Loom vs Scribe: 2026 Comparison
Loom wins for explaining things. Scribe wins for documenting them. The choice is usually about whether your audience needs to watch or to read.
TL;DR / Quick answer
Loom is the better pick for explaining things on video, with tone and a live demo; Scribe is better for documenting repeatable processes as written guides people can skim. The choice is about whether your audience needs to watch or to read.
- Choose Loom for async updates and Atlassian integration, from $15/user/month (annual).
- Choose Scribe for SOPs and onboarding guides with screenshots, from $25/seat/month (annual), $35 monthly.
- Choose vitelnk when a client must watch the video and you need to know they did, from €12/month.
Loom vs Scribe: Key Differences
| Loom | Scribe | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Explaining, feedback, async communication | SOPs, onboarding guides, repeatable process docs |
| Output format | Video | Written guide with screenshots |
| Free plan | 25 videos, 5 min/video | Browser guides, share by link and embed |
| Paid entry (individual) | $15/user/month (annual) | $25/seat/month (annual), $35 monthly |
| Team entry point | $15/user/month (annual) | $115/month (5 seats × $23, annual) |
| AI summaries / chapters | Yes (Business + AI, $20/mo) | No; Autocapture AI on Pro Team |
| Desktop app (non-browser capture) | Yes (Mac and Windows apps) | Pro Personal and up only |
| Jira / Confluence integration | Deep native (Atlassian product) | Confluence integration |
| Scannability | Low (must watch) | High (skim in seconds) |
| Multilingual support | 50+ languages (transcripts) | Translations (Enterprise) |
What Are Loom and Scribe?
Loom
Loom is an async video platform for screen and camera recording: hit record, walk through something on screen, share a link. Recipients watch in the browser with no account.
- Atlassian: part of Atlassian, with Jira, Confluence and Slack on every plan
- Free plan: 25 videos in total, 5 minutes each, up to 720p, with transcriptions in 50+ languages and viewer insights
- Business: $15/user/month billed annually ($18 monthly) removes the limits and adds password-protected videos and engagement insights
- Loom AI (auto summaries, chapters, filler-word and silence removal, editing by transcript): Business + AI at $20/user/month billed annually ($24 monthly)
(loom.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-15)
Scribe
Scribe is a process documentation tool, not a video tool. Turn on the browser extension or desktop app, do a workflow, and Scribe writes a step-by-step guide with annotated screenshots and numbered instructions.
- Output: a scannable document you share by link or embed; on Pro plans, export as PDF, HTML or Markdown
- Free Basic: works in the browser with any web app
- Pro Personal: $25 per seat per month billed yearly ($35 monthly)
- Pro Team: a 5-seat minimum at $23 per seat billed yearly ($29 monthly), so the team entry point is $115/month whatever your team size
(scribe.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-14)
Loom vs Scribe: Feature by Feature
| Feature | Loom | Scribe | vitelnk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen recording | — | ||
| Step-by-step guide generation | — | ||
| Annotated screenshot capture | — | ||
| Viewer analytics | Viewer insights; engagement insights on Business | LimitedGuide insights | — |
| AI transcripts | 50+ languages, free plan | LimitedVoice transcription listed | — |
| AI summaries / chapters | Paid | Not listed | — |
| Filler-word removal | Paid | — | |
| PDF / Markdown export | Paid | — | |
| Confluence / Notion embed | Embed; Confluence integration | — | |
| Desktop app (non-browser capture) | Paid | — | |
| Sensitive info redaction | Paid | Paid | — |
| Password protection | Paid | Not listed | — |
| Expiring / time-limited links | Not listed | Not listed | — |
| Team workspaces | Paid | Paid | — |
| SSO / SAML | Paid | Paid | — |
| Comments on content | Paid | — | |
| Jira native integration | Not listed | — | |
| Free plan available | Limited | — | |
| Multilingual support | PaidEnterprise translations | — |
The Core Difference: Watch vs Read
Loom produces a video. Scribe produces a document. That changes how the content is consumed, maintained and reused.
