Around
Loom
| Feature | Around | Loom |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10.99/mo | Free / from $12.5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | remote-teams, quick-standups, pair-programming, distributed-teams | remote-teams, developers, customer-success, managers, educators |
| Founded | 2020 | 2015 |
| Floating Video | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Leveling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Noise Cancellation | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Sharing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reactions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Virtual Backgrounds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screen Recording | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Messages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Transcription | ✗ | ✓ |
| Video Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Around Pros
- Lightweight and fast
- Minimal floating interface
- Good noise cancellation
- Reduces meeting fatigue
✗ Around Cons
- Limited features vs Zoom
- Smaller user base
- No recording on free
✓ Loom Pros
- Instant async video communication
- Screen + webcam recording
- Auto-transcription and captions
- Slack and Notion integration
✗ Loom Cons
- 25-video limit on free plan
- 5-minute recording limit on free
- Requires good internet for fast uploads
The Verdict
Around is built for remote teams and quick standups, with a focus on floating-video and auto-leveling. Loom targets remote teams and developers and leads with screen-recording and video-messages.
Pricing is close: Around starts at $10.99/mo versus $12.5/mo for Loom — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for remote teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Loom has a slight overall edge — but if lightweight and fast matters most to you, Around may still be the right call.
