Loom vs OBS: Which Screen Recorder Should You Use?
Loom vs OBS: share-link video messages or free recording and live streaming. What each is built for, what it costs, and an option for polished local videos.
In the Loom vs OBS choice, the deciding question is what happens to the video after you stop recording. Use Loom if your videos are short messages that people watch through a link. Use OBS Studio if you want free, open-source software that records to your computer or streams live, on Windows, macOS or Linux.
There's a third case neither is built for: a polished video file (zooms, clean audio, a styled background) that stays on your Mac. We make Screen Bolt, a Mac recorder for that job, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be fair to both tools and to say plainly what ours doesn't do.
Quick verdict
- Pick Loom if your videos are messages: a quick update for a teammate, a walkthrough for a client, an answer to a question. You want a link to send, not a file to manage.
- Pick OBS if you need live streaming, you want one free tool across Windows, macOS and Linux, or your budget is zero and you don't mind editing in another app.
- Pick a local editor-style recorder if you need a finished video file for a landing page, tutorial or launch post, edited and polished without learning a general video editor.
What Loom is built for
Loom is an async video messaging tool. The point of a Loom recording is the share link you send afterwards. It is cloud-first, so you get a link rather than a file in a folder.
What that means for you:
- Sharing is the main job. If the person you're recording for will watch in a browser, Loom is built to get the video from "stop" to "send" quickly.
- Your videos live on Loom's service. That is what makes the link possible. If your recordings have to stay on your own machine, this model is the wrong fit.
- Paid plans are a subscription. We couldn't confirm Loom's current plans, prices or free-plan limits for this page, so we don't quote them. Check loom.com, or read what Loom's free plan includes.
What OBS is built for
OBS Studio is free, open-source software for video recording and live streaming. As of November 2026:
- Platforms: Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13.0 or newer, and Linux. On the Mac there are separate installers for Apple silicon (arm64) and Intel.
- Recording: high-quality H.264 video with AAC audio.
- Streaming: live to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers.
- Status: actively maintained. The official site lists 33.0.1 as the latest release.
OBS covers capture and streaming. None of the sources we checked describe editing, zoom or styling features, so plan on a separate editor if the video needs trimming or polish.
Loom vs OBS: feature table
We've added Screen Bolt as a third column because it covers the case the other two don't.
| Loom | OBS Studio | Screen Bolt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Async video messages shared by link | Recording and live streaming | Edited screen videos saved as files |
| What you get after recording | A share link | A recording on your computer, or a live stream | An edited MP4, MOV or GIF on your Mac |
| Live streaming | Not covered here | Yes (Twitch, YouTube and others) | No |
| Editing, auto zoom, styling | Not covered here | None in the sources we checked | Timeline editor, auto zoom from clicks, backgrounds |
| Platforms | See loom.com | Windows 10/11, macOS 13+, Linux | macOS 14+ only |
| Price (as of November 2026) | Subscription for paid plans | Free, open source | Free version with export limits; Pro $79 one-time |
Which tool fits which job
| What you need | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A short update a teammate will watch in a browser | Loom | The link is the deliverable |
| An async answer to a client's question | Loom | Built around sending a link |
| Streaming a session to YouTube or Twitch | OBS | Live streaming is built in |
| The same free tool on Windows, Mac and Linux | OBS | Free, open source, all three platforms |
| A raw recording at no cost | OBS | Free, with H.264/AAC recording |
| Recordings that must stay on your Mac | Screen Bolt, or OBS plus a local editor | Neither uploads your recording; Loom is built around its service |
| A polished demo or tutorial with zooms and clean audio | Screen Bolt | Loom is built for messages, OBS for capture and streaming |
What each costs
OBS Studio is free and open source, as of November 2026. The real cost is time: you'll need a separate editor for anything beyond the raw recording.
Loom charges a subscription for its paid plans. We couldn't confirm current prices from Loom's own site, so we don't list them. Our Loom free-plan guide covers what you get without paying, and loom.com has current pricing.
If cost decides it and you don't need share links, OBS wins outright. If sending a link is how your team actually works, Loom's subscription pays for a workflow OBS doesn't try to offer.
The middle ground: polished local recordings
Many screen videos are neither messages nor streams. A product demo for a landing page, a coding tutorial and a launch clip all need to look edited, and they usually end up as a file you upload somewhere yourself. Loom gives you a link, and OBS gives you a raw capture. Screen Bolt is built for the space between them. What Screen Bolt does (version 1.11.5, as of November 2026):
- Auto zoom from your clicks. After recording, it turns mouse clicks into zoom regions. Clicks within 1 second and 200 pixels of each other are merged, and the view follows your cursor while zoomed. You can add a zoom by hand with ⌘K (Command-K) or change any region's level. Typing doesn't create zooms. See screen recorders with auto zoom for how other apps handle this.
- A timeline editor in the same app. Trim, split, cut, change speed, and add text, arrows, blur regions, a background with padding, cursor smoothing and click effects.
- Voice clean-up. Noise reduction, voice clarity and loudness normalization for the microphone track, run on your Mac.
- Export to a file. MP4, MOV or GIF, at 720p, 1080p, 4K or the original size. Anything above 720p, and GIF, needs Pro.
- Local by design. Recordings are processed locally and never uploaded, and there's no account.
What it doesn't do:
- No share links, cloud upload, viewer analytics, comments or team workspaces. You export a file and send it however you normally would. One catch: the Share button in the editor sends the raw, unedited recording through the macOS share sheet, so export first if you want the edited version.
- No live streaming. If you stream, use OBS.
- Mac only. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later. There's no Windows, Linux or web version.
The free version has no time limit, but its exports carry a watermark, are capped at 3 minutes at 720p, and can't be GIFs. Pro is a one-time $79 as of November 2026 (see pricing).
To compare more recorders, see our lists of Loom alternatives and OBS alternatives for Mac. For the privacy side of the choice, local vs cloud screen recorders covers what leaves your machine with each approach.
Which to use
- Use Loom when the viewer will watch through a link: quick team updates, client walkthroughs, async replies.
- Use OBS when you stream, when you need one free tool across Windows, Mac and Linux, or when you have no budget and don't mind editing elsewhere.
- Use both if your work splits cleanly: OBS for streams and long captures, Loom for everyday messages.
- Use a local editor-style recorder like Screen Bolt when the result is a finished video file (demos, tutorials, launch clips) and you'd rather not learn a full video editor or upload your recordings.
FAQ
Does OBS run natively on Apple silicon Macs?
Yes. As of November 2026, OBS offers separate Apple silicon (arm64) and Intel installers, and it needs macOS 13.0 or newer.
Can OBS give me a share link like Loom?
None of the OBS sources we checked mention share links. OBS records or streams, so to share a recording you upload the file yourself.
Is Screen Bolt a replacement for Loom?
Only if you don't rely on share links. Screen Bolt makes an edited video file on your Mac and has no cloud upload, links, analytics or comments.