capsoftware/cap

Cap is an open-source alternative to Loom, a tool for recording your screen and sharing the videos with others. It solves the problem of needing to schedule a meeting just to show someone how something works: instead, you record once and share a link. There are two recording modes. Instant Mode uploads your recording as you go, so the moment you stop recording you already have a shareable link, perfect for quick bug reports, async standups, or fast feedback. Studio Mode records everything locally first, then lets you edit with backgrounds, zooms, trimming, and captions before exporting or sharing a polished video. Cap also offers team features like comments, reactions, transcripts, viewer analytics, and team workspaces, so collaboration stays attached to the video rather than scattered across messages. A standout feature is data ownership: you can use Cap's own cloud hosting, connect your own S3-compatible storage bucket, serve share pages from your own domain, or fully self-host the entire platform using Docker. You would use this instead of Loom when you want control over where your video data lives, or when you want to avoid paying per-seat subscription fees. It runs as a desktop app on macOS and Windows, with a web dashboard for viewing and managing recordings. The tech stack includes TypeScript, Next.js, Rust (via Tauri for the desktop app), SolidStart, Drizzle, and MySQL.