The best open-source
alternative to Loom
Put your webcam on screen and record with the tools you already own. No account, no upload, no subscription, no link that expires.
Records a high-quality .mp4 you can post anywhere
Everything it does, free
It all runs on your own PC. No plan to upgrade to, and nothing to sign into.
Recording
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Pause
Capture stops and creates segments, all joined on Stop with no re-encoding.
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Restart
Throw the take away and start over again, in a single click.
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Spotlight
Your camera fills the frame mid-take, then drops back. No editor.
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Countdown
A countdown before every take, with a Cancel button that works.
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Pick the area
A 1920×1080 frame, or drag out any region like the Snipping Tool.
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Screens by name
Pick “Samsung” or “ThinkVision” from the list, not “Display 2”.
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Invisible controls
Buttons, panels and the capture frame show on screen, never in the file.
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GPU encoding
Intel Quick Sync does the encoding, so your CPU stays free for you.
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True colour
Recorded pixels match your screen exactly. No washed-out look.
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Plain MP4 files
Saved where you choose, and ready to play the moment they're uploaded.
Audio
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Studio-quality sound
Captured at 48 kHz uncompressed, encoded once to 320 kbps AAC.
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Remembers your mic
And warns you when it can't open it because another app has it.
Camera
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Shapes and sizes
Circle, rounded or square, each one in small, medium or large.
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Side mode
Pick the window it sits beside, fitted edge to edge. Drag it to any monitor.
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Snap Layouts
Windows Snap works with the rounded and square camera shapes.
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Real camera controls
Brightness, contrast, sharpness and saturation, set on the camera.
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Mirror
Flip your picture from left to right with a single toggle.
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Background blur
Blurs what's behind you on any camera, your phone included.
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No background
Just you, cut out and floating over your screen. No green screen.
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Always on top
Stays above full-screen windows, so it never slips behind them.
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Starts on your laptop camera
Every time you open it, not whatever camera you used last.
On screen
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Draw on screen
Pen, arrow and box in four colours. The toolbar stays out of the video.
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Highlighter
Lays a level yellow bar along a line of text. Hold Shift for freehand.
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Cursor effects
Click ripples, a halo, or a spotlight that dims all but your pointer.
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Blur boxes
Hide emails and passwords under a blur box before anyone sees them.
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Blur that followsSoon
A blur box that sticks to what it hides, even as the page scrolls.
Phone as your camera
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Your phone over USB
1080p30 from your Android camera. No Wi-Fi, no drivers, no virtual camera.
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Lenses and zoom
Rear or front camera, with a zoom that switches between lenses.
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Pro controls
Locked exposure and white balance, manual focus, flicker suppression.
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Picture tuning
Set the phone's own sharpening and noise reduction from your PC.
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Remembered
Your phone settings are put back every single time it connects.
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Private by design
No internet permission, and no other app on the phone can see it.
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No developer modeSoon
Connect over USB tethering, without turning on developer options.
Workflow
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Keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+Alt+Shift plus one key: shapes, side mode, spotlight, pause, stop.
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Right-click menu
Right-click the camera and Settings and Close are always there.
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Never goes online
No account, no upload, no telemetry. Read the source and see.
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MIT licensed
Use it, fork it, ship it. Free for any purpose, and free forever.
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macOSSoon
A Mac build, as soon as someone with a Mac takes it on.
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ffmpeg built inSoon
No separate install. Everything it needs to record comes in the box.
Free and open source
No seats, no tiers, no trial that turns into a subscription. Download the source code, fork it, and use it for whatever your heart desires.
Works with (sorry )
Frequently asked questions
Is Obsoloom free?
Yes, 100% free. There is no paid tier, no account, and nothing to cancel. It's open source, so if that ever changed you could keep running the version that didn't.
Does it record the video?
No, and that's deliberate. Obsoloom puts your camera on screen; your screen recorder captures everything including Obsoloom. One file, no stitching two sources together afterwards.
Does anything get uploaded?
Nothing. Obsoloom makes no network connections at all — you can confirm that in the source or with any process monitor. It writes one small settings file with your window position.
Why Windows only?
Because Apple sucks and I'm not going to spend $2,000+ on a new computer to create that version (sorry). However, Claude did say: “The code is already cross-platform; the Mac port is mostly icon formats, window behaviour and a signing certificate. If you have a Mac and want to help, that's the single most useful contribution available.”
Why is it called Obsoloom?
It started on a tequila bender. Through hazy eyes, I saw Orlando Bloom using a loom during high noon at a saloon in Tulum, Mexico. The next day, I woke up with a raging hangover and vibe-coded a screen recorder named after what I saw. The rest is history.
Who built this?
Jef van de Graaf. I run a handful of small sites and record client walkthroughs constantly. A price increase email arrived and I did the maths on what I was paying to put my own face in the corner of my own screen.