DEV Community: Ryan Sadowski

5 Loom Alternatives for Mac in 2026

Ryan Sadowski — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:32:21 +0000

Loom made async video easy. Record your screen, get a link, send it. But if you're on a Mac and you've been using Loom for a while, you've probably hit the same friction points everyone else has:

Recordings look raw. No zoom, no backgrounds, no polish. Just a flat screen capture.
One audio track. Mic and system audio get mixed together. Can't fix one without affecting the other.
Electron app. Loom bundles Chromium. It's ~200 MB, and it shows in CPU usage and frame rates.
$18/mo for Business. And you still don't get timeline editing.

If any of that sounds familiar, you're not alone. "Loom alternative" is one of the most searched screen recording queries on Google. Here are five worth looking at.

Best Loom Alternatives for Mac

1. ShipClip

ShipClip is a native macOS app built specifically for people who want polished screen recordings without opening a video editor.

What sets it apart:

Share a link, see who watches. Anyone with the link can watch. ShipClip shows you view counts and whether viewers watched the whole thing or bounced early, so you know if your message landed.

Loom: 2 people viewed your video

ShipClip: one guy bailed at 50%, the other made it to 70% and bounced.

No more wondering if they actually saw the important part.

Built this because I'm tired of guessing too.

-- @FakeUncleNemo

Zoom-to-click. ShipClip records your mouse movements and auto-generates smooth zoom ranges wherever you click. Small UI details stay visible even at 1080p. Each range is editable in the timeline.
Multi-track audio. Mic, system audio, and camera record as separate tracks. Adjust volume, mute, or solo each one independently after recording.
Screen styling. Backgrounds, padding, rounded corners, and annotations (arrows, rectangles, text with blur), all composited at export time. No video editor needed.
Camera PiP with background removal. Real-time person segmentation, no green screen. Draggable position, keyframe animation.
Timeline editing. Cut, trim, mute regions, volume automation with keyframes and easing curves. Not just a start/end trimmer.
Edit before uploading. Your recording stays local until you choose to share. Accidentally alt-tabbed into a sensitive doc or an embarrassing chat? Cut that section out, or blur it with annotations. Everything stays local until you hit Share. Nothing touches the cloud until you're ready. Loom uploads immediately.
Native and small. Built with ScreenCaptureKit and AVFoundation. Under 5 MB. No Electron.

Price: $9.99/mo with 500 GB video hosting. Local export always works.

Best for: Freelancers, developers, and designers who want polished recordings with viewer analytics. Know who watched and whether they finished.

2. OBS Studio

OBS is free, open-source, and incredibly powerful if you're willing to learn it. It's built for streaming but works fine for recording.

What's good:

Free and open-source
Scenes, sources, and audio mixer give you full control over your recording setup
Multi-track audio recording
Plugin ecosystem for effects, transitions, and integrations
Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux)

What's not:

No sharing. You get a local file and that's it. No link, no upload, no viewer page.
Steep learning curve. The interface is designed for streamers, not quick screen recordings.
No zoom-to-click, no backgrounds, no screen styling. You get raw footage.
No timeline editing. You need a separate editor to cut or trim.
macOS performance can lag behind Windows due to platform-specific capture limitations.

Price: Free.

Best for: People who already know OBS, or who need complex multi-source recording setups (streaming + recording simultaneously).

3. Screen Studio

Screen Studio is a macOS app focused on making screen recordings look good with automatic zoom and motion effects.

What's good:

Auto-zoom on mouse movement gives recordings a polished, produced feel
Background and padding options for styled output
Cursor effects and click highlighting
Native macOS app with good performance

What's not:

No web sharing built in. You export a file and upload it yourself.
Single audio track. Mic and system audio mixed together.
Limited editing. You can adjust zoom regions but there's no timeline for cutting or trimming.
$89 one-time purchase (single license). Good value if you record often, expensive to try.

Price: $89 one-time.

Best for: People who want auto-zoom polish and don't need sharing links or audio editing.

4. Cap

Cap is an open-source screen recorder with a sharing platform, positioning itself as a direct Loom replacement.

