Qreata vs Loom: local Mac recorder or cloud video messages?
Loom sends a link people can comment on. Qreata produces a finished MP4 on your own disk. They overlap for about thirty seconds after you press record, and then the right choice depends on who watches the video and where it has to live.
7-day trial · $49 once · no subscription · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+The short answer
Pick Loom if your team records on Windows, Chrome, or phones, or needs viewers to comment and react on a hosted link: Starter is free (25 videos, 5 minutes each, 720p) and Business is $18 per user per month. Pick Qreata if you make demos and tutorials on an Apple Silicon Mac and want the recording to stay on your Mac: $49 once, no account needed to record, and Replace Take re-records a selected range. Loom has no re-record of a middle section, and every Loom recording uploads to its cloud while you record.
Choose Qreata if
The video is a finished asset you publish, and you want to own the file.
- You record on an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14 or later.
- You pay for your own tools and prefer $49 once to $216 a year per user.
- Recordings must stay on your Mac, with no upload while you record and no account.
- You want to re-record one wrong section and keep the rest of the take.
- You need microphone and system audio at separate levels in the final mix.
Choose Loom if
The video starts a conversation and the link matters more than the edit.
- Anyone on the team records on Windows, in Chrome, or on iOS or Android.
- Viewers need to comment and react on the video itself.
- You need closed captions viewers can switch on, or SRT caption files: Loom has captions on every plan in 50+ languages, with SRT download on paid plans.
- The free Starter plan covers you: 25 videos per person, up to 5 minutes each, at 720p.
- Most of your recordings are quick updates where a retake is rarely worth the time.
Side-by-side comparison
| What matters | Qreata | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Mac product demos, tutorials, and walkthroughs where one mistake should not cost the whole take.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Quick video messages a team watches, comments on, and reacts to through a link.Source: Loom screen recorder |
| Platform | macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon. No Windows, Intel, or browser version.Source: Qreata app pricing | Mac (macOS 12.3 or later, Intel or Apple Silicon), Windows 10 or later, Chrome extension, iOS, and Android.Source: Loom device compatibility |
| Price | $49 once for 3 Macs, every future update included. Team: $149 once for up to 50 Macs. No subscription.Source: Qreata app pricing | Starter $0. Business $18 and Business + AI $24 per user per month on monthly billing; annual billing saves up to 17%.Source: Loom plans and feature limits |
| Free use and refunds | Full app free for 7 days, no account needed to record. The product is in beta.Source: Qreata app pricing | Starter is free with 25 videos per person, 5 minutes each, 720p, and no video download. Business + AI has a 14-day trial.Source: Loom Starter storage limit |
| Fixing a mistake mid-recording | Replace Take: select a range on the timeline and re-record only that range, with screen, camera, and audio, or only its video or only its voice. Projects stay editable after export and hold multiple clips.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | No re-record of a middle section. Paid plans can split out the mistake and stitch in a separately recorded Loom. Live Rewind trims only from the end and only in the Chrome extension.Source: Loom Live Rewind limits |
| Editing | Non-destructive trim, split, delete, undo, and segment speed; automatic or manual zooms you can adjust or remove; word-level cuts from the transcript, with filler-word removal for English and Russian speech; removable blur regions; background and camera layout changeable after recording.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Trim, split, and stitch start on Business. Edit by transcript, filler-word and silence removal need Business + AI.Source: Loom trim, split, and stitch |
| Audio tracks | Microphone and system audio stay separate, each with its own gain and mute after recording.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Records microphone and system audio. Loom’s documentation does not describe separate audio tracks or per-source levels after recording.Source: Loom recording quality by plan |
| Transcripts and captions | Transcription runs on the Mac with no upload. Captions can be burned into the video; there is no SRT export yet.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Cloud transcripts and closed captions on every plan, in 50+ languages. SRT download is for paid plans.Source: Loom transcripts and captions |
| Export | MP4 (H.264) at 720p, 1080p, or 4K, 30 fps. No GIF, no 60 fps, and no raw-track export in the beta.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | MP4 download on paid plans only. Recordings target 30 fps; up to 4K in the desktop app on paid plans.Source: Loom video downloads |
| Sharing and storage | Files stay on your Mac; nothing uploads unless you press a button. Optional Google Drive upload, or hosted links through Qreata Cloud, a separate paid plan.Source: Qreata cloud plans | Every recording uploads to Loom’s cloud while you record; there is no local-only mode. Unlimited videos on paid plans, with comments and reactions.Source: Loom upload and security |
Prices are US list prices before tax and can change; some vendors show local currency. Where a vendor’s documentation is silent on a capability, the cell says so instead of guessing.
Qreata vs Loom pricing: 1 year and 3 years
Loom Starter is $0. Business is $18 and Business + AI is $24 per user per month on monthly billing; annual billing saves up to 17%. Qreata Personal is $49 once at the current early-bird price for 3 Macs, and Team is $149 once for up to 50 Macs.
Check which Loom plan holds the editing you need. Trim, split, and stitch start on Business. Edit by transcript, filler-word removal, and silence removal need Business + AI. Qreata’s $49 license includes word-level cuts from the transcript, a “Remove silences” button, and “Remove filler words” for English and Russian speech.
