Cap vs Recordly

Cap

• Teams that want an open-source Loom alternative they can self-host
• Developers sending bug reports and async updates as video links
• Product demos and tutorials that need zooms, backgrounds and captions

Recordly

• Product demos and walkthroughs with automatic zooms
• People who want this style of recorder at no cost on Windows or Linux
• Developers who want to inspect, extend or build the app themselves

Cap

• The free version is licensed for personal use only; commercial use needs a Desktop License or Cap Pro.
• Share links on the Free plan and the Desktop License are limited to recordings of up to 5 minutes; unlimited cloud sharing needs Cap Pro.
• AI titles, summaries and chapters, cloud transcriptions, the Loom importer and custom S3 or Google Drive storage are Cap Pro only.
• The Windows build is labeled beta on the download page, and no iOS or Android app is listed.

Recordly

• It needs macOS 14.0 or later, or Windows 10 build 19041 or later for the native capture helper.
• On Linux the real cursor cannot be hidden, so exports may show both it and the styled cursor, and system audio usually needs PipeWire.
• Support is through GitHub issues; there is no paid plan or support contract.
• The source is under AGPL 3.0, which the site says allows commercial use.

Cap

Instant Mode

Uploads in the background while you record, so a share link is on the clipboard the moment you stop. Viewers watch in a browser with no account or download.

Studio Mode and editor

Records locally at up to 4K and 60fps with separate screen, camera and microphone tracks, then opens an editor with backgrounds, automatic zoom, cursor effects, blur masks and scenes.

Screenshot Mode

A hotkey captures a window or an area, and the image can be given a background, padding and a shadow before it is copied to the clipboard or shared as a link.

Share pages

Each capture gets a page with comments, reactions, a transcript and chapters. Password protection, a custom domain and viewer analytics are part of Cap Pro.

Cap AI and captions

Cap Pro generates titles, summaries, clickable chapters and transcriptions for every recording with no usage limit. Studio Mode can also transcribe captions on the device in 19 languages.

Own storage, self-hosting and agents

Cap Pro can store recordings in a custom S3 bucket or Google Drive, and the whole platform can be self-hosted. A CLI and local MCP server let AI coding agents record and manage videos.

Recordly

Auto-zoom and cursor polish

Suggests zooms from cursor activity and renders a cursor overlay with smoothing, motion blur, click bounce and a loop mode for cleaner looping exports.

Frame styling and backgrounds

Places the recording inside a frame with built-in wallpapers, uploaded images, solid colors or gradients, plus padding, rounded corners, blur and drop shadows.

Webcam bubble overlay

Adds webcam footage as a bubble with preset or custom positions, mirroring, roundness and shadow controls, and optional scaling that reacts to zooms.

Timeline editing

Drag-and-drop regions set trims, zooms, speed changes, text and image annotations and extra audio. Work is saved as a .recordly project file and reopened later.

MP4 and GIF export

Exports MP4 or GIF with a choice of quality, aspect ratio and output size, and for GIFs the frame rate, looping and size presets.

Extensions and marketplace

A community extension system adds things such as cursor click sounds, device frames, browser mockups and wallpapers, installed from the Recordly Marketplace.

Cap

• Free$0

  Personal use only: Studio Mode with the full editor, 4K 60fps export and share links for recordings of up to 5 minutes.

• Desktop License$29

  per license / year, or $58 once for a lifetime license

  Commercial use for one user, unlimited local recording and editing, and 20 cloud share links a month of up to 5 minutes each.

• Cap Pro$8.16

  per user / month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)

  Unlimited cloud storage and sharing, AI titles, summaries, chapters and transcripts, custom domain, password protection and viewer analytics.

• EnterpriseCap Pro price + add-ons

  Cap Pro for large organizations, with optional SAML SSO at a flat $199 a month and a signed BAA at $99 a month per organization.

Recordly

• Recordly$0

  The complete desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, as a prebuilt release from GitHub or built from source.

Cap

• Annual discount

  Save 32% on Cap Pro with annual billing

  The pricing page lists Cap Pro at $8.16 per user a month when billed annually, against $12 per user billed monthly.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime Desktop License for $58

  The Desktop License can be bought once for $58 as a license that never renews, instead of paying $29 per license each year.

• Education

  30% student discount

  Cap's student discount page offers students 30% off any premium plan, applied with a discount code at checkout.

Recordly

No public discounts listed.