Tella vs Loom: functions, prices and comparison 2026

Tella and Loom are two of the most used tools for screen recording and asynchronous video. Both are aimed at knowledge professionals, product teams and content creators, but they prioritize different workflows.

At a glance:

• Tella is a good fit for teams that publish polished video content for external audiences or need advanced in-browser editing.
• Loom remains a solid option for internal asynchronous communication with minimal post-processing.
• Mixed use cases, mostly internal with some occasional external sharing, benefit from comparing export quality, brand options and plan pricing side by side.

Tella: platform overview

Loom defined the asynchronous video category and it remains widespread. Loom is still a great tool, but Tella is what I needed. I'll tell you why.

Intuitive interface and quick start-up

Tella's ease of use is one of its strong points. The platform's intuitive interface allows you to quickly select and edit videos. After recording, teams can fine-tune the layout and make basic edits in seconds, or apply advanced changes like zoom effects and inserting external clips in minutes.

Versatility in video creation

Tella is more than a screen recorder: it's a creative tool for different types of videos, including tutorials, courses, and product demos. It fits my need for a flexible tool that adapts to different content requirements. The evolution of the platform, from a collaborative video editor to a more focused screen recorder, shows its commitment to improving the user experience.

Customization and editing features

Tella's customization options are what sets it apart. The platform offers a variety of composition designs, making it easy to adapt videos to specific content needs. Users highlight the multi-layout views and zoom functions, which improve the visual appearance of the videos.

Recording and sharing

Tella supports several recording methods, including its Mac app or Chrome extension, which many teams find especially useful for creating content across devices. The platform also simplifies sharing and downloading videos, a key aspect for creators who distribute content across multiple channels.

Evolution

The evolution of the platform shows a clear trajectory towards the specific needs of creators and entrepreneurs. This community-driven development approach is reassuring and fits with my values ​​as a content creator.

Tella main functions

1. Recording options

• Web app, Chrome extension, and Mac app: Tella offers several ways to record, including a web app, a Chrome extension, and a dedicated app for Mac users.
• Screen and camera recording: Tella's online screen recorder allows you to record screen and camera at the same time, with the possibility of selecting only a part of the screen during recording or cropping it later.

2. Editing tools

• Layout customization: Tella offers different composition options. You can choose how to display the screen and camera: full screen, split screen, picture-in-picture, etc., for dynamic and visually appealing videos.
• Clip editing: The platform allows basic clip editing. You can trim, cut and arrange clips to create a fluid narrative without external editing software. It's much less than a dedicated editing tool, but it also takes a fraction of the time.

3. Reinforced creativity

• Views with various layouts and zoom: these functions allow you to present the content in a more dynamic and attractive way. Multi-layout views encourage creative storytelling, and zoom helps focus attention on specific details in the video.
• Automatic Closed Captions: Tella offers automatic closed captioning, a key feature for accessibility. It also improves viewer interaction, especially in soundless environments.

4. Sharing and collaboration

• Easy sharing and downloading: When the video is ready, Tella makes it easy to share or download it. It's especially useful for creators who distribute videos across multiple platforms.
• Collaboration tools: Although the platform initially had a stronger focus on collaboration, it has since been simplified towards features more geared toward the individual user. Even so, sharing and feedback tools are still important in team projects.

5. Intuitive interface

• Simple and intuitive design: Tella is designed for the user experience. The interface is straightforward, allowing beginners to start creating content without a steep learning curve.

6. Diverse use cases

• Versatile application: Tella serves many uses, including product demos, training courses, tutorials, equipment upgrades, and more. They make it a versatile tool for different professionals and content creators.

Tella's evolution and focus on simplifying video creation for creators and entrepreneurs make it a solid choice for a variety of content needs. For more detail on each feature, visiting Tella's help section and exploring their website will provide a deeper insight into how to take advantage of these tools in your creation process.

Tella vs Loom: comparison

UPDATE: Tella has expanded its visual kit with blur effects and additional layout options since the original publication of this comparison.

Recording options

Both have a Chrome extension, web app, and Mac app. The only difference is that Loom has a mobile app and Tella does not. Obviously the mobile app isn't for screen recording, just camera video, and it's not a core use case, but there were once or two times I recorded a Loom video with it.

Feature Depth

• Tella: focuses on simplicity and creativity, combining screen recording with editing: layout changes, cropping, exporting in different formats, zoom effects and more.
• Loom: offers more productivity-oriented features, especially with its AI plugin. It also includes things that Tella doesn't have (at least as of this writing), like drawing tools or blur effects.

Accessibility

• Tella: adds value when the video includes a screen and camera or just a camera. The platform allows you to display the largest presenter in various formats.
• Loom: The recording view only has a few basic settings (two bubble sizes and minor elements around it).

Transcription and subtitles

• Tella: offers subtitles with the visual effect of highlighting words to the rhythm of your voice. You can also export transcripts.
• Loom – Provides subtitles and video transcriptions.

Neither tool allows much customization in subtitles (if you compare them with CapCut, for example, they have nothing to do with each other).

Additional Features

• Tella – Known for its creative approach, it compares to the simplicity of Loom and the creativity of Canva. It stands out for its ease of use and the ability to create professional-looking videos quickly.
• Loom: Recognized for a rich feature set and a more mature platform, having been on the market longer.

