What Is Loom?
Loom is an async video messaging tool that lets you record your screen and camera simultaneously, then share via a link — no download required. Founded in 2016 and acquired by Atlassian in 2023, it has become the default tool for async communication in remote and hybrid teams.
The core use case: instead of scheduling a 30-minute meeting to explain something, record a 3-minute Loom showing your screen, narrating as you go. Share the link. The recipient watches when they're ready, leaves timestamped comments, and you've eliminated the meeting without losing the communication richness.
Who Uses Loom?
Loom has three primary user groups:
Remote teams — engineers walking through code reviews, designers presenting work, PMs explaining product decisions, managers giving weekly updates
Customer-facing roles — sales reps sending personalized video outreach, customer success walking through onboarding, support explaining complex issues visually
Solopreneurs and freelancers — client feedback reviews, project kickoffs, invoice explanations, tutorial creation
Core Features
Screen + Camera Recording
Loom records your screen, your webcam (as a floating bubble), and your audio simultaneously. Setup is a browser extension or desktop app — click record, choose what to capture (full screen, window, or tab), and go.
The recording starts in 3 seconds. No rendering time, no encoding wait. The link is shareable the moment you stop recording.
Instant Sharing
Every Loom gets a link that works immediately. The viewer sees an in-browser player — no download, no account required (on public links). They can:
- Watch at 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, or 2x speed
- Add timestamped comments
- React with emoji
- Request a transcript
- Download the video (if you allow it)
For client work, this is transformative. Instead of attaching a video file to email, you share a link. The client watches in the browser and leaves a comment at the exact timestamp they have a question. Your feedback loop collapses from 3 emails to 1 Loom + 2 comments.
AI Features
Since the Atlassian acquisition, Loom has added AI that runs automatically on every recording:
- Auto-title: generates a descriptive title from your spoken content
- Summary: 3-5 bullet points summarizing the video content
- Chapters: automatically splits long recordings into labeled sections with timestamps
- Transcript: full text transcript of everything spoken
These make longer Looms navigable. A 15-minute demo with chapters lets the viewer jump to the section they care about without watching everything.
Integrations
Loom's depth in workplace tool integrations is strong:
- Slack: paste a Loom link and it renders a preview with play button inline
- Notion: embed a Loom and it plays in-page without opening a new tab
- Linear: link Looms to issues for visual bug reports
- HubSpot: track when sales prospects watch your Loom (+ how much they watched)
- Gmail: record directly from Gmail with the Chrome extension
Loom Pricing
| Plan | Price | Recording Length | Videos | Storage | |------|-------|-----------------|--------|---------| | Starter | $0 | 5 minutes | 25 videos | Limited | | Business | $12.50/month | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5 hours/seat | | Business + AI | $16/month | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5 hours/seat | | Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Unlimited | Custom |
The Starter (free) plan is genuinely useful for occasional recordings. The 5-minute limit catches you occasionally, but most async videos are under 5 minutes by design.
Business at $12.50/month removes all limits and adds team features (shared library, engagement insights, viewer analytics).
Does Loom Actually Save Time?
Data from Loom's own research (take with appropriate salt): users report saving an average of 5 hours per week after adopting Loom. More credibly, specific use cases show clear ROI:
Sales outreach: personalized video emails from sales reps using Loom see 2-3x higher response rates than text emails. If your deal size is >$5,000, the ROI is immediate.
Client feedback: instead of 4-5 email exchanges to explain feedback on a design or document, one Loom + one follow-up exchange covers the same ground. Time saved: 30-60 minutes per feedback cycle.
Onboarding: record your onboarding walkthrough once, send the link forever. Stop giving the same 1-hour onboarding call for every new client. Time saved: 45 minutes per onboarding.
Internal async: "Can we jump on a quick call?" is often avoidable with a 2-minute Loom. Eliminating 5 unnecessary 30-minute calls per week saves 2.5 hours.
Loom vs. Screen Recording Alternatives
Loom vs. Descript
Descript is for video editing and podcast production — a fundamentally different use case. Loom is for quick async communication, not polished video production.
Use Loom for: meeting replacements, client communication, async team updates Use Descript for: podcast episodes, YouTube videos, edited course content
Loom vs. Clip (Slack)
Slack added a native video clip feature that covers basic Loom use cases within Slack. If your team lives in Slack and you only need video for internal communication, Slack Clips is free and sufficient.
Loom wins when you need to share outside Slack (clients, external stakeholders, prospects).
Verdict
Loom earns a 4.5/5 for remote workers and client-facing solopreneurs.
The core use case — replace a meeting or a long email with a 3-minute video — works exactly as promised. The AI features (summary, chapters, transcript) make longer recordings more useful. The integrations make sharing frictionless.
The free plan covers occasional users. Business at $12.50/month is justified for anyone sending more than 5-10 Looms per week.
If you've never used Loom, install the free plan today and use it for your next client feedback session. The reaction from clients seeing a personalized screen recording instead of bullet points in an email is consistently positive.