Loom Screen Recorder Review
Loom is a fantastic screen recording software application. It’s accessible across many platforms, easy to use and amazingly useful.
Spoiler alert for this review, we love Loom! 😍
Loom Screen Recorder - Review Summary (TL;DR Version)
Here’s a quick summary of our Loom Screen Recorder. Read the full article below for all the details.
Loom Overall Review - 4.5/5 Stars
Loom Screen Recorder is an excellent choice for small businesses in Canada. It is affordable, intuitive and SO useful. It only takes a couple of minutes to learn how to record and share videos. Viewers just need to click a link and watch your videos just like watching YouTube.
Loom is a great option for personal use and is suitable for all business sizes. It helps you to clarify your message where a Slack message or email may not do the trick. It also delivers a more personal approach to video messaging without the need for a meeting.
We absolutely recommend trying out Loom, especially for remote-based businesses where most communication is via slack or video chat. Signing up is pretty quick and you can choose whether to use Loom’s web-based Chrome extension, desktop, or mobile application.
Our only real complaint with Loom is that the free version is pretty limited but the paid version is well worth the cost.
Loom Screen Recorder Cost
The Starter Plan is free. The starter plan is a free version allowing you to record a limited number of videos and with a max duration of 5 minutes each. This version is still pretty great for casual use, but you’ll likely need to opt for the paid version if you want to get some serious utility out of the software.
The Business plan is $8 USD per month per user. This version unlocks the advanced screen recording features that you’ll see listed below. You can add as many paid users as needed to suit your business.
The Enterprise plan has custom pricing to fit your needs. This plan lets you manage your business with administrative control and security. It also unlocks an integration with Salesforce.
Makes Remote Work Easier
Loom makes it easier for a remote team to collaborate. Even if the team members live in different time zones, they can still communicate asynchronously. With Loom, you can share your work, provide instructions, and relay relevant information that can be accessed at any time on any device.
Usability
You can start screen recording across different platforms with no longer than three clicks. If you’re using a web browser, access the recorder on the Loom website or by adding the Loom browser extension in your Google Chrome.
A desktop application is also available for PC and MacOS users. If you prefer mobile, Loom is downloadable for Android and iOS devices.
Customers and Team Members Love Loom
Loom makes communicating with clients and customers so much easier. Instead of writing a 500-word email to explain a complicated topic, just record a quick video and hit send.
I use Loom multiple times a day for work to explain accounting and tax concepts to clients and to answer questions from our team internally.
I even find Loom is great for random non-work related things where a video or screen share is helpful.
What is Loom Screen Recorder?
Loom Screen Recorder is a screen capture and video-messaging platform provided by Los Angeles-based startup Loom, Inc.
The company believes that screen and camera recording shouldn’t require complicated steps and should be available in just a few seconds. We agree!
Loom delivers a streamlined way to communicate through video and has been adopted by more than 14 million users across over 200,000 companies to date.
Remote work is becoming more popular than ever. Emails, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, text, and other digital media are now normal ways to communicate in the business world. Unfortunately, these types of virtual communication have their own downsides.
Email and chat sometimes fail to convey nuance or provide enough context in your message. They also lack some emotional connection or the tone of your message can easily be misread. Text based communication is often not efficient if the message is long or complicated. That’s where video meetings have typically come in for remote teams.
“Can we just hop on a quick call?”
Video calls have their place, but they also have their own downsides.
Impromptu video meetings are disruptive, but the alternative of scheduling a call for a time everyone is available is often difficult (scheduling software helps a bit).
Fortunately, Loom offers an efficient two-click solution. Loom Screen Recorder lets you provide more nuanced and personal communication but still remains asynchronous like email and chat.
How Does the Loom Screen Recorder Work?
Loom Screen Recorder allows you to record your screen, microphone, and camera at the same time with no more than three clicks. Loom also makes it easy for you to share your recordings through instantly shareable links.
No need to open multiple applications or perform complicated steps. It only takes about a minute or two to get used to the interface.
Steps to Get Started with Loom:
- Sign Up - It only takes a few seconds. You can also sign up using your Google, Slack, Apple, or Outlook accounts. Use Avalon’s Loom referral link and get a 14-day free trial of Loom Business.
