Cap: The Open Source Loom Alternative for Screen Recording and Instant Sharing

Loom changed how teams communicate asynchronously — quick screen recordings shared via link replaced countless meetings. But Loom is proprietary, stores your data on their servers, and costs $15/user/month at scale. Cap is the open-source alternative that gives you the same instant-share workflow while letting you own every pixel you record.

What Is Cap?

Cap is an open-source screen recording application with instant sharing, local editing, self-hosting, and AI-powered features. It’s built with Tauri, SolidStart, Next.js, and Rust — combining native desktop performance with modern web capabilities.

Think Loom’s convenience, but you control the infrastructure.

Two Recording Modes

Instant Mode

Record and share simultaneously. Cap uploads chunks as you record, so the moment you stop, the shareable link is ready. No waiting for upload, no post-processing delay. This is the Loom-like experience — hit record, explain something, stop, paste the link.

Studio Mode

For recordings that need polish. Studio Mode keeps everything local and gives you a full editing suite:

• Custom backgrounds — remove your messy desktop, add gradients or images
• Zoom and pan — draw attention to specific areas after recording
• Captions — auto-generated subtitles baked into the video
• Cursor effects — highlight clicks and movements

No video editing experience needed. The interface is purpose-built for screen recordings, not generic video editing.

Cap AI

AI features that actually save time:

• Auto-titles — generates descriptive titles from your recording content
• Summaries — TL;DR of what the recording covers
• Chapters — automatic segmentation for longer recordings
• Transcripts — full searchable text of everything said

These make your recording library navigable. Search across all your videos by what was said or shown.

Own Your Storage

This is where Cap fundamentally differs from Loom. You choose where recordings live:

• Amazon S3 — your own bucket, your own keys
• Cloudflare R2 — zero egress fees
• MinIO — fully self-hosted object storage
• Cap Cloud — managed option if you just want it to work

Your recordings never touch servers you don’t control (unless you choose the managed option).

Self-Host with Docker

docker compose up -d

Run the entire Cap platform on your own infrastructure. The self-hosted version includes:

• Video hosting and streaming
• Share links and embeds
• User management
• All AI features (bring your own API keys)

Perfect for organizations with data residency requirements or teams that simply prefer sovereignty over their tools.

Team Features

Cap isn’t just for solo creators:

• Workspaces — organize recordings by team or project
• Comments — timestamped feedback on recordings
• Analytics — see who watched, how long, where they dropped off
• Loom Import — migrate your existing library without losing anything

Technical Architecture

The desktop app is built with Tauri (Rust backend, web frontend), giving native performance without Electron’s memory overhead. The web platform uses SolidStart for the dashboard and Next.js for the marketing site. Video processing happens in Rust for speed.

This stack means:

• Small binary size (~50MB vs Electron’s 200MB+)
• Low memory usage during recording
• Fast video processing and encoding
• Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux)

Getting Started

Download the desktop app from cap.so or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/CapSoftware/cap.git
cd cap
pnpm install
pnpm tauri dev

For self-hosting, check the Docker documentation in the repository.

Why Switch from Loom?

Concern	Loom	Cap
Data ownership	Their servers	Your storage
Cost at scale	$15/user/month	Free (self-hosted)
Source code	Proprietary	Open source
Offline editing	No	Yes (Studio Mode)
Self-hosting	No	Docker one-liner
AI features	Paid tier	Bring your own keys

Who Should Use Cap?

• Developers who want open-source tools and self-hosting
• Teams with data compliance requirements (GDPR, HIPAA environments)
• Creators who want local editing without uploading to cloud first
• Companies tired of per-seat SaaS pricing for basic screen recording
• Anyone who believes their recordings should belong to them

FAQ

Can Cap replace Loom for my team today?

Yes. Cap has feature parity with Loom for core workflows — record, share via link, get analytics. The Loom Import feature means you can migrate existing recordings without starting from scratch.

Is the self-hosted version fully featured?

Yes, self-hosted Cap includes all features: recording, sharing, AI, analytics, and team workspaces. You provide your own AI API keys and object storage.

Does Cap work on Linux?

Yes. The Tauri-based desktop app supports macOS, Windows, and Linux. Linux support uses Wayland and X11 capture.

How does Cap handle long recordings?

Instant Mode streams chunks during recording, so even hour-long recordings are available immediately. Studio Mode processes locally, with Rust-based encoding keeping render times short.

Is there a mobile app?

Cap currently focuses on desktop recording. Mobile viewing works through the web player — share links open on any device with a browser.

What’s the catch with “open source”?

No catch. Cap is MIT licensed. The company behind it (Cap Software) offers a managed cloud version for revenue, but the self-hosted version is fully functional with no artificial limitations.