# Cap

> Cap (23k stars, active Oct 2026) is the closest open-source match for Loom: a Tauri desktop app records screen, camera and mic, then either uploads while recording for an instant link or opens a local editor (trim, zoom, captions). Cap Web adds share pages, comments, reactions, transcripts, AI titles and summaries, viewer analytics and team workspaces, and self-hosts with Docker Compose. Code is AGPLv3 (some capture crates MIT). The official desktop binaries need a paid commercial licence for work use; builds you compile yourself do not. AI features need your own provider keys.

- Repository: https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap
- Official docs: https://cap.so/docs
- Checked: 2026-10-16

## What it replaces
- Loom: Screen and camera recording, Instant share links for recordings, Timestamped comments and reactions on videos, AI titles, Trimming and editing recordings, Team video library and viewer analytics (full). Covers all six jobs; work use of the official desktop binaries needs a paid licence, and AI features need your own API keys when self-hosted.

## Facts, with sources

| Question | Status | Answer | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on my machine? | Confirmed | Desktop app records locally; the sharing web app can be self-hosted with Docker Compose or used as Cap Cloud | https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap#data-ownership | 2026-10-16 |
| Code licence | Partial | AGPLv3 (copyleft); cap-camera\* and scap-\* crates are MIT | https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap#license | 2026-10-16 |
| Model weights licence | Confirmed | No separate model weights | https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap#license | 2026-10-16 |
| Commercial use | Partial | Official desktop binaries need a paid commercial licence (or Cap Pro) for commercial use; self-built binaries fall under AGPLv3 only | https://cap.so/docs/commercial-license | 2026-10-16 |
| Paid services needed? | Partial | Nothing paid needed for personal use; work use of official binaries needs a licence; AI transcripts and summaries need a provider key (or a local OpenAI-compatible server); email via Resend | https://cap.so/docs/self-hosting | 2026-10-16 |
| Hardware | Unknown | Not documented for the desktop app or the self-hosted server | none found | - |
| Operating systems | Confirmed | macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 64-bit, Linux x86\_64 .deb only | https://cap.so/docs/installation | 2026-10-16 |
| Setup effort | Confirmed | Easy desktop installer; self-hosting the web app is a Docker Compose stack (MySQL, MinIO, media server) | https://cap.so/docs/self-hosting | 2026-10-16 |

GitHub: 23359 stars, 2093 forks, last push 2026-10-16, archived: no.
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Source: RepoQuarry (https://repoquarry.dev/projects/cap). Data licence: CC BY 4.0. Quotes are from project documentation and belong to their authors.