What's good:

Open-source with a generous free tier
Built-in sharing with link generation
Zoom and background effects
Web-based editor, no app install needed for basic recordings
Cross-platform

What's not:

Browser-based recording has inherent limitations on macOS (no system audio without workarounds, lower frame rates)
Single audio track
Limited editing capabilities compared to native apps
Sharing platform means your videos live on Cap's servers

Price: Free tier available, paid plans for teams.

Best for: People looking for a free Loom alternative that's open-source, without needing multi-track audio or deep editing.

5. macOS Built-in (Command+Shift+5)

The one you already have. macOS has a built-in screen recorder in the screenshot toolbar.

What's good:

Already installed on every Mac
No account, no sign-up, no download
Records full screen or a selected region
Microphone audio capture

What's not:

No system audio. You get your mic or nothing.
No editing beyond trimming in QuickTime
No camera overlay
No sharing. You get a .mov file in your Movies folder
No zoom, no backgrounds, no styling of any kind

Price: Free (included with macOS).

Best for: Quick one-off captures where quality doesn't matter.

Comparison Table

	ShipClip	OBS	Screen Studio	Cap	macOS Built-in
Web sharing	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Viewer analytics	Views + watch-through	No	No	Views	No
Zoom-to-click	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Multi-track audio	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Timeline editing	Yes	No	Limited	Limited	Trim only
Camera PiP	Yes (with BG removal)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Screen styling	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Annotations	Yes	No	No	No	No
Edit before upload	Yes	N/A (local only)	N/A (local only)	No	N/A (local only)
Native macOS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Browser	Yes
Price	$9.99/mo	Free	$89	Free tier	Free

Which Loom Alternative Should You Pick?

The best Loom alternative depends on what bugged you most:

Want to know if people actually watch? ShipClip shows view counts and watch-through, not just "someone clicked the link."
Want polished recordings without editing? ShipClip or Screen Studio add zoom, backgrounds, and styling automatically.
Need multi-track audio? ShipClip or OBS. Everything else mixes your tracks together.
Want a free Loom alternative? OBS for power users, macOS built-in for quick captures, Cap for sharing.
Want the simplest upgrade from Loom on Mac? ShipClip. Record, edit in the timeline, share a link. Done.

How to Screen Record on Mac with Audio (3 Methods)

Ryan Sadowski — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:06:40 +0000

Recording your Mac screen is easy. Recording it with audio is where things fall apart.

By default, macOS screen recording captures video but not system audio. No app sounds, no music, no call audio. Your mic works, but if you want to capture what's actually playing on your Mac, you need a workaround.

Here are three ways to screen record on Mac with audio, from free to purpose-built.

Method 1: QuickTime Player + BlackHole (Free)

QuickTime can record your screen, but it can only capture microphone audio, not system audio. To record what's coming out of your Mac, you need a virtual audio driver like BlackHole.

Setup

Install BlackHole (the 2-channel version is fine for most uses)
Open Audio MIDI Setup (search for it in Spotlight)
Click the + button and create a Multi-Output Device that includes both BlackHole and your speakers/headphones
Set this Multi-Output Device as your system output in System Settings > Sound
Open QuickTime, then File > New Screen Recording
Click the dropdown arrow next to the record button and select BlackHole as your microphone input
Record

The downsides

You lose speaker control. Multi-Output Devices don't have a volume slider, so you need to control volume from individual apps.
Everything is one track. Your mic and system audio get merged together. If a notification dings during your voiceover, it's baked in.
You have to undo the routing when you're done. Forget to switch your audio output back and you'll wonder why your Mac sounds weird.
No editing. QuickTime lets you trim the start and end. That's it.
Audio driver conflicts. BlackHole installs a kernel-level audio driver that can interfere with other apps that use system audio. DAWs, video editors, and conferencing tools may behave unexpectedly.

It works, but it's duct tape.

Method 2: macOS Built-in Screenshot Toolbar (Free)

macOS has a built-in screen recorder in the screenshot toolbar. It captures video and microphone audio, but not system audio.

