Short answer: for five creators on a yearly bill, OBS Studio costs $0 but has no hosted share link. Cap's desktop license is the cheapest paid option that still shares videos, at $29 per person a year, or $145 for five, with 20 cloud links a month. Screencastify Starter comes to $420 a year and ScreenPal Team Business to $480. Loom Business costs $900 a year on annual billing, which makes it the benchmark here.
Ten screen recorders priced for five creators over 12 months, with Loom Business as the benchmark and every figure checked on vendor pages in October 2026.
Loom's Business plan costs $18 a user a month, or $180 a user a year on annual billing. For a team of five creators, that is the benchmark bill in the table below, before any add-on. This guide prices nine alternatives against Loom for one team: five creators, each with a seat, over twelve months, billed yearly in US dollars. It sorts the tools by what that team pays, and it flags the limit that changes the answer for each one, because a cheap plan with a five-minute cap does not replace Loom.
Toolradar data: of the 110 screen recording tools we track, 78% ship a free or freemium plan, and 24 (22%) are paid only. A free tier is normal in this category, so the real question for a team is which limit it hits first: recording length, video count or sharing.
Methodology: we priced ten of the 110 tools we track, and every price is the vendor's own list price, read on its own page in October 2026 and linked under the table. Costs assume five creators, one seat each, over 12 months, at the yearly rate wherever a vendor prints one. The order follows yearly cost for that team. Our editorial method is set out on how we rate. Cite this: Toolradar, "Cheaper Loom Alternatives in 2026: Cost for Five Creators", October 2026.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
The only zero-cost option with no seat price, but it records to your disk and leaves sharing to you.
Starting price
Free, open source
4.7 (1,212 reviews)
Best for
Creators who already host videos on a company drive or their own site and need no watch page.
The cheapest paid seat that still shares links, at $145 a year for five desktop licenses.
Starting price
$29/yr per license; Pro $12/user/mo
Best for
Creators who record mostly on their own machine and share a few links each month.
Unlimited videos from a browser recorder for $420 a year across five seats, with recordings up to 60 minutes.
Starting price
$7/user/mo billed annually
4.6 (83 reviews)
Best for
Teams that already work in Chrome and want a browser-based recorder with no install.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| OBS Studio | Free, open source | 4.7 1,212 reviews | Creators who already host videos on a company drive or their own site and need no watch page. |
| Cap | $29/yr per license; Pro $12/user/mo | n/a | Creators who record mostly on their own machine and share a few links each month. |
| Screencastify | $7/user/mo billed annually | 4.6 83 reviews | Teams that already work in Chrome and want a browser-based recorder with no install. |
| ScreenPal | $8/user/mo billed annually (Team) | 4.5 240 reviews | Small teams that want one shared plan with team management and AI captions. |
| Screen Studio | $9/mo billed yearly (Mac only) | n/a | Mac creators who want cursor effects and smooth motion, and do not need a team plan. |
| Zight | $9.95/user/mo billed annually | 4.6 1,419 reviews | Creators who want unlimited recording and a few AI smart actions each month. |
| Tella | $13/user/mo billed annually | n/a | Teams that record long walkthroughs and want AI chapters, auto zoom and layout editing. |
| Loom | $180/user/yr billed annually | 4.7 2,944 reviews | Teams that already work in Slack, Jira or Confluence and want unlimited videos. |
| Vidyard | $59/mo annual; seat basis unclear | 4.3 960 reviews | Sales teams that send video messages to prospects and want to see who watches. |
| Camtasia | Publishes no USD price | 4.6 2,217 reviews | Tutorial makers who need a timeline editor, callouts and transitions more than quick messages. |
OBS Studio
The only zero-cost option with no seat price, but it records to your disk and leaves sharing to you.
- Starting price
- Free, open source
- Free plan
- Free to use
- Rating
- 4.7 (1,212 reviews)
Best for: Creators who already host videos on a company drive or their own site and need no watch page.
- Pro: Free and open source for recording and live streaming, on Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Pro: No seat price, so five creators cost $0 a year at any team size.
- Pro: No vendor cap on recording length, since there is no paid plan to upgrade.