- Choose your preferred platform - Loom is available as a web-based application with limited functions. You can also choose to record with: Google Chrome extension, Downloadable desktop app for PC and Mac, Mobile app for Android and iOS
- Start recording - Set your video preferences and hit the start recording button. Your recording will automatically be saved in the cloud once you stopped the recording.
- Share your video - A new tab will automatically open up showing your recording. Change the recording title, and perform quick video edits if you need to. Copy the link and paste it anywhere. Loom will also transcribe your video to automatically create subtitles and a full transcription.
Loom lets you record your screen, camera, or both at the same time. There is a “camera bubble” that can be moved around the screen and resized.
Once you’ve recorded a video, Loom will open up a new browser tab and automatically copy a link to your clipboard. Paste that link anywhere to share your video.
For now, Loom’s browser extension is only available on Google Chrome. You can use the web app if you prefer Safari, Firefox, or Edge. Or, you can install the desktop app available on Windows and Mac. It has all of the features including editing, screen sketching, video quality settings, and a lot more.
Loom Screen Recorder Cost
Loom offers a seamless platform and user-friendly features that are available across all plans. The three pricing plans are tailored to cater to different business needs:
- Starter
- Business
- Enterprise
Starter Plan - $0 per month
The Starter plan is free forever with a free trial of premium features. It works great for smaller businesses that need a convenient video messaging tool.
The Starter plan is limited to 25 videos per account and the video duration is only up to 5 minutes. Also, your maximum video quality is 720p with the starter plan.
It is mainly for quick video messaging where you don’t need to save videos long-term. It’s still a great tool if you just want to augment your emails or slack messages to provide more context.
Business Plan - $8 USD per user per month
The Business plan removes the video limitations that come with the free plan. You can record up to six hours and store an unlimited number of videos on the cloud. This subscription also lets you record up to 4K resolution.
This plan has features like filler word removal, video transcription, automatic closed captions, and custom branding. Advanced engagement and viewer insights are available as well. The filler word removal tool is pretty amazing. Remove all of your “ums” and “uhs” from your videos in one click.
Loom’s premium features are suitable for small and medium-sized businesses that need advanced recording and analytics. You can test out this option through a 14-day free trial.
Enterprise Plan - Custom Pricing
Loom also caters to large businesses through the bespoke Enterprise plan. The cost depends on your business size and needs. This plan includes everything in the Business plan and unlocks additional security features, Salesforce integration, and advanced admin features.
Education Plan - Free Plan for Teachers
This is a bonus plan for qualified teachers that lets them access some premium features for free. With this plan, educators can record an unlimited number of 45-minute screen recordings. The Drawing tool and mouse emphasis feature are available as well.
Use Cases for Loom Screen Recorder
Screen recorders can be a great benefit to different types of businesses and users. What separates Loom from other screen recorders is how easy Loom makes it for the video recorder as well as the viewers.
Team Communication
Using asynchronous videos within your team can improve your team’s communication. Asynchronous videos help to provide additional context to text communication.
Loom allows your team to confidently and quickly share complex ideas and processes. The team can then provide feedback by using the comments section to type comments or send emoji reactions 🦸♀️😍👍.
Sales
If you’re offering a sales pitch through email or a downloadable PDF, chances are high that the recipients will scan it and miss the important parts. Sending a Loom video to a client or prospective customer can help you to get your point across.
You can provide personalized answers to questions that could arise. You can also add a call-to-action button to your video to redirect your customers to a checkout page or any online resource.
Advanced analytics can also help track performance to better improve your sales and marketing strategy.
Design
Design teams rely heavily on visual communication. In this context, collaboration is difficult to achieve through email or Slack. Video meetings aren’t always the best solution because everyone is busy at different times, especially when the team works in different time zones.
Loom is a good addition to Slack or Zoom meetings to help design teams. With up to 4K video resolution and drawing tools, the design team can highlight their work and receive detailed feedback from team members or the customer.
Support
Help Centers and chatbots have transformed the way we handle support. However, sending blurbs and links to articles is impersonal and doesn’t always provide the help customers or clients need. Adding a quick personalized video.
