Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most people in the US who want easy screen recording plus simple built‑in editing and fast publishing, StreamYard is the most practical place to start. If you need heavy transcript‑based or AI editing, consider pairing StreamYard with Loom, and use OBS only when you specifically want a free, capture‑first setup and a separate editor.

Summary

• StreamYard gives you screen recording, layouts, local multi‑track capture, and a built‑in trim/split editor that can publish clips directly to major platforms.¹
• Loom focuses on quick async sharing, with transcript‑driven and AI‑assisted edits layered on top of simple recordings.²
• OBS centers on powerful, free capture and live production, but you will need a separate video editor for any real post‑production.³
• For typical laptops and everyday workflows, a browser‑based studio like StreamYard usually hits the sweet spot of simplicity, quality, and distribution.

What does “screen recording software with a built‑in editor” really mean?

When people search for this, they usually want three things:

1. Capture the screen clearly — ideally with a face‑cam and good audio.
2. Clean up the recording quickly — trim the start/end, cut mistakes, maybe split into smaller clips.
3. Share or publish without friction — upload to YouTube or drop a link into Slack without wrestling with files.

In other words, they are looking for a workflow, not just a feature list: record → make a few quick edits → publish.

That’s exactly the gap StreamYard’s in‑browser studio plus built‑in editor is designed to cover, without asking you to learn a full‑blown video editing suite.¹

How does StreamYard handle recording and editing in one place?

At StreamYard, we start with a browser‑based studio that records your screen, camera, and guests in one controlled environment.⁴ Within that studio you can:

• Share your entire screen or a single window.
• Arrange layouts so your camera, slides, and app windows are framed clearly.
• Control screen audio and microphone audio independently for clean mixes.
• Layer in logos, overlays, and on‑screen branding live.
• Keep presenter notes visible only to you, so you stay on script without reading off‑screen.
• Run collaborative demos where multiple participants can share their screens in one session.

Once you stop recording, StreamYard’s built‑in editor lets you trim and split the video right in your browser.¹ You can remove awkward starts, re‑do sections, or carve out shorter highlights without downloading giant files.

For short edits (20 minutes or less), you can also publish directly from the editor to YouTube, LinkedIn, or a Facebook page, turning a single recording session into multiple share‑ready clips.¹

For creators who want high‑quality output without juggling local files or heavy software, this record‑edit‑publish loop is often all they need.

When should you use StreamYard instead of Loom for editing?

Loom is a familiar name if your team shares quick walkthroughs and feedback videos. It records a screen plus a camera bubble and layers in transcription, captions, and AI‑driven summaries on certain plans.²⁵

Here’s a practical way to separate the two:

• Choose StreamYard when the recording itself is the product. Think webinars, product demos, course lessons, or multi‑participant interviews where you care about layouts, branding, and local multi‑track files you can reuse later. StreamYard supports per‑participant local recordings on all plans (with higher caps on paid plans), which is powerful for proper post‑production.⁶
• Use Loom as a lightweight complement when the video is mostly an internal memo. Loom’s transcript‑based and AI‑assisted edits can be handy for quick async updates, internal reviews, or bug reports where link‑based sharing and comments matter more than controlled layouts.²

Pricing structure is another big difference for US teams. Loom prices per user, while StreamYard pricing is per workspace, so one subscription covers the whole team instead of every individual seat. For many teams, that ends up being significantly cheaper than per‑user pricing models when several people record regularly.

A common pattern we see: teams host their public‑facing content in StreamYard, then keep Loom around for internal “over‑the‑shoulder” updates when transcript‑editing is useful.

Where does OBS fit if it doesn’t have a built‑in editor?

OBS Studio is popular among gamers and advanced creators for a reason: it is free, open‑source software for video recording and live streaming with rich control over scenes and sources.³

But OBS is very much capture‑first:

• You install a full desktop app.
• You set up scenes, sources, and encoders.
• OBS records to your local drive; there is no integrated cloud library or built‑in editor.

Any real editing (trimming, adding text, re‑framing) happens later in a separate tool.

That can be a strong setup if you:

• Want deep control over formats, bitrates, and hardware encoders.
• Are comfortable managing large local files and storage.
• Already use a dedicated editor like DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or CapCut.

For many US professionals on standard work laptops, though, OBS’s configuration overhead and hardware dependence can slow things down.⁷ A browser studio like StreamYard, with cloud + local recording and a built‑in trim/split editor, keeps the workflow simple: log in, hit record, clean up, and publish.

How do StreamYard’s editing features compare to dedicated AI editors?