- Con: No hosted link or watch page, so every video needs a separate host.
- Con: The download page describes recording and streaming, not hosted sharing or viewer tracking.
OBS Studio offers an incredibly generous pricing model as it is 100% free and open-source.
Cap
The cheapest paid seat that still shares links, at $145 a year for five desktop licenses.
- Starting price
- $29/yr per license; Pro $12/user/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
Best for: Creators who record mostly on their own machine and share a few links each month.
- Pro: The desktop license is billed yearly per license, or bought once for $58 and never renews.
- Pro: Unlimited local recording and editing, with commercial usage rights included.
- Pro: Includes 20 cloud shareable links a month, up to 5 minutes each.
- Con: Cloud links stop at 20 a month, and each link is capped at 5 minutes.
- Con: One user per license, so five creators need five licenses.
Cap offers a generous Free tier with unlimited recordings, which is great for basic users.
Screencastify
Unlimited videos from a browser recorder for $420 a year across five seats, with recordings up to 60 minutes.
- 4.6 on G2 (83 reviews)
- Starting price
- $7/user/mo billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (83 reviews)
Best for: Teams that already work in Chrome and want a browser-based recorder with no install.
- Pro: Starter is $7 a user a month billed annually, the lowest per-seat price in this guide for unlimited videos.
- Pro: Starter removes the 10-video cap of the free plan, so each creator can record without a count.
- Pro: It runs directly in the browser, with no download for the creator.
- Con: Starter recordings stop at 60 minutes, and Pro raises the limit to 180 minutes at $10 a user a month.
- Con: Monthly billing on Starter is $19 a user a month, so the annual term matters.
Screencastify's pricing is quite generous, especially the Free tier offering 10 videos and 30-minute recordings.
Watch out
No mention of storage limits for videos
- Starting price
- $8/user/mo billed annually (Team)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.5 (240 reviews)
Best for: Small teams that want one shared plan with team management and AI captions.
- Pro: Team Business is $8 a user a month billed annually, or $480 for five creators.
- Pro: The paid plans host and share unlimited videos, where the free plan stops at 10 hosted videos.
- Pro: Team Business includes the Max features, such as auto-captions and AI text-to-speech narration.
- Con: Team Business needs at least three creators, and it is quoted per user.
- Con: The free plan caps each recording at 15 minutes.
The free tier is also a good starting point for basic needs.
Watch out
Premier features add 100% cost
Screen Studio
A polished Mac recorder at $540 a year for five licenses on yearly billing, with no Windows version.
- Starting price
- $9/mo billed yearly (Mac only)
- Free plan
- No
Best for: Mac creators who want cursor effects and smooth motion, and do not need a team plan.
- Pro: Yearly billing is $9 a month, and monthly billing costs more than three times that.
- Pro: Every feature sits in every plan, including 4K export at 60 fps and shareable links.
- Pro: Pricing is per license with no team tier printed, so every creator costs the same.
- Con: macOS only, so Windows users cannot run it.
- Con: No free plan is listed, and the page prints no team plan.
The inclusion of 1 year of updates and support for 3 Macs adds to its appeal.
- Starting price
- $9.95/user/mo billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (1,419 reviews)
Best for: Creators who want unlimited recording and a few AI smart actions each month.
- Pro: Create removes the five-minute recording cap that the free Share plan imposes.
- Pro: Create records up to 4K, against 720p on the free plan.
- Pro: Desktop apps for Windows and Mac, plus an iOS app and a Chrome extension, are included on every plan.
- Con: Redaction and automatic transcription are not on Create, and Collaborate adds them at $12 a user a month.
- Con: GDPR, SOC 2 Type II and custom branding need the Collaborate plan.
Zight's pricing is fair, offering a generous free tier for basic needs.
- Starting price
- $13/user/mo billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
Best for: Teams that record long walkthroughs and want AI chapters, auto zoom and layout editing.
- Pro: Pro is $13 a user a month on annual billing, with unlimited videos and 106 languages of transcription.
- Pro: Each recording clip runs up to six hours on Pro.
