Async video messaging
A Loom alternative that tells you when to stay with Loom
Loom built the category. It is polished, it is everywhere, and since the Atlassian acquisition it is wired deeply into Jira and Confluence. On free tiers the two products are close to identical: Loom Starter and Boom Free both cap you at 25 videos and five minutes per recording. So the honest comparison is not about free limits — it is about what each tool does with a recording once you have made it.
- Loom runs on
- Web, Chrome extension, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
- Boom runs on
- Windows, macOS, web, Chrome extension
The short answer
Choose Boom if…
Choose Boom if you need one recording to reach an audience that does not share your language. Voice-cloned dubbing in 50+ languages is the capability Loom has no equivalent for. Note that switching will not buy you a longer free recording — both free tiers stop at five minutes.
Loom may suit you better if…
Stay with Loom if your team already lives in Jira or Confluence, if you need a mature mobile app, or if you are on a paid Loom plan that is working. The Atlassian integration depth is real and Boom does not match it.
Where Boom is better
A studio on every recording
Zoom regions with focus point and intensity, custom video backgrounds, burned-in subtitles in four styles with colour control, and intro/outro clips from your library. Loom keeps editing to trimming.
Meetings recorded automatically
Boom connects to your Google Workspace calendar and sends a bot to capture the meeting itself, so the recording exists whether or not anyone remembered to hit record. Loom is a manual recorder.
Global Voice dubbing in 50+ languages
Boom clones your voice, translates what you said, and plays it back with native pronunciation while keeping your tone. Record an onboarding video once and let a customer in São Paulo hear it in Portuguese. This is available on Boom Pro.
AI that produces work, not just text
Boom trims silences, writes the transcript, and pulls out notes and action items from a single take. On Boom Pro, transcripts and AI summaries come as part of the plan.
A built-in canvas
Boom includes an infinite canvas for drawing an explanation while you record, which is useful for architecture and design conversations that a plain screen capture cannot carry.
Why people look for a Loom alternative
The free plan changed shape
Loom Starter is now bounded on both length and library size, so people who adopted Loom when it felt generous have found the ceiling.
Loom plans and limits — Atlassian SupportFive minutes is the wrong unit for a demo
Product walkthroughs, onboarding and bug reproductions rarely fit in five minutes. Worth being clear that moving to Boom Free does not fix this — Boom applies the same five-minute cap, and only the paid plans on either side remove it.
How long can I record? — Atlassian SupportPer-seat pricing for a small team
Teams of two or three often want one capability — longer recordings — and find themselves quoted for a full seat-based tier.
One video, several languages
Distributed and customer-facing teams increasingly need the same explanation in more than one language, which transcripts alone do not solve.
Side by side
Only the dimensions that change a decision. Where a claim comes from the vendor, the source is linked.
| Feature | Boom | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Free recording length | 5 minutes per recording | 5 minutes per video (Starter)source |
| Watermark on free | BoomShare watermark | None |
| Free video library | 25 recordings | 25 videos, archived includedsource |
| Free recording quality | 1080p | Up to 1080p depending on plan |
| Voice-cloned dubbing | 50+ languages (Pro) | Not offered |
| Transcripts & AI summaries | Boom Pro | Paid plans / Business + AI |
| Jira & Confluence integration | Not available | Native, first-party |
| Mobile apps | Not available | iOS and Android |
| Ads on free plan | Yes | No |
What Loom does well
The most mature product in the category
A decade of iteration shows. Recording, trimming, viewer notifications and link sharing are well built and predictable, and the browser extension is genuinely frictionless.
Deep Atlassian integration
Since being acquired by Atlassian, Loom embeds natively across Jira and Confluence. If your engineering org runs on that stack, recordings land exactly where work already happens. Boom has no comparable integration.
Where Loom runs out
Five minutes per recording on the free plan
Loom Starter limits each recording to five minutes. For a walkthrough, a demo or an onboarding explainer that is the difference between one video and four.
How long can I record? — Atlassian Support25 videos, and archived ones count
Starter caps your library at 25 videos, including archived recordings. Hit the ceiling and you stop being able to record until you delete something.
Loom plans and limits — Atlassian SupportNo native translation or dubbing
Loom provides transcripts and captions, but there is no equivalent of speaking once and publishing in another language in your own voice.
Price steps up quickly for small teams
Moving off the free plan is a per-seat decision. For a three-person team who just want longer recordings, the jump is disproportionate to the problem being solved.
When Loom is the better call
One case where we would point you elsewhere.
Deep Atlassian workflows
If your team works inside Jira and Confluence all day, Loom embeds natively there and Boom does not.
Who each one suits
Boom is a better fit for
- Teams sending the same explanation to speakers of different languages
- Anyone who wants silence trimming and summaries from one take
- Founders and freelancers explaining work asynchronously
- People who want an infinite canvas alongside screen capture
Loom is a better fit for
- Teams already standardised on Jira and Confluence
- Anyone who records regularly from a phone
- Organisations that need a mature enterprise support relationship
- Anyone staying on a free plan, where Loom Starter is cleaner
Moving across from Loom
- 1
Create a free Boom account — 25 recordings, five minutes each, 1080p and 5 GB of storage. No card required. Free recordings carry a watermark and player ads; Boom Pro removes both and the length cap.
- 2
Record your next explanation in Boom rather than migrating history. Existing Loom links keep working, so there is no cut-over moment.
- 3
If you need transcripts, AI summaries or dubbing into 50+ languages, move to Boom Pro. Everything else stays on the free plan.
- 4
Keep Loom for anything in the list above where it genuinely wins. Running two tools is a reasonable outcome.
Loom questions, answered
Boom has a permanent free plan with 25 recordings at 1080p and 5 GB of storage. Its limits closely match Loom Starter: 25 videos and a five-minute cap per recording. Boom Free also adds a BoomShare watermark and player ads, which Loom Starter does not. Transcripts, AI summaries and dubbing are Boom Pro features.
Sources
Competitor features and plans change. These comparisons were checked against the vendors' own documentation — verify anything decision-critical directly before you commit.