Most “AI video editor” tools promise heavy automation: remove filler words, auto‑chapter the video, or rewrite content from the transcript. Loom leans toward this space, with transcript‑based editing and AI features described on its editing overview.²

StreamYard takes a more focused approach:

• We give you local multi‑track recordings (per participant) suitable for serious post‑production in any dedicated NLE.⁶
• The built‑in editor is intentionally lightweight: trimming, splitting, and publishing clips.¹

This keeps your recording workflow fast and reliable, while letting you decide how much AI or advanced editing you actually need. Many teams prefer to capture once in StreamYard—where layouts, branding, and guest logistics are handled—and then send only select episodes or hero content into heavier editing tools.

If your top priority is deep transcript editing on every single clip, pairing StreamYard recordings with a downstream AI editor (including Loom on a paid, AI‑enabled plan) is a practical hybrid.

What about limits, storage, and long recordings?

If you’re creating multi‑hour demos or shows, limits really matter.

On StreamYard’s paid plans, live streams and studio sessions are automatically recorded in the cloud, with per‑stream caps of 10 hours on most tiers (24 hours on Business).⁸ Recordings stored in your StreamYard account count against plan‑specific storage measured in hours, and you can add storage if you regularly create long content.⁹

All plans also support local recording. The free plan includes 2 hours per month of local recording; paid plans offer unlimited local recording, constrained only by your device and disk space.⁶

Loom’s free Starter plan is more restrictive for ongoing production: it limits users to 5‑minute screen recordings and 25 videos per person.¹⁰ Paid Loom plans lift these caps and market “unlimited recording time & storage,” though typical service and fair‑use policies still apply.¹¹

OBS, by contrast, imposes no vendor recording caps; you are limited only by your hardware, file system, and stability.⁷ That makes sense for long gameplay captures, but it also means you manage everything yourself—from dropped frames to disk space.

If you want a balance of generous long‑form capabilities plus a straightforward editor and hosting layer, StreamYard’s storage‑based model plus local multi‑track gives you predictable guardrails without forcing you into a complex editing stack.

How should you choose the right workflow for your laptop and team?

Here’s a simple decision path that works well for US‑based creators and teams:

• You want to go live, record, lightly edit, and publish from one browser tab → Start with StreamYard. You’ll get layouts, local multi‑tracks, a trim/split editor, and direct publishing of clips to major platforms from a typical laptop.¹⁶
• You only need quick async updates with transcripts and AI summaries → Add Loom as a specialized tool. Use it mainly for internal communication where link‑based sharing and comments are the priority.²
• You care most about raw, highly configurable local capture and you’re comfortable with extra tools → Use OBS for recording/streaming, but plan on a separate editor and file‑management workflow.³

An illustrative scenario: a US SaaS team records a weekly product update in StreamYard with multiple presenters sharing screens, trims the replay into three short clips in the built‑in editor, publishes one directly to YouTube, exports another for their LMS, and shares the third internally via cloud download. For most teams, that single workflow delivers more value than chasing heavy AI features in every tool they use.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your default screen recording and light‑editing studio when quality, branding, and multi‑participant workflows matter.
• Layer in Loom if you specifically want transcript‑based or AI‑driven edits for internal async communication.
• Consider OBS only when you truly need hardware‑tuned, capture‑first workflows and are happy to manage a separate editor.
• Keep your setup simple: prioritize fast recording, straightforward edits, and reliable publishing over feature lists you rarely touch.

Footnotes

1. StreamYard’s built-in editor supports trimming, splitting, and publishing short clips directly to platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook pages. (StreamYard Help Center) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Loom offers trim/stitch editing, edit-by-transcript, and AI-assisted options in its built-in editor experience. (Atlassian – Loom Editing) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. OBS is positioned as free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming, emphasizing capture and scenes rather than built-in post-production editing. (OBS Studio) ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. StreamYard’s pricing and feature overview confirm browser-based studios with local and cloud recordings across plans. (StreamYard Pricing) ↩

5. Loom pricing and plan details outline transcriptions, captions, and AI-powered summaries on higher tiers. (Loom Pricing) ↩

6. StreamYard supports local recordings for each participant, with 2 hours/month on the free plan and unlimited local recording on paid plans. (StreamYard Local Recording) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. OBS system requirements highlight that usable recording performance depends heavily on hardware and configuration. (OBS System Requirements) ↩ ↩²

8. StreamYard’s recording limits article details 10-hour caps on most paid plans and 24-hour caps on Business. (StreamYard Recording Limits) ↩

9. StreamYard storage documentation explains storage measured in hours per plan and behavior when limits are exceeded. (StreamYard Storage) ↩

10. Loom’s Starter plan FAQ notes 5-minute recording limits and 25 video/screenshot caps on the free tier. (Loom Starter FAQ) ↩

11. Loom’s plans overview describes Business and above as having unlimited recording time and storage. (Loom Plans Overview) ↩