- Pro: Premium at $19 a user a month adds a custom domain, domain restriction and removal of Tella branding.
- Con: The pricing page lists no free plan, so every creator pays from the first day.
- Con: The annual toggle carries a 50% off label, so confirm the price at checkout.
It's best for individuals and small teams who prioritize advanced editing and high-quality output over budget.
- Starting price
- $180/user/yr billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.7 (2,944 reviews)
Best for: Teams that already work in Slack, Jira or Confluence and want unlimited videos.
- Pro: Business gives unlimited videos and unlimited recording length, with Loom branding removed.
- Pro: Starter is free for up to 50 members, with 25 videos a person and five-minute recordings.
- Pro: Slack, Jira, Confluence and GitHub integrations are listed on the plan page.
- Con: Five Business seats cost the most of any priced plan here on annual billing, and $1,080 billed monthly.
- Con: Business + AI at $24 a user a month, or $240 a year, is needed for auto summaries and filler word removal.
Loom's pricing is generally fair, offering a generous free tier for basic use.
Vidyard
A sales video tool whose $59 monthly Starter price does not say whether it is per seat.
- 4.5 on G2 (832 reviews)
- 4.5 on Capterra (125 reviews)
- 2.8 on Trustpilot (3 reviews)
- Starting price
- $59/mo annual; seat basis unclear
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.3 (960 reviews)
Best for: Sales teams that send video messages to prospects and want to see who watches.
- Pro: Starter adds unlimited video recording and full video analytics over the free plan.
- Pro: The free plan covers five videos a month at no charge.
- Pro: Starter is priced per month on annual billing, and monthly billing costs more.
- Con: The page does not say whether the $59 Starter price is per user, so no five-creator total is shown.
- Con: Teams for five or more is custom priced and sold through sales.
It's best for businesses looking for a robust video platform with advanced features, provided they are willing to engage for custom pricing.
Watch out
Potential seat minimums for Starter/Teams
- Starting price
- Publishes no USD price
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.6 (2,217 reviews)
Best for: Tutorial makers who need a timeline editor, callouts and transitions more than quick messages.
- Pro: The full Camtasia Editor can be downloaded free, with every editing feature available.
- Pro: Subscriptions include companion products, such as Snagit and Audiate, on the higher plans.
- Pro: Windows and Mac versions have nearly identical features.
- Con: TechSmith's store lists euro prices and no US dollar figure, so Camtasia has no cost total here.
- Con: Individual plans are non-transferable, so each creator buys their own seat.
This structure is best for individuals or small teams needing robust screen recording and basic editing without breaking the bank.
Other Screen Recording tools worth considering
More published tools from our Screen Recording category, ordered by our category ranking. They are not part of the editorial picks above.
What a Loom alternative replaces
A Loom alternative records your screen and camera, then turns the recording into a link that a colleague or customer can open without installing anything. The tool is asynchronous video: the viewer watches when it suits them, so a five-minute walkthrough replaces a meeting. Loom is the default name in the category, and the screen recording category lists the tools that sell the same loop.
Most alternatives sell that loop with different limits. Three things change the bill more than the headline price. The first is what the price counts: a seat, a user, a license or a one-time payment. The second is what the free plan allows, usually recording length or the number of videos. The third is whether the link can be hosted, commented on and tracked, because a cheap recorder that only saves files leaves the sharing to you. Cap sells a desktop license that records without limit but caps cloud links, which is a useful middle ground. For the sales-video side of the market, see Loom vs Vidyard.
Why five seats change the answer
For one creator, Loom Business costs $180 a year on annual billing, while Cap's desktop license is the cheapest paid option here. For five creators it is a real budget line. Five Loom Business seats come to the highest bill of any priced plan here on annual billing, or $1,080 if billed monthly. The same five seats on Screencastify Starter cost less than half the Loom bill, and on ScreenPal Team Business about half.
Per-seat pricing also rewards checking the plan that includes the feature you need. Loom's Starter plan is free, but it caps each video at five minutes and each person at 25 videos. A team that records a longer product walkthrough finds that limit in the first week, which pushes the bill to the paid tier either way. Price the plan that removes the limit, not the plan with the lowest headline.
