Loom Alternative
Roam Magicast is the better choice for most teams because it replaces Loom while also giving you meetings, chat, scheduling, and AI notes in the same platform. Loom is still good at async video, but Roam gives companies more leverage from the same seat.
Last updated April 15, 2026
Roam includes a free Loom alternative in its Virtual Office Platform.
If Loom’s founder thinks he shouldn’t have to pay for Loom, why should you?
Made the Move
Wait, I have Loom for free with Roam??? Tonight I fired off three magicasts for my team while I am working async from Australia, and I’m never going back to Slack videos.
Ditch Slack, Loom and Calendly and swap in Roam. You won’t be sorry. Total game-changer for us here at Gaingels.
They’ve launched a product called Magicast that simply replaces the need for Loom and thanks to that we canceled our subscription there and saved more money.
We have just switched to Roam which combines Slack, Zoom, Calendly and Loom in one tool, at a much lower price.
It is like having Zoom, Slack, Calendly, Loom, Otter, and multiple AI tools combined into one platform, at about one tenth of the cost.
@roam is a great replacement for Loom, Zoom, Calendly, Slack, and a few others. Highly recommended.
What Loom Is
Loom launched in 2015 as a quick async video tool — record your screen, talk, send a link. It grew into the dominant tool in the async video category. In October 2023, Atlassian acquired Loom for $975 million. All three original founders have since departed.
Loom today is an async screen recorder inside the Atlassian product family. The recording experience is fast and sharing is straightforward. Since the acquisition, billing and user management have migrated to Atlassian Administration, pricing has increased significantly, and reliability issues have been reported across review platforms.
The Founders
Howard Lerman previously built Yext, which IPO’d on the NYSE in 2017 at over $2 billion. He is fully focused on Roam and actively leads the product day to day.
Loom’s co-founders — Joe Thomas, Vinay Hiremath, and Shahed Khan — have all left following the Atlassian acquisition. Vinay Hiremath posted a $198 Loom invoice in November 2025 with the caption: “It really should be illegal that I have to pay for @loom.”
What They Have in Common
Both Roam Magicast and Loom record screens, support webcam overlay and background blur, auto-generate transcripts, and share via link. Both offer unlimited recordings on paid plans.
Since the Atlassian Acquisition
1. Loom raised prices dramatically in February 2026. Atlassian eliminated the Creator Lite (free viewer) seat, requiring all workspace members to be billed as full paid users. For a 100-person team where only 10 people record videos: previously ~$2,160/year for 10 seats; now ~$21,600/year for all 100. Annual plans moved to fixed user tiers — 55 users pays for the 100-seat tier. AI features (summaries, chapters, filler word removal, transcript editing) require the Business + AI plan at $20–$24/user/month, on top of the base $15/user/month Business plan.
Roam is $19.50/seat/month, monthly billing, all nine products included.
2. Reliability issues have increased. Since the Atlassian migration, users across G2, Trustpilot, and Reddit have reported lag, audio sync problems, failed uploads, and login issues.
3. Commenting now requires an Atlassian account. Viewing or leaving comments on a Loom video requires the viewer to be logged into an Atlassian account. Viewers without one can’t see or interact with comments.
4. Viewer analytics are limited to logged-in users. View counts are available on all plans, but named viewer identity, percentage watched, and replay data are only visible if the viewer has a Loom account and is signed in. External stakeholders appear as anonymous.
Roam identifies every viewer by name — everyone in a Roam workspace is already logged in.
5. Loom requires a browser extension or desktop app. Roam Magicast is built into the Roam app — no separate install. Loom requires a browser extension or desktop app download.
6. Loom is one product. Roam is nine. Loom is a screen recorder. Roam includes Magicast (screen recorder) plus Virtual Office Map, Drop-In Meetings, Theater (up to 3,000), Lobby (meeting scheduler), AInbox (AI-native chat), Magic Minutes (AI note-taker, no bot), On-It (AI assistant), and On-Air (virtual events). All at $19.50/seat/month.
What Customers Say
We started using Roam and replaced Slack, Zoom, Calendly and Read.ai for a 10th of the price.
We use Roam, a game-changer that combines Zoom, Loom, Fathom.ai and Calendly features. It’s like we’re all in the same room, even when we’re oceans apart!