Use cases

• Tella: Ideal for professional-looking course videos, webinars, feedback videos, social media and YouTube content, with an emphasis on creativity and production speed.
• Loom: Suitable for a wide range of recording needs thanks to its extensive features, making it a versatile tool for professional and personal uses.

Performance

This is 100% anecdotal, so maybe you shouldn't trust it too much...

Still, Loom failed me twice: once without processing the video, so only the first few seconds were visible, and once by recording without audio (and I assure you, the problem was not my settings, but Loom). I didn't have any problems with Tella.

Both platforms show good stability in regular productive use; none have a clear reliability advantage in published user reviews. That's why I include my experience, even though it doesn't mean much.

Video export speed

This matters a lot if you often export videos to post on YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, or other platforms.

Here's how Tella compares to other platforms when exporting 20-minute and 5-minute videos in 4K and 1080p respectively (these tests were done by Grant Shaddick, not me).

Export a 20 min video in 4K: 1. Tella: 1 min 22 s 2. Veed: 6 min 30 s 3. Premier: 13 min 5 s 4. Descript: 22 min 27 s

The above are more editing tools than screen recorders. Below is a similar comparison but with recording apps.

Export a 5 min video in 1080p: 1. Loom: 11 s* 2. Tella: 27 s 3. Cap: 2 min 22 s 4. Screen Studio: 2 min 37 s

*Loom export works differently than Tella: the file is largely processed in the background (whether you export or not), so the 11 seconds are the final download step.

As you can see, Tella and Loom export very quickly; In fact, with Tella you can export a 1-hour 4K file in about 2.5 minutes, which is negligible. In practice Loom is a little faster, but the difference in seconds is minimal, and both perform very well compared to other video recorders or editors.

Price comparison

PRICE UPDATE 2026

Loom has a simple pricing model with two components: the base subscription and an optional add-on of AI features. The base subscription costs $18 per month billed annually or $180 if billed month-to-month (an increase from the previous price, which started at just $12.5/month).

In addition to the base subscription, Loom offers an add-on of AI features for $6 more per month on its Business + AI plan. This plugin expands the capabilities of the tool and is worth considering if you want to get the most out of video communication.

Tella's standard pricing is $13 per month with annual billing or $19 per month for its Premium plan, which includes custom branding, own domains, unlimited duration on 60 FPS exports, and more. The company reduced prices on annual plans and raised them on monthly billing; Since I have an annual plan, it was good news for many teams.

Free version and free trial

Loom has a free forever plan, with some limitations, quite generous for casual users.

The main limits of Loom's free plan are:

• 5 min limit per video
• Limit of 25 stored videos
• Maximum resolution 720p
• Can't download videos

Despite those limits, the free plan works great if you use Loom only for internal communication and not so intensively that you need more storage or longer recordings.

I personally used the free version for a long time before upgrading to a paid plan.

Unfortunately Tella does not have a free plan, so freemium is not an option there.

Both companies offer a free trial: 14 days on Loom and 7 days on Tella.

Product updates, March 2026

The product is evolving quickly, so here is a summary of what's new as of 2026.

The latest versions of Tella include AI-assisted editing, layout and audio that should be evaluated during the test.

Some highlights of what they have released:

Cursor tracking and focus effects. Tella includes built-in tools that guide the viewer's attention without manual editing. The auto-zoom follows the cursor and zooms in on the action, providing movement and making it easier to follow tutorials. You can also use the Highlight effect to dim the rest of the screen and focus attention on a specific area. If you expose something sensitive when recording, the Blur effect allows you to hide parts of the screen afterwards.

Smart layout and framing. Tella takes care of the visual composition so that the videos are polished without extra effort. Auto-layout automatically arranges screen and camera to maintain balance. If you want more control, custom layouts allow you to resize and reposition the camera anywhere on the canvas. You can also correct the framing after recording with the Camera frame tool, adjusting your position if you are a little off-center.

Editing with AI. One of Tella's biggest time advantages is its AI editing tools. The editor can automatically detect and remove errors (such as repeated phrases), trim awkward pauses at the beginning or end of clips, remove long silences, and even detect and cut fillers like "um," "ah," or "like." These functions greatly reduce editing time, keeping the video agile and natural.

Audio improvements. Tella also includes simple tools to improve sound. Studio Voice enhances audio with AI by isolating your voice and removing background noise or echo, so even basic microphones sound clearer. You can also add background music directly in the editor for a more polished finish. In the video above you can see the difference with and without Studio Voice (the video was recorded with a RØDE NT-USB+).

Visual style. A few design touches can make your recordings look much more professional. Animated backgrounds add subtle movement behind the video instead of static color. Tella also allows you to apply Squircle borders to the camera frame, a square rounded shape common in modern UI design. It's a weird and small detail, but I like it!

Automatic cropping. Lastly, Auto-crop helps clean recordings with one click. Automatically removes distractions such as browser tabs, docks or navigation bars so the viewer sees only the relevant part of the screen. I usually prefer to do it by hand, but for quick videos for internal use it's a useful feature.

Summary and recommendation

Loom remains a credible option for internal asynchronous video, especially when editing needs are minimal.

For teams that need polished external content, Tella typically offers more robust editing and layout tools than Loom; for internal-only messages, Loom may still be the simplest option.

About the author

Aitor Tilla is a collaborator at HSU Media. This article was researched and published to help teams evaluate productivity and workplace software. Last update: June 2026.