Support teams don’t need to choose one method over the other. Loom videos can be integrated with automated chatbots, support pages, or anywhere the customer needs support.
Education
Loom videos are a great tool for education. Teachers can create videos so that students have a permanent reference to come back to.
Some Loom Uses for Education:
- Complementary materials to an existing curriculum
- Helpful how-to-guides to assist students in completing tasks
- Videos to be watched before class to prepare students for lectures
- Use Loom’s drawing feature to demonstrate complex topics
Students can also make use of Loom videos to include in presentations or embed digital media in their school projects.
If you are a teacher, check out the features included in the Loom education plan.
Benefits of Loom Screen Recorder
There are a lot of things that we love about Loom.
Easier Asynchronous Communication
Synchronous communication is when everyone is available at the same time and often occurs in person or on a video call.
Asynchronous communication, on the other hand, is sharing and receiving information without needing all parties available at the same time. Common examples of asynchronous communication in the workplace include Slack and email.
Loom makes asynchronous communication easier because recording with Loom is as easy as sending a Slack message or sending an email.
Your viewers can send emoji reactions to your video and leave comments.
Communicate Complex Ideas Easily
At Avalon, we use Loom daily to communicate within our team and with our clients. We find that it’s easier to add more detail or context by sending a recorded video. It also helps to cut down on unnecessary Zoom meetings.
Loom lets you record a specific browser tab if you’re using the Loom Chrome extension. You can also crop and record a section of your screen if you’re using the desktop app. These features are important to display focused information, especially when communicating complex ideas.
You can further enhance your video by using the drawing tool which is available in the desktop Loom app.
Video Transcription and Closed Captions
Once your videos have been recorded, Loom will automatically transcribe them. This is super useful because it allows you to add closed captions to your videos.
Another amazing thing is that you can use an automated edit function to remove all the “ums” and “uhs” from your videos. I personally, uhh, love this feature!
Drawbacks to Loom Screen Recorder
There are only a few things we've found so far that we think could use improvement.
Free Version of Loom is Limited
The Starter plan only allows you to record videos with a maximum length of 5 minutes each. You’re also only able to record and store up to 25 videos at a given time. Once you reach the 25 video limit, you would have to delete a stored video to record a new one.
Extension for Chrome Browser Only
The browser extension is only available for the Google Chrome browser. We have a few people in our team who prefer other browsers than Chrome which makes this kind of a pain.
Fortunately, you can simply bookmark Loom’s website and use the web-based app. Or, if you’re using Windows PC, you can let Loom run in the background and access it in the taskbar icons anytime.
No Advanced Video Marketing Features
The video recording and additional features that Loom offers are fantastic. However, it may not be the best option if your business needs advanced analytics for sales and marketing.
If your business is looking for advanced analytics, you may want to check out our Vidyard review to see if it will fit your needs.
Loom Screen Recorder Promo Code (14 Day Free Trial)
Use Avalon’s affiliate link for a free 14 day trial of Loom’s Business tier - no credit card needed to sign up.
Loom Screen Recorder FAQ
What does Loom do?
Loom Screen Recorder allows you to record your screen, microphone, and camera at the same time. It makes it easy for you to share your recordings through instantly shareable videos.
How long can you record on Loom for free?
The free version lets you record up to 5 minutes of video. The recording will automatically stop once you reach the 5-minute mark.
How do I record a Loom video on my Android phone?
The Loom Android app lets you record your screen or screen plus camera. It is available on Google Play Store for Android 8.0 and above.
How do I record a Loom video on my iPhone?
The Loom iOS app lets your screen or camera but not both. It is available on the App Store for iOS 12.1 devices and above.
Is Loom any good?
Yes - Loom is great! Loom is trusted by big tech companies and featured in top online magazines. It’s also one of our favorite tools here at Avalon.
Loom is reliable, fast, and easy to use.
Can Loom record Zoom meetings?
Yes - you can record Zoom meetings with Loom. This works best if you are using the Loom Chrome extension or desktop app so you can capture both the video and audio from Zoom.
Can you share a Loom video to Facebook?
Yes - it’s easy to share a Loom video to Facebook. To do this, open the “Share” pop-up window and go to “Social” which allows you to share your video on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Gmail.
