Scribe vs Loom: the short answer
They make different things. Scribe makes documents. Loom makes videos. Scribe’s own site says that while it records screen processes to build visual guides, “it does not record video.” Loom records your screen, camera and voice and gives you a link to the video.
So the real question is what your reader needs. Someone following a 12-step setup wants to scan, skip and copy. Someone getting feedback on a design wants to hear your voice and see where you point.
What Scribe makes
You turn on Scribe and do the task in your browser. Scribe captures screenshots and text from what you do and, in its words, “creates a step-by-step guide with links, text and annotated screenshots.” You can edit the guide, share it by link or embed it.
- Capture works in the browser on the free Basic plan. The desktop app (to capture outside the browser) is a Pro and Enterprise feature.
- Pro plans add company branding, screenshot editing and redaction, and export to PDF, HTML and Markdown.
- Enterprise adds automatic redaction of personal and health data, SSO and admin roles.
What Loom makes
Loom records your screen, your camera or both at once, with your voice,, then gives you a share link. It runs as a Chrome extension, a desktop app for Mac and Windows, and on iOS and Android. Viewers can comment and react. Every plan includes transcriptions in 50+ languages.
Loom can also make documents, but only on its AI plan. Loom AI workflows can turn a video into a text document using templates such as “SOP” and “Step-by-step guide,” built from the transcript. This needs Business + AI or Enterprise with AI turned on. We couldn’t find in Loom’s docs whether these documents include screenshots of each step (checked Oct 2026).
When to use Scribe and when to use Loom
| Job | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Standard operating procedures | Scribe | People follow steps one at a time and come back later |
| Help center articles | Scribe | Readers scan for their step; search engines index text |
| Code review or design feedback | Loom | Tone and pointing at things matter |
| Bug reports | Loom | A video shows exactly what happened |
| Project updates | Loom | A 3-minute video replaces a meeting |
| New hire onboarding | Both | A welcome video plus written guides for each tool |
A useful rule: if the reader will do the task while reading, write a guide. If they need to understand something, record a video. For more on video, see our guide to async video.
Example: documenting how to issue a refund
Picture a support lead teaching three new hires how to issue a refund in the billing tool. It takes 9 clicks across two screens.
- With Scribe: she does the refund once with Scribe on. She gets a 9-step guide with a screenshot for each click, redacts the customer’s email (a Pro feature), and pins the link in the support wiki. New hires keep it open in a second tab while they work.
- With Loom: she records a 4-minute video walking through the same refund and explaining why each check matters. New hires watch it once, then scrub back and forth to find step 6 the next time they need it.
- With both: the video explains the why, and the guide is what people follow day to day. That is two recordings of the same task.
Scribe’s own site mentions a way to combine the two: Scribe Pages can hold Scribe guides alongside separate videos.
Scribe pricing vs Loom pricing
Both charge per seat. Scribe shows yearly and monthly prices and says yearly billing saves 20%. Loom shows monthly prices and says annual billing saves up to 17%.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Scribe Basic | Free | Browser capture, quick edits, share by link or embed |
| Scribe Pro Personal | $25 per seat a month yearly, $35 monthly | Desktop capture, branding, redaction, PDF/HTML/Markdown export |
| Scribe Pro Team | See note below; 5 seats minimum | Pro Personal plus comments |
| Scribe Enterprise | Custom | Automatic PII redaction, SSO, roles |
| Loom Starter | Free | 25 videos, 5 minutes each, 720p, no downloads |
| Loom Business | $18 per user a month | Unlimited videos and length, 4K, downloads |
| Loom Business + AI | $24 per user a month | Business plus AI summaries, chapters and documents |
| Loom Enterprise | Custom | SSO, SCIM, data retention, 99.95% SLA |
For a closer look at Loom’s plans, see Loom pricing.
Scribe vs Loom side by side
| Scribe | Loom | |
|---|---|---|
| Output | Step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots | Video with share link |
| Records video | No, per Scribe’s site | Yes |
| Camera and voice | Not part of a guide | Yes |
| Free plan | Browser capture | 25 videos, 5 minutes each |
| Export | PDF, HTML, Markdown on Pro | Video download on Business and up |
| Written guide from a recording | Yes, the main product | AI document from transcript on Business + AI |
| Desktop apps | Pro and Enterprise | Mac and Windows |
Why not get both from one recording?
Plenty of teams pay for both: Loom for updates, Scribe for docs. That means two seats per person and two recordings of the same process.
This is the problem we are building Clipfold around. It is a browser screen recorder, launching soon, where one recording can become a video share link, a clickable demo or an onboarding page, with a transcript included. A step-by-step written guide made from the same recording is on our list for later, not in the first version, so today Scribe is still the tool for that job. Plans are per workspace with unlimited members, and there is a free plan. Join the waitlist if that sounds useful.