Screen Studio vs Loom: polished demos or quick team videos?
These two get compared because both start with a record button. After that they go different ways: Screen Studio makes a recording look produced, and Loom gets a recording in front of colleagues with a link.
7-day trial · $49 once · no subscription · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+The short answer
Pick Screen Studio ($108 a year on annual billing, Mac only) for product demos and social clips you publish: it adds automatic zooms and cursor smoothing, generates captions on the Mac, and exports up to 4K at 60 fps. Pick Loom (free Starter plan, Business at $18 per user per month) for quick messages that a mixed Mac and Windows team watches and comments on through a link. Neither can re-record a section in the middle of a take.
Choose Screen Studio if
The video goes on a landing page, a launch post, or a social feed.
- Everyone who records has a Mac running macOS 13.1 or later.
- You want automatic zooms, cursor smoothing, and vertical or square output.
- You need 4K at 60 fps or GIF export.
- You also record an iPhone or iPad over USB.
- You can accept a subscription: $108 a year, or $29 month to month.
Choose Loom if
The video replaces a meeting or a long message.
- People record on Windows, in Chrome, or on phones as well as on Macs.
- Viewers should comment and react on the video.
- You want to start free: 25 videos per person, up to 5 minutes each, at 720p.
- You need captions in 50+ languages on every plan.
- Thirty frames per second is enough, and cloud storage of every recording is acceptable.
Side-by-side comparison
| What matters | Screen Studio | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Polished Mac demos and social clips with automatic zoom and cursor smoothing; also records iPhone and iPad over USB.Source: Screen Studio product and pricing | Quick video messages a team watches, comments on, and reacts to through a link.Source: Loom screen recorder |
| Platform | macOS 13.1 or later; Apple Silicon recommended, Intel build available. No Windows.Source: Screen Studio system requirements | Mac (macOS 12.3 or later, Intel or Apple Silicon), Windows 10 or later, Chrome extension, iOS, and Android.Source: Loom device compatibility |
| Price | Subscription only: $29 per month, or $9 per month billed yearly ($108 a year). One-time licenses are no longer sold. Students and educators get 40% off.Source: Screen Studio product and 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 | Every feature is free to use except exporting video. The terms state that fees are non-refundable.Source: Screen Studio download and free use | 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 | Cut the mistake out. A project holds one recording: “Multi-clip recordings” is listed as Planned on the roadmap, and the docs describe no re-record command.Source: Screen Studio public roadmap | 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 | Automatic and manual zooms, cursor smoothing, cuts anywhere on the timeline, speed-up, masks, camera layouts, vertical and square output.Source: Screen Studio zoom editing | 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 | Volume is set for the whole recording or for a selected section. Camera, microphone, and screen can be extracted as original files.Source: Screen Studio volume settings | 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 | Captions are generated on the Mac (Whisper or Apple Speech) and the transcript is editable.Source: Screen Studio captions | Cloud transcripts and closed captions on every plan, in 50+ languages. SRT download is for paid plans.Source: Loom transcripts and captions |
| Export | MP4 and GIF, up to 4K at 60 fps. Raw camera, microphone, and screen files can be extracted.Source: Screen Studio export settings | 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 | Shareable links are included in the plan: 1080p at 60 fps for videos up to 30 minutes, with comments.Source: Screen Studio shareable links | 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.
Screen Studio vs Loom pricing over 1 and 3 years
Screen Studio has no free export: every feature is free to use except exporting video, so a finished file needs a plan at $29 per month or $9 per month billed yearly ($108 a year). Loom’s Starter plan is $0, Business is $18, and Business + AI is $24 per user per month on monthly billing; annual billing saves up to 17%.
For one person who needs paid features, Screen Studio on annual billing costs half of Loom Business on monthly billing: $108 against $216 a year. For five people, if each person needs their own subscription, that is $540 against $1,080.