A Loom video is watched start to finish
Great for communication that benefits from tone, facial expression or a live walkthrough. Poor for reference material where people need to jump to step 7, skim for one instruction, or follow along in another tab.
A Scribe guide is scanned
People scroll to the step they need, follow the annotated screenshot and move on. For a process ten people will look up every quarter, the written, scannable format is genuinely faster than asking everyone to rewatch a video.
When to Use Loom and When to Use Scribe
Use Loom when it's watched once
When context or tone matters:
- a code review with verbal explanation
- a design walkthrough with live reactions
- a customer onboarding introduction
- a bug report showing the exact failure
Use Scribe when it's looked up often
When scannability matters:
- an SOP for submitting expenses
- an IT helpdesk guide for resetting passwords
- a client onboarding checklist
- a training module for one tool workflow
The practical test
Watched once, or referenced dozens of times? Once: Loom. Repeatedly by different people: Scribe cuts friction for every later reader.
Many teams use both: a Loom video to explain on day one, a Scribe guide in Confluence as the permanent reference. When the video goes to clients rather than teammates, a Loom alternative built for client delivery adds a password per link and tells you who watched.
Pricing: Loom Is Cheaper at Every Team Size
Solo
Loom Business at $15/user/month billed annually is cheaper than Scribe Pro Personal at $25 per seat billed yearly ($35 monthly). Both free tiers work for light use:
- Loom: 25 videos, 5-minute cap
- Scribe Basic: browser guides shared by link and embed (desktop capture, exports and branding start on Pro Personal)
Teams
Scribe Pro Team is $23 per seat billed yearly ($29 monthly) with a 5-seat minimum, so two people still pay for 5 seats ($115/month) while two Loom seats cost $30/month.
For a team of 10:
- Loom Business: $150/month
- Loom Business + AI (filler removal, auto-chapters, transcript editing): $200/month
- Scribe Pro Team: $230/month
(scribe.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-14). Both charge per seat, so the bill grows with every person who creates content.
AI Features: Opposite Approaches to the Same Problem
Loom's AI works on video
It listens to the recording, writes a transcript, strips filler words, adds chapter markers and writes a summary. The video gets faster to make and easier to navigate.
Scribe's AI works on actions
It watches what you click and type, then writes the step titles and descriptions for you. Its pricing page also lists voice transcription and, on Pro Team, Autocapture, which turns work you've already done into guides without recording. The AI replaces typing "Step 1: Click the Settings menu" by hand.
Same goal, different domains
Both cut the manual work of documentation. If your content is video, Loom's AI is relevant; if it's process documentation, Scribe's is. Once you see what each produces, they don't compete for the same audience.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Loom if…
- You're explaining something that benefits from tone, narration or a live demo
- Your team uses Jira, Confluence or other Atlassian tools and wants native integration
- Async updates replacing short meetings or 1:1 explanations are the main use case
- You need multilingual transcripts and captions for a global team
- Videos are watched once by a few people, not referenced repeatedly by many
Choose Scribe if…
- You document repeatable processes many people will look up over time
- Scannability matters: people jump to a step rather than watch from the start
- Your output lives in a knowledge base, help center or Confluence wiki as a permanent reference
- Your docs live in Word or Google Docs and you want to drop the manual screenshot and annotation work
- You're building onboarding checklists, IT helpdesk guides or compliance SOPs with written steps
Neither Fits? Here's Why vitelnk Might.
Loom and Scribe are built for different use cases.
Need per-link controls and individual viewer tracking for private video? Neither is built for that. vitelnk is:
- Per-link passwords: send video to a specific recipient with their own credentials, which neither Loom nor Scribe can
- One-time-use and expiring links for sensitive video, which neither platform lists
- Individual viewer tracking without an email gate: know who watched without a form
- Per-link analytics: engagement for each recipient link, not just video totals
- Built for client and external video delivery, not internal documentation