Steps

Press ⌘ + Shift + 5 to open the screenshot toolbar
Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion
Click Options and select your microphone if you want voice narration
Click Record
Click the stop button in the menu bar when done

The downsides

No system audio. The built-in recorder captures your microphone, but not the sounds coming from apps on your Mac. You still need BlackHole or a third-party app for that.
No editing. You get a raw .mov file. Trim in QuickTime if needed.
No camera overlay. If you want a face cam for a demo or walkthrough, you need another app.
Limited export options. Whatever resolution you recorded at is what you get.

Simpler than the QuickTime + BlackHole setup, but you only get microphone audio.

Method 3: ShipClip (Multi-Track Audio)

ShipClip records your screen, system audio, microphone, and camera as separate tracks. Like how a music studio records each instrument independently.

How it works

Open ShipClip and pick your screen or window
Toggle on the audio sources you want: system audio, microphone, or both
Optionally enable the camera overlay (with background removal)
Hit record
When you're done, ShipClip opens a timeline with each audio track on its own lane

What you get

System audio on its own track. Adjust it, mute it, or solo it independently.
Microphone on its own track. Lower the mic volume during a section where you coughed? Just drag the volume down for those few seconds. The system audio stays untouched.
Volume automation. Drop keyframes on any audio track to fade volume up or down at specific moments.
Camera picture-in-picture. Built-in face cam with real-time background removal. No green screen needed.
Zoom-to-click. ShipClip records your mouse movements and smoothly zooms into wherever you click on playback. Small UI details stay visible even at 1080p.
Non-destructive editing. Your raw stems are never modified. Every edit can be undone.

ShipClip is a native macOS app. No Electron, no browser tabs, no uploading to someone else's server. Your recordings stay on your Mac.

Download ShipClip. It's built for people who need to record demos, walkthroughs, and presentations with clean audio.

Comparison

	QuickTime + BlackHole	macOS Screenshot Toolbar	ShipClip
System audio	Yes (with setup)	No	Yes
Microphone	Yes	Yes	Yes
Separate audio tracks	No	No	Yes
Per-track volume control	No	No	Yes
Volume automation	No	No	Yes
Camera overlay	No	No	Yes (with background removal)
Timeline editing	Trim only	Trim only	Full timeline
Zoom-to-click	No	No	Yes
Price	Free	Free	$5/mo
Setup required	Yes (BlackHole + Audio MIDI)	None	None

FAQ

Does screen recording on Mac record audio?

By default, no. macOS screen recording captures video and optionally your microphone, but not system audio (the sounds coming from apps). The built-in screenshot toolbar (⌘ + Shift + 5) and QuickTime both only capture microphone audio. To record system audio, you need a virtual audio driver like BlackHole or a third-party recorder like ShipClip.

How do I screen record on Mac with internal audio?

"Internal audio" means the sound coming from apps on your Mac (also called system audio). The built-in macOS screen recorder does not capture internal audio. You need either a virtual audio driver like BlackHole (see Method 1 above) or a third-party recorder. For separate control over system audio and mic audio, use a multi-track recorder like ShipClip.

Can you screen record on Mac with sound?

Yes. If you just need microphone audio, QuickTime and the built-in screenshot toolbar both work. If you need system audio (app sounds, music, call audio), you need either a virtual audio driver like BlackHole or a third-party recorder like ShipClip. If you need both mic and system audio on separate tracks, ShipClip is the only option that keeps them independent.

How do I screen record with audio on Mac without BlackHole?

Use a third-party recorder that captures system audio natively. ShipClip captures system audio, mic audio, and camera on macOS 14+ without any virtual audio drivers or extra setup. The built-in screenshot toolbar (⌘ + Shift + 5) does not capture system audio, so without BlackHole you need an app that handles it for you.

Does Mac screen recording record audio from apps?

No. The built-in macOS screen recorder (QuickTime and the screenshot toolbar) does not capture app audio. You need a virtual audio driver like BlackHole to route app audio into your recording, or a third-party app like ShipClip that captures app audio natively on macOS 14+.