Each product draws one recurring complaint about cost in public reviews: Screen Studio for ending one-time licenses, Loom for how tight the free plan’s 5-minute and 25-video limits are.
| Plan | Year 1 | 3 years | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Studio, billed yearly | $108 | $324 | $9 × 12 months, then × 3 |
| Screen Studio, billed monthly | $348 | $1,044 | $29 × 12 months, then × 3 |
| Loom Starter | $0 | $0 | 25 videos, 5 min each, 720p |
| Loom Business, 1 user | $216 | $648 | $18 × 12 months, then × 3 |
| Loom Business + AI, 1 user | $288 | $864 | $24 × 12 months, then × 3 |
Where Screen Studio is better and where Loom is better
Screen Studio is better at how the video looks. It adds automatic and manual zooms, smooths the cursor, offers camera layouts and masks, and outputs vertical and square formats. Export is MP4 or GIF up to 4K at 60 fps. Captions are generated on the Mac, and the raw camera, microphone, and screen files can be extracted for another editor.
Loom is better at getting the video watched. It records on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iOS, and Android. The recording uploads while you record, viewers comment and react, and paid plans hold unlimited videos. Editing is basic by comparison: trim, split, and stitch start on Business, and recordings target 30 fps.
Privacy separates them too. Screen Studio keeps projects on your Mac and its shareable links are optional. Every Loom recording uploads to Loom’s cloud, there is no local-only mode, and the free plan has no video download.
- Product demo for a landing page: Screen Studio.
- Bug walkthrough for a teammate on Windows: Loom.
- Vertical clip for social: Screen Studio.
- Weekly update that five people will comment on: Loom.
What happens when you make a mistake mid-recording
Screen Studio: you cut the mistake out. A project holds one recording, “Multi-clip recordings” is listed as Planned on the roadmap, and the docs describe no re-record command.
Loom: there is 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.
In both tools a cut handles a stray sentence. A wrong step that the viewer needs to see done correctly means recording again in Screen Studio, or recording a second Loom and stitching it in on a paid plan.
A third option: Qreata, if you want to pay once and re-record one section
Qreata is a Mac recorder and editor that costs $49 once for 3 Macs, with future updates included. Its Replace Take command does the thing neither product above does: select a range on the timeline, such as 2:10–2:25, and re-record only that, with screen, camera, microphone, and system audio. It also keeps microphone and system audio at separate levels, can generate zooms from your clicks, and needs no account to record.
It is in beta and it is narrower than both. It runs only on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later, exports MP4 at 30 fps only, and has no cursor smoothing and no viewer comments. Captions can be burned into the video, but there is no SRT export. Uploads happen only when you press a button: to Google Drive, or to Qreata Cloud, a separate paid plan. If you publish Mac demos as MP4 files and the subscription or the missing retake is what bothers you, try it for 7 days.
Who should pick neither
Some work fits neither a demo polisher nor a messaging tool.
- Courses with quizzes, SCORM export, and SRT captions: Camtasia Essentials, $179.88 a year, on Mac and Windows.
- Mostly screenshots with the occasional clip: CleanShot X, $35 once, Mac only.
- Live streaming: OBS Studio, free on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
- One unedited recording right now: Shift-Command-5 on any Mac.
Switching between Loom and Screen Studio
Nothing imports in either direction except a finished MP4. Loom links pasted into docs and tickets work only while the videos stay in Loom, so keep that workspace alive while you move new work. Running both is a workable setup: Loom’s free plan for quick messages and Screen Studio for the few videos that go public.
Questions worth asking
Is Loom free?
Yes. The Starter plan is $0 and allows 25 videos per person, up to 5 minutes each, at 720p, with no video download. Paid plans start at $18 per user per month on monthly billing.
Does Screen Studio work on Windows?
No. Screen Studio runs on macOS 13.1 or later, with Apple Silicon recommended and an Intel build available. Loom runs on Windows 10 or later, Mac, Chrome, iOS, and Android.
Is Screen Studio a subscription now?
Yes. It is $29 per month or $9 per month billed yearly, which is $108 a year. One-time licenses are no longer sold.
Which is cheaper, Screen Studio or Loom?
$0 for Loom if the Starter limits fit. Among paid plans, Screen Studio is $108 a year on annual billing and Loom Business is $216 a year per user on monthly billing.
Can I fix a mistake without re-recording in Screen Studio or Loom?
Yes, if cutting it out is enough. Neither re-records a middle section: Screen Studio cuts, and Loom’s paid plans split out the mistake and stitch in a separately recorded Loom.
Can Loom or Screen Studio keep recordings off the cloud?
Yes for Screen Studio, which saves projects on your Mac and makes links optional. No for Loom: every recording uploads to its cloud and there is no local-only mode.