Cap

Cap is an open source screen recording tool built as a direct alternative to Loom. It runs natively on macOS and Windows using Rust and Tauri, which keeps CPU usage low and cuts out Electron overhead entirely.

There are three recording modes. Instant mode uploads your video while you record, so a shareable link is ready the moment you stop. Studio mode records at full quality locally with no compression, then lets you adjust backgrounds, padding, rounded corners, shadows, and cursor effects before sharing. Screenshot mode captures your screen and lets you annotate and beautify the image before copying or saving.

Every recording can get an AI-generated title, transcript, chapter markers, and summary automatically. Viewers can leave threaded comments and emoji reactions. That's enough to replace a lot of back-and-forth meetings.

Storage is flexible. You can use Cap Cloud, connect your own S3 bucket, or keep everything local. Custom domains are supported on the Pro plan. The free tier allows recordings up to 5 minutes with shareable links.

The codebase is fully open source, so you can inspect it, contribute, or self-host the entire stack. Pricing includes a one-time desktop license ($58) for unlimited local recording, or a Pro subscription ($8.20/user/month billed annually) for unlimited cloud storage, AI features, and team spaces. If you want something lighter without editing features, Kap is worth a look for macOS-only recording.