Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most business coaches in the U.S., StreamYard is the best starting point because it records your screen and camera in the browser, supports multi-participant sessions, and gives you reusable local tracks and branded layouts without complex setup. If you only need quick one-off async clips or want a highly technical, hardware-tuned setup, Loom or OBS can play a supporting role alongside StreamYard.

Summary

• StreamYard is a strong default for business coaches who need presenter-led tutorials, group coaching recordings, and branded content in one browser-based studio.
• Loom is helpful for quick async updates, though its free plan caps recordings at 5 minutes and 25 videos per person. (Loom)
• OBS is powerful and free for long, local recordings but requires installation, technical tuning, and your own storage management. (OBS)
• The right setup for many coaches is StreamYard for live and session-style recordings, with Loom or OBS as optional add-ons for narrow use cases.

What should business coaches look for in screen recording software?

Before picking tools, zoom out from the tech and think about your workday.

Most business coaches need to:

• Run live or small-group sessions and save clean recordings
• Record structured lessons and slide walkthroughs
• Capture coaching calls, demos, and roleplays with multiple people on screen
• Reuse recordings in courses, memberships, or private client libraries
• Share clips quickly without babysitting files

That means the “best” recorder isn’t just about bitrate or formats. You’re looking for:

• Fast setup: No IT ticket, no driver drama, minimal menus.
• Presenter-first layouts: Your face and your slides framed clearly, with layouts you control.
• Reliable quality on normal laptops: You shouldn’t need a gaming rig to get crisp video.
• Multi-participant support: Clients, co-coaches, and guest experts in one recording.
• Easy reuse: Files and tracks you can later edit into courses, shorts, or social clips.

This is exactly where a browser-based studio like StreamYard matches how coaching businesses actually operate, instead of making you think like a video engineer. (StreamYard)

Why is StreamYard a strong default for business coaches?

At StreamYard, we built the studio around presenter-led recordings, not just raw screen capture.

Key ways that helps coaches:

• Presenter-visible screen sharing with layouts: You see your slides or app and your own camera the whole time, and can switch layouts (full screen, side-by-side, picture-in-picture) without breaking flow.
• Independent control of audio: You can adjust or mute system/screen audio separately from your microphone, which is useful when you want your voice to lead over a noisy demo.
• Local multi-track recordings: Each participant can be recorded on their own local track, which is ideal for polishing a flagship course or pulling clean clips of a client testimonial later. (StreamYard Help)
• Both landscape and portrait from the same session: You can design the session once and export for YouTube (landscape) and vertical shorts or Reels without re-recording.
• Branded overlays and visuals live: Logos, lower-thirds, and frames are applied as you record, so you spend less time in editing tools and more time coaching.
• Presenter notes and teleprompter: You can keep private prompts or a light script visible only to you, and our teleprompter feature is available on paid plans. (StreamYard Teleprompter)
• Multi-participant screen sharing: Co-coaches or clients can share their screens in the same studio for collaborative demos and hot seats.

Because the studio runs in the browser, most U.S.-based coaches can use it on typical business laptops without installing heavy software.

How does StreamYard compare to Loom for coaching videos?

Loom is a useful sidekick for quick async communication, but it is built for a different primary job.

Where Loom fits well for coaches

• Sending a fast review of a client’s funnel or deck
• Recording a short onboarding walkthrough for a team member
• Dropping a 3–4 minute loom into Slack or a project management tool

Loom’s free Starter plan is generous for testing, but it has tight limits: 25 videos per person and a 5‑minute cap on standard screen recordings. (Loom)

Paid Loom plans (Business and Business+AI) list unlimited videos, unlimited recording time, and resolution up to 4K, plus features like AI summaries and enhanced editing. (Loom) For some coaching teams, that’s handy for internal communication.

