Checked 15 August 2026
stepvideo vs Loom
LoomLoom is built to get a recording out of your head and into someone's inbox in one take. stepvideo is built for the recording you'll leave up for a year — the one that has to be cut, zoomed and narrated before it's worth watching.
No credit card needed — 5 AI video minutes, free for 10 days.
Already decided to leave? Loom alternatives, the whole shortlist on one page.
Before the table: when Loom is the right call
Loom is an async video messaging tool. There are jobs it does better than we do, and this is the list. If you recognise yourself on the right, we'd rather you went and used it than churned in month two.
Pick stepvideo when…
- You want the finished tutorial, not the raw take — zooms placed on the controls you clicked, dead time compressed, mistakes cut.
- You need a written guide out of the same recording, not a separate doc written afterwards.
- You'd rather fix a step's wording than scrub a timeline.
The claims on our side are all specified. Read the edit rules
Pick Loom when…
- You're sending a quick message to one colleague and the raw take is the point — that's Loom's whole design, and it's faster at it.
- You want your own face and voice on camera. stepvideo generates the narration; Loom records you.
- Your team already lives in Loom's library, comments and viewer analytics.
- You need to record software outside the browser today. Loom has a desktop app; stepvideo is Chrome-only.
Written from Loom's own public pages, not from a review site.
stepvideo and Loom, row by row
Every Loom cell below says what Loom's own public pages said on 2 October 2026. Where their page doesn't mention something we've written “not listed” rather than guessing — a missing mention isn't a missing feature.
| Feature | This page | LoomTheir own pages |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic zoom on the control you clickedThe recording knows where the click landed, so the camera punches in on the button rather than showing the whole screen. | Yes. Yes — up to 1.8×, anchored to the click, 600ms in and 2.4s hold | Not listed. Listed as coming soon on their editing page |
| Dead time removed without editingPage loads, spinners and thinking pauses are what make a raw recording unwatchable. | Yes. Yes — anything over 4s plays at 3×, over 30s at 8× | Partly, or on a higher plan. Silence and filler-word removal on Business + AI ($24/user/mo) |
| Cut a mistake while you're still recordingFlub a step, hit a key, keep going — no second take of the whole workflow. | Yes. Yes — the hotkey removes the last 8s (beta) | Yes. Live Rewind trims the end of the take and resumes, in the Chrome extension on Business and above |
| AI voiceover written per stepNarration that follows the steps, and that you can rewrite one step at a time. | Yes. Yes — a script per step, each one editable and re-voiced on its own | Partly, or on a higher plan. A beta text-to-speech patches words back into your own recording; per-step narration is not listed |
| Word-by-word captions burned into the MP4Captions that survive being posted anywhere, without a sidecar file. | Yes. Yes — word-synced, burned in at render | Partly, or on a higher plan. A closed-caption toggle in their player on every plan, with SRT download from Business |
| A written guide from the same takeThe same recording as a numbered walkthrough, so you don't write the doc twice. | Yes. Yes — numbered steps, each with its own screenshot from the recording | Yes. AI workflows draft a step-by-step doc with screenshots from the transcript, on Business with AI |
| Edit steps, not a timelineRename, reorder, merge, delete or rewrite — no scrubbing, no keyframes. | Yes. Yes — the video is a step list | Partly, or on a higher plan. Editing by transcript — select words to cut, on Business with AI; step editing goes unlisted |
| A share page per renderSomewhere to send the link that isn't a file attachment. | Yes. Yes — public or unlisted by link | Yes. Yes — a shareable video link is Loom's core model |
| LanguagesBoth halves matter: the language you speak while recording, and the language the finished video ships in. | Yes. Speak 96, publish in 58 — voiceover, captions and guide in each | Partly, or on a higher plan. Transcription in 50+ languages on all tiers; narration languages are not listed |
| How you captureWhat you have to install before you can record anything. | Yes. Chrome extension — records the tab you pick | Yes. Chrome extension and desktop app |
| Desktop app for non-browser softwareRecording a native app, an installer, or anything outside a browser tab. | No. No — Chrome only. Uploaded footage gets zooms, but no click events to cut on | Yes. Yes |
| AI avatars / talking headsA synthetic presenter on screen alongside the workflow. | No. No | Not listed. Listed as coming soon on their editing and AI pages |
| Interactive click-through demosA clickable HTML replica of your product rather than a video of it. | No. No — the output is a rendered MP4 | Not listed. Not listed on Loom's pricing page |
| The editing rules published in publicWhether you can read what the automatic edit will actually do before you trust it with a recording. | Yes. Yes — every threshold is on the site, and they're the shipping defaults | Not listed. Silence and filler-removal thresholds go unlisted on the pages we read |
| Brand kit and branded share pagesYour logo and colours on the video and the page around it. | Partly, or on a higher plan. Yes — on Studio | Partly, or on a higher plan. Your logo and player colours on the video page from Business; their doc says the logo is not inside the video itself |
| Free tierWhether you can use it indefinitely without paying. | Yes. Yes — a 10-day free trial with 5 AI minutes, no card, watermarked exports | Yes. Yes — Starter, 25 videos, 5-minute recording cap |
| Entry priceWhat the first paid plan costs and what it includes. | Yes. Creator $29/mo — 25 AI video minutes, no watermark, 3 seats | Yes. Business $18 and Business + AI $24 per user a month billed monthly; their page says annual saves up to 17% |
- Yes. Yes
- Partly, or on a higher plan. Partly, or on a higher plan
- No. No
- Not listed. Not listed
Checked on 2 October 2026 against Loom pricing and Loom AI. Products change. Tell us if we've got something wrong and we'll correct it.
What you get
One take. Three things to hand over.
One pass produces the video, the written guide, and the share page.
The edited video
Zooms on your clicks, dead time compressed, mistakes cut, voiceover and word-by-word captions — 1080p.
A written guide
The same steps, numbered, each with a screenshot from your recording. Print, paste, or publish.
A share page
Every render gets a page that plays the video — public, or unlisted for link-only access.
Questions
stepvideo vs Loom, asked plainly
Is stepvideo a Loom alternative?
For product tutorials and how-to videos, yes. For sending a two-minute message to a teammate, Loom is the better shape of tool and we'd rather say so. The difference is what happens after you stop recording: Loom hands you the take, stepvideo hands you an edited video, a written guide and a share page from the same five minutes.
Can stepvideo record my camera and my voice like Loom does?
No. stepvideo records the browser tab and generates the narration from what you did in it. If the value of the video is your face and your delivery, record it in Loom.
Does Loom zoom in on clicks automatically?
Loom's pricing page doesn't list automatic click-anchored zoom as a feature, as of 15 August 2026. We haven't claimed either way beyond what their page states — if that's changed, tell us and we'll update this page.
Which is cheaper?
They're priced for different things. Loom's Business plan is $18 per user per month with unlimited recording time; stepvideo's Creator plan is $29 a month for 3 seats and 25 rendered AI video minutes. If you need many people sending many raw recordings, Loom costs less. If you need a handful of tutorials that are actually edited, stepvideo replaces the editing rather than the recording.