Roam has replaced my entire meeting stack, meeting transcription, video meetings, calendar booking, and screen recording, at a fraction of the cost.
On top of all of the awesome tooling it includes (note taker for meetings, Loom replacement, Google Meet/Zoom/Teams replacement, Calendly replacement, etc.), it also provides much more visibility internally amongst our team members.
Screen Recorder Feature Comparison
| Feature | Roam Magicast | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Screen recording | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Record select area | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Webcam overlay | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Background blur | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Mac + Windows | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Linux | ✅ Yes | ❌ No Linux support |
| No install required | ✅ Embedded in Roam app | ❌ Extension or desktop app required |
| No browser extension | ✅ Yes | ❌ Extension is primary interface |
| Recording length | 100 min | 5 min free / unlimited paid |
| Video storage | Unlimited | 25 videos free / unlimited paid |
| Workspace members | Unlimited | 50 free / unlimited paid |
| Auto transcript | ✅ Interactive, clickable | ✅ Paid plans |
| Transcript search | ✅ Yes | ✅ Paid |
| AI summaries / chapters | ✅ Yes | ✅ Business + AI plan ($20/mo add-on) |
| Basic trim | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Advanced editing | ❌ | ⚠️ AI plan only |
| Comments | 🔜 Roadmap | ⚠️ Requires Atlassian account |
| View count | ✅ Yes | ✅ All plans |
| Named viewer identity | ✅ Always | ⚠️ Logged-in users only |
| % watched per viewer | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Logged-in users only |
| Replay count per viewer | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Aggregate only |
| Password-protected links | ✅ Yes | ✅ Business+ plan |
| Shareable links | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
Platform Breadth Comparison
| Product | Roam Magicast | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Office | ✅ Virtual Office Map | ❌ No |
| Video Conferencing | ✅ Drop-In Meetings | ❌ Async only |
| Virtual All Hands | ✅ Theater (up to 3,000) | ❌ No |
| Meeting Scheduler | ✅ Lobby | ❌ No |
| Enterprise Chat | ✅ AInbox (AI-native) | ⚠️ Video comments only |
| AI Note Taker | ✅ Magic Minutes (no bot) | ⚠️ Meeting recap on AI plan only |
| Screen Recorder | ✅ Magicast | ✅ Core product |
| AI Assistant | ✅ On-It | ❌ No |
| Virtual Events | ✅ On-Air | ❌ No |
Pricing Comparison
| Category | Roam Magicast | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $19.50/seat/mo, all 9 products | $15/user/mo annual; AI features $20/mo |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Annual required |
| Viewer seats | Unlimited, included | Eliminated Feb 2026, all users now billed |
| AI features | Included | Separate $20/mo tier |
| Free tier | Trial | 5 min/video, 25 videos |
| Company status | Independent, founder-led | Acquired by Atlassian; all founders departed |
| ARR | $3M, +148% in 2025 | Part of Atlassian |
Who Should Choose Roam
- Teams that need more than async video
- Teams reassessing Loom costs after the February 2026 pricing changes
- Teams that want named viewer analytics
- Teams that want meetings, scheduling, chat, and a note-taker in one product at one price
- Teams that want a platform that works on Linux
Who Should Choose Loom
- Teams deep in the Atlassian stack (Jira, Confluence) where native integrations matter
- Teams that need only async video
- Teams that need transcript-based video editing available today
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Loom’s pricing increase? Atlassian eliminated the free viewer (Creator Lite) seat in February 2026, billing all workspace members at the full paid rate. Annual plans moved to fixed user tiers, so smaller teams pay for the next tier up.
Do Loom’s original founders still work there? No. Joe Thomas, Vinay Hiremath, and Shahed Khan all left after the acquisition. Hiremath publicly posted his own Loom bill calling it unjustifiable.
Can external viewers comment on Loom videos? No. Comments require an Atlassian account and active login. Viewers without accounts cannot see or leave comments.
Does Roam Magicast replace Loom? For most team use cases, yes. Magicast covers screen recording, webcam, background blur, transcripts, and shareable links, with viewer analytics Loom doesn’t match. Advanced AI video editing and transcript-based editing are on Roam’s roadmap.
Is Roam cheaper than Loom? $19.50/seat/month for all nine Roam products vs. $15–$20/user/month for Loom’s screen recorder alone — before accounting for Zoom, Calendly, and Slack on top.