Key Features to Look For
Video count (Essential)
Loom's Starter allows 25 videos per person, and Screencastify's free plan stops at 10 videos on the account. Vidyard's free plan allows five videos a month. Count the videos each creator makes in a month before choosing the free tier.
Hosted share links (Essential)
A Loom replacement sells a link with a watch page. Cap's desktop license includes 20 cloud shareable links a month, each up to five minutes. OBS Studio includes no hosting at all, so every recording needs a separate place to live.
Platform (Important)
Screen Studio runs on macOS only, so Windows users cannot run it. Screencastify runs in the browser with no download. OBS Studio runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, so a mixed team can standardize on it.
AI editing and summaries (Nice to have)
Loom Business + AI, at $24 a user a month, adds auto summaries, filler word removal and silence removal. Zight Create includes five AI smart actions a month, and its Collaborate plan adds captions and transcription. Price these only if the team will use them each week.
What to check before you pay
Count the people who will record, not the people who will watch. Viewers are unlimited on most plans, but every creator needs a seat.
Check the recording length on the plan you priced. Five minutes on the free tier is the limit a product walkthrough hits first.
Confirm whether the price is monthly or yearly. Screencastify, Screen Studio and Loom all print a lower yearly figure next to a higher monthly one.
Check the platform before buying a Mac-only tool. Screen Studio has no Windows version, so a mixed team needs a second tool.
Read the seat terms on any individual plan. Camtasia individual subscriptions are non-transferable, so a seat cannot move to a new hire.
Evaluation Checklist
Count the creators who will record, and whether anyone only needs to watch.
Write down the longest recording each creator makes, then check the plan's recording limit.
Confirm the yearly total at checkout, because monthly and annual prices can differ by more than half.
Check whether the team needs hosted links, comments and view tracking, or only a file to upload.
Test the free tier for a week before paying, using a real product walkthrough.
Pricing Overview
Free plans
OBS Studio for unlimited local recording with no cloud sharing, or Loom's Starter plan for 25 five-minute videos per person.
$0
Lowest yearly bill for five creators
Cap's desktop license for local recording and 20 cloud links a month, with a lifetime option at $58 once per license.
$29 per license a year
Per-seat plans with hosting
Screencastify Starter, ScreenPal Team Business, Screen Studio on yearly billing, Zight Create and Tella Pro, each with unlimited or long recording and hosted sharing.
$7 to $13 per user a month, billed annually
Benchmark and team tiers
Loom Business and Loom Business + AI, for teams that want unlimited videos, unlimited recording time and the Atlassian integrations.
$18 to $24 per user a month, billed monthly
Sales-led plans
Vidyard Teams for groups of five or more, and Enterprise plans where a vendor lists one, quoted by sales.
Custom
Pricing Comparison
| Tool and plan | Entry price | Cost for five creators, 12 months | Free plan or trial | Billing basis | Limits and hidden costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free, open source | $0 | Free for all use | No billing | No hosted link; you host and share the files yourself | |
Cap Desktop | $29 per license a year | $145 a year | Free for personal use | Yearly per license, or $58 once; Cap Pro $8.16 a user a month billed annually, or $12 monthly | 20 cloud links a month, up to 5 minutes each; one user per license |
Screencastify Starter | $7 per user a month | $420 | Free: 10 videos, 30 minutes each | Billed annually; $19 a month if billed monthly | Recordings up to 60 minutes; basic editing only |
ScreenPal Team Business | $8 per user a month | $480 | Free: 15-minute recordings, 10 videos | Billed annually; three-creator minimum | Solo plans cover one person, so five creators need the team plan |
$9 a month, billed yearly | $540 for five licenses | No free plan listed | Yearly; monthly billing costs more than three times as much | macOS only; the page prints no team plan | |
Zight Create | $9.95 per user a month | $597 | Share plan free, 5-minute recordings | Billed annually | Create has unlimited recording but 5 AI smart actions a month |
Tella Pro | $13 per user a month, billed annually | $780 | No free plan listed | Annual toggle shows a 50% off label | Premium at $19 adds a custom domain and removes Tella branding |
Loom Business | $18 a user a month, or $180 a year | $900 on annual billing | Starter free: 25 videos, 5-minute recordings | Annual; $1,080 for five if billed monthly | Business + AI at $24 a user a month adds auto summaries |
Vidyard Starter | $59 a month, billed annually | No total: seat basis not stated | Free: 5 videos a month, up to 30 minutes | Annual $59; monthly $89 | Teams for five or more is custom priced |
Camtasia | No US dollar price published | Not priced | Editor free, exports watermarked | Individual plans are non-transferable | Built for timeline editing more than quick messages |
Verified in October 2026 on the vendor pages: Cap pricing, Screencastify pricing, ScreenPal plans, Screen Studio, Zight pricing, Tella pricing, Loom pricing, Vidyard pricing, OBS Studio and Camtasia's store. Costs assume five creators, one seat each, over 12 months, at the list price shown on each page.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
- ×
Budgeting at the monthly price. Screencastify charges $19 a user a month billed monthly and $7 billed annually, so the billing choice moves the bill by more than half.
