg + S3 + Plyr

import { S3Client, PutObjectCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-s3';
import ffmpeg from 'fluent-ffmpeg';

// 1. Record with browser MediaRecorder API:
const stream = await navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia({
  video: { cursor: 'always' },
  audio: true,
});
const recorder = new MediaRecorder(stream);
const chunks: Blob[] = [];
recorder.ondataavailable = e => chunks.push(e.data);
recorder.onstop = async () => {
  const blob = new Blob(chunks, { type: 'video/webm' });
  // 2. Upload to S3:
  const key = `recordings/${Date.now()}.webm`;
  await s3.send(new PutObjectCommand({
    Bucket: 'my-recordings',
    Key: key,
    Body: Buffer.from(await blob.arrayBuffer()),
    ContentType: 'video/webm',
  }));
  // 3. Return shareable URL:
  console.log(`https://cdn.example.com/${key}`);
};

// 4. Embed with Plyr player:
// <video src="..." data-plyr-config='{ "title": "Recording" }'></video>
// <script src="https://cdn.plyr.io/3.7.8/plyr.js"></script>

S3 cost for recordings: ~$0.023/GB. 100 recordings × 100MB each = 10GB = $0.23/month.

Comparison Table

ToolShareable LinkSelf-HostedWebcamCommentsCost
Loom✅ Auto✗✅✅$12.50/user/mo
Cap✅ Auto✅✅✅$0 (self-hosted)
OBS + NextcloudManual✅✅✗$5/mo VPS
ScreenityManualN/A✅✗$0
Vdo.ninja✅ Real-time✅ optional✅✗$0

What Loom Has That OSS Doesn't (Yet)

  • AI summaries: Loom transcribes and summarizes automatically → workaround: use Whisper (OSS) for transcription + LLM for summaries
  • Deep analytics: who watched, when, how long → not in any OSS alternative
  • Loom for Sales: CRM integrations → no OSS equivalent at the same polish level

For 90% of async video use cases (team communication, bug reports, onboarding), OSS alternatives are excellent. The 10% gap is in AI-native features and sales workflows.

Whisper: Free AI Transcription for Your Videos

# Add AI transcription to any recording:
pip install openai-whisper

# Transcribe a video:
whisper recording.mp4 --model base --output_format txt

# Or use local Whisper via Ollama:
ollama pull whisper

# For self-hosted Cap: configure Whisper in settings
# → auto-transcribes all recordings

Whisper is OpenAI's transcription model — free, runs locally, matches Loom AI accuracy. Combine with Cap for a near-complete Loom replacement at near-zero cost.

Explore more open source alternatives at OSSAlt.

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