Where StreamYard usually beats Loom for business coaches

• Session-style content: StreamYard is built for full coaching calls, workshops, and webinars rather than just quick clips.
• Multi-participant layout control: You can manage several people on screen, choose layouts live, and record per-participant local tracks for later editing.
• Branding at the point of capture: Overlays, logos, and visual structure are applied in the studio, so your recordings feel like finished assets, not rough screencasts.
• Workspace pricing vs per-seat: Loom’s paid plans bill per user, while StreamYard pricing is per workspace, which can be more economical for a coaching business that rotates contractors, producers, or occasional co-hosts. (Loom)

A practical approach for many coaches: record your main programs and group calls in StreamYard, then use Loom only when you need a quick one-off clarification video.

OBS or StreamYard: which fits non-technical coaches better?

OBS Studio is well known in creator circles, especially among gamers. It is also free and open source, which is appealing at first glance. (OBS)

However, it’s important to understand what you trade for that flexibility:

• OBS is a desktop app that you install and configure. You pick encoders, bitrates, scenes, and sources yourself.
• It assumes comfort with CPU/GPU settings, file formats, and local storage management.
• Reliability and performance depend heavily on your hardware and your configuration choices. (OBS System Requirements)

For a typical business coach, that often means extra tech overhead without better business outcomes.

StreamYard, by contrast:

• Runs in the browser, so the “studio” is ready as soon as you sign in.
• Gives you screen share, camera, guests, and recording with presets that work on normal business laptops.
• Handles cloud recording and local multi-tracks for you, while keeping controls focused on layouts and conversations rather than codecs.

If you love tweaking every setting and plan to build very complex scene compositions, OBS can be a powerful extra tool. But most coaching businesses get to results faster by staying in an opinionated, browser-based studio like StreamYard.

How do pricing and limits work for coaches and small teams?

Many coaching businesses are small but collaborative: a lead coach, an assistant, maybe a tech VA and a producer.

Some key pricing dynamics:

• StreamYard: The free plan really is free, and paid plans are priced per workspace rather than per individual seat. New users can access Core and Advanced plans at promotional annual rates ($20/month and $39/month respectively for the first year, billed annually), and we also offer a 7‑day free trial and frequent special offers.
• Loom: Pricing is per user. The free Starter plan includes 25 videos and 5‑minute screen recordings; Business from $15/user/month and Business+AI from $20/user/month annually add unlimited videos, longer recordings, and AI tools. (Loom)
• OBS: There is no subscription cost. It is “100% Free Forever,” but you supply the machine, storage, and any backup/cloud workflow. (OBS)

For a team of coaches sharing a studio, StreamYard’s per-workspace structure can be significantly more cost-effective than paying per-seat for every coach, assistant, or contractor who occasionally records.

How would a real coaching workflow look with StreamYard?

Imagine you run a six-week group program with weekly calls, plus a mini-course.

A streamlined setup could look like this:

1. Record your core curriculum: Use StreamYard’s presenter-visible screen sharing to walk through your slides while you stay on camera, with your private notes visible only to you. Add your logo overlay so the recordings are ready to drop into your course area.
2. Run live group sessions: Host weekly calls in the same StreamYard studio. Invite clients as guests, bring their cameras on screen for hot seats, and record local tracks so you can later extract polished case-study clips.
3. Repurpose content: From the same recordings, export landscape videos for your course portal and cut vertical clips for social promotion—all from a single capture session.
4. Supplement with quick async videos: When you need a 2-minute feedback clip on a client’s worksheet, you can either spin up a StreamYard recording or, if your team already uses it, drop a Loom link. The heavy lifting—the core program and calls—stays in StreamYard where layouts, branding, and multi-participant recording are strongest for this use.

This keeps your main business assets in one consistent system, without stopping you from using lighter tools for side tasks.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your primary screen recording and session studio for client calls, workshops, and course recordings.
• Add Loom only if your team leans heavily on quick async clips and is comfortable with its per-user pricing and free-plan caps.
• Consider OBS if you personally enjoy advanced configuration and need deep control over local recording, but be prepared for a steeper learning curve.
• Start by setting up one repeatable StreamYard template studio for your coaching sessions, so every recording looks and feels on-brand from day one.