- ×
Buying five Solo plans for a team. ScreenPal's own FAQ points teams to its Team Business plan instead.
- ×
Treating a lifetime license as a team price. Cap's $58 once covers one user, so five creators need five licenses.
- ×
Ignoring the platform. Screen Studio runs on macOS only, and a mixed team of Mac and Windows users needs a second tool.
Expert Tips
- →
Start from the longest recording and the number of creators, then pick the cheapest plan that removes the limit. The headline price comes second.
- →
Use a free tier to test the workflow before paying. OBS Studio and Loom's Starter are free within their limits, and that is enough for a trial week.
- →
Ask for the seat count and the billing basis in writing on any lifetime or team plan, and keep the answer with the receipt.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A low headline price with no statement of the billing basis.
-
A free plan that caps recording length below the videos your team actually makes.
-
A lifetime license with no statement of how many users it covers.
-
A Mac-only tool bought for a team that includes Windows users.
The Bottom Line
For five creators billed yearly, OBS Studio is free but leaves sharing to you, and Cap's desktop license is the cheapest paid seat. If the team needs unlimited videos with hosted sharing, Screencastify Starter and ScreenPal Team Business are the lowest per-seat options. Loom Business is the benchmark on annual billing. Confirm the billing basis and the seat terms at checkout before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest Loom alternative for five creators?
OBS Studio is $0 but has no hosted share link. The cheapest paid tool that still shares links is Cap's desktop license at $29 a person a year, or $145 for five, with 20 cloud links a month. Screencastify Starter is the cheapest per-seat plan with unlimited videos, at $420 a year for five.
How much does Loom cost?
Loom's Starter plan is free, with 25 videos per person and five-minute recordings. Business is $18 a user a month, or $180 a user a year on annual billing, which comes to $900 a year for five creators. Business + AI is $24 a user a month, or $240 a year.
Is there a free Loom alternative?
Yes. OBS Studio is free and open source, but it has no hosted sharing. Zight's Share plan is free with five-minute recordings and 1 GB of storage. ScreenPal's free plan allows 15-minute recordings and 10 hosted videos.
Is Cap a real Loom replacement?
For many teams, yes. The desktop license covers unlimited local recording and editing, plus 20 cloud links a month, up to five minutes each. A team that needs unlimited cloud sharing pays $12 a user a month for Cap Pro, or $8.16 billed annually.
Which Loom alternative has the longest recording limit?
Zight Create lists unlimited recording time from $9.95 a user a month billed annually. Tella's Pro clips run up to six hours each at $13 a user a month. Screencastify's Pro plan records up to 180 minutes at $10 a user a month.
Is Screen Studio worth the price for a team?
Only if every creator uses a Mac. Screen Studio costs $9 a month on yearly billing, and more than three times that when billed monthly. Its home page prints no team plan. Five licenses on yearly billing come to $540 a year, and Windows users cannot run the app.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Cheaper Loom Alternatives in 2026", updated October 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/cheaper-loom-alternatives
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