The comparison is not like for like: every paid Loom seat includes unlimited hosted videos, while Qreata uploads only when you press a button: to Google Drive, or to Qreata Cloud, a separate paid plan that needs an account. Loom’s billing moved to Atlassian and the free Creator Lite role was converted to paid Creator seats; a bill that grew after that change is a recurring complaint in public reviews.
| Plan | Year 1 | 3 years | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qreata Personal | $49 | $49 | One payment, 3 Macs |
| Loom Starter | $0 | $0 | 25 videos, 5 min each, no download |
| Loom Business, 1 user | $216 | $648 | $18 × 12 months, then × 3 |
| Loom Business + AI, 1 user | $288 | $864 | $24 × 12 months, then × 3 |
| Qreata Team | $149 | $149 | One payment, up to 50 Macs |
| Loom Business, 5 users | $1,080 | $3,240 | $18 × 5 users × 12, then × 3 |
What happens when you make a mistake mid-recording
In Qreata: you name the wrong menu at 1:40 of a 3-minute customer walkthrough. Select 1:35–1:50 on the timeline, choose Replace Take (the Rerecord tool in the editor), and say it again. You re-record 15 seconds of screen, camera, microphone, and system audio and keep the other 2:45. The project stays editable after export, so the same fix works when that menu is renamed six months later.
In Loom there is no re-record of a middle section. On paid plans you can split out the mistake and stitch in a separately recorded Loom. Live Rewind trims only from the end of a recording, and only in the Chrome extension. On the free Starter plan trim and stitch are not available, so the practical fix is to record the message again.
For a two-minute status update that is fine. For a tutorial customers will watch for months, a second full take costs more than the fix.
Where Qreata beats Loom: local files, audio, one payment
These are the reasons a solo author or a small Mac team moves demo work out of Loom.
- Local by default: Qreata records and edits on your Mac, needs no account to record, and uploads nothing unless you press a button. Every Loom recording uploads to Loom’s cloud while you record, and there is no local-only mode.
- You always get the file: Qreata exports MP4 (H.264) at 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Loom’s Starter plan has no video download; MP4 download is for paid plans.
- Recovery: Qreata writes five-second chunks with a recovery journal and restores what was saved after a crash. When an upload fails in Loom’s Mac app, the parts stay in a temporary folder and Loom’s help article directs you to send them to support.
- Audio: microphone and system audio keep separate gain and mute after recording. Loom’s documentation does not describe separate audio tracks or per-source levels after recording.
- Editing in the base price: zooms on clicks or added by hand, camera layout and background changed after recording, segment speed from 1× to 4×, word-level cuts, and silence and filler-word removal all come with the $49 license. Loom’s trim, split, and stitch start on Business.
- Cost: $49 once for 3 Macs against $216 a year for one Business user on monthly billing.
Where Loom beats Qreata
Loom is a communication product and Qreata is not trying to be one. If you need any of the following, choose Loom.
- Platforms: Mac (Intel or Apple Silicon, macOS 12.3 or later), Windows 10 or later, a Chrome extension, iOS, and Android. Qreata runs only on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later.
- Viewer feedback: comments and reactions on the video. Qreata has no viewer comments or reactions.
- Hosting: unlimited videos on paid plans, with the link available because the video uploaded while you recorded. Qreata gives you a link only after you press upload: to Google Drive, or to Qreata Cloud, a separate paid plan limited to MP4 files up to 1 GB.
- Captions: cloud transcripts and closed captions on every plan in 50+ languages, SRT download on paid plans. Qreata burns captions into the video in one fixed style, so viewers cannot switch them off, and it has no SRT export.
- A free plan: Starter costs nothing for 25 short videos. Qreata’s free period is a 7-day trial.
Who should pick neither
Three kinds of work fit a different tool better than either of these.
- Polished marketing demos that need cursor smoothing and 4K at 60 fps: Screen Studio, $108 a year on annual billing, Mac only.
- Courses with quizzes, SCORM export, and a multitrack timeline: Camtasia Essentials, $179.88 a year, Mac and Windows.
- Live streams and scene switching: OBS Studio, free on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Switching from Loom to Qreata
Qreata does not import Loom videos, comments, or permissions. Links already pasted into docs and tickets work only while the videos stay in Loom, so keep the workspace and move new demo work first. If you plan to leave a paid plan, download the MP4s you need before you do: Starter accounts cannot download video.
Questions worth asking
Is Loom free?
Yes, the Starter plan is $0. It allows 25 videos per person, up to 5 minutes each, at 720p, with no video download. Business is $18 per user per month on monthly billing.
Is Qreata a subscription?
No. Qreata Personal is $49 once for 3 Macs with future updates included. Only the optional Qreata Cloud hosting is a separate paid plan.
Does Qreata work on Windows or in a browser?
No. Qreata is a native Mac app for Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. Loom runs on Windows, Mac, Chrome, iOS, and Android.
Can I re-record part of a Loom video?
No. Loom has no re-record of a middle section. Paid plans can split out the mistake and stitch in a separately recorded Loom. In Qreata, Replace Take re-records a selected range in the same project.
Which is cheaper, Qreata or Loom?
$0 for Loom if the Starter limits are enough. For paid use, Qreata is $49 once and Loom Business is $216 a year per user on monthly billing, or $648 over three years.
Can Loom record without uploading to the cloud?
No. Every Loom recording uploads to Loom’s cloud while you record, and there is no local-only mode. Qreata keeps files on your Mac unless you choose to upload them.