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Side-by-side comparison · Video & Audio

Castmagic vs Guidde vs Loom

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Castmagic

4.0

From $19/mo

Guidde

4.2

From $29/creator/mo

Loom

4.2

From $18/user/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Pick it if: Businesses and agencies running a podcast, webinar series or YouTube channel who need the written content to go with it.

Best value

Pick it if: Operations, support and training leads who need to document software processes without filming or editing.

Loom4.2

Pick it if: Teams, consultants and salespeople who explain things on screen and want to send a video instead of booking a call.

Overview

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
In one lineTurns podcasts and recordings into show notes, posts, emails and clips.Records your screen as you click through a task and turns it into a narrated how-to video.Records your screen and camera in one click, with AI titles, summaries and chapters.
Pricing modelPaidFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$19/mo$29/creator/mo$18/user/mo
Free plan No Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code Yes No No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
Overall rating4.04.24.2
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
5.0
5.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.0
4.0
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
3.5
3.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
4.0
3.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
4.5
4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
Access & platform
Free plan No Yes Yes
Mobile app No– Yes
Desktop app No Yes Yes
Browser extension No Yes Yes
API access Yes––
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images–––
Makes images Yes No No
Makes video No Yes No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations–––
Learns your brand or style Yes Yes–
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score8/ 1710/ 179/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
Plans

Hobby

$19/mo billed yearly ($239/yr)

A single show publishing a few episodes a month.

Free

Free

Trying it on a handful of processes.

Starter

Free

Occasional recordings and trying it out.

StarterOur pick

$48/mo billed yearly ($579/yr)

Businesses with a regular podcast or webinar series.

ProOur pick

$29/creator/mo, or $19/creator/mo billed yearly

One person documenting processes most weeks.

Business

$18/user/mo, or about $15 billed yearly

Teams who record often but don't need AI extras.

Team

$139/mo billed yearly ($1,669/yr)

Agencies and teams working on several shows.

Business

$59/creator/mo, or $39/creator/mo billed yearly

Teams building a shared library of guides.

Business + AIOur pick

$24/user/mo, or about $20 billed yearly

Teams who send lots of videos and want them skimmable.

Business & Scale

From $699/mo

Studios, publishers and platforms.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations with security and translation needs.

Enterprise

Custom

Large companies with IT and security needs.

Which plan to pickHobby is enough to test it on one show. Starter is the sensible plan for a business publishing every week, and the one that adds API access. Hours are a running total, not a monthly allowance, so estimate how much you will upload in a year.Start on Free to see if the capture works with your apps. If you document processes every week, Pro on yearly billing is enough for one person. Business only makes sense once several people are building guides or you need desktop capture.Try Starter first. If people on your team record most days, Business + AI on yearly billing is worth it for the summaries and clean-up; plain Business is fine if you just need unlimited length.

Key features

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
Standout features
  • Transcription
  • Instant content drafts
  • Custom prompts
  • Magic Chat
  • Clips and audiograms
  • Automatic imports
  • Magic capture
  • AI voiceover
  • Video and document in one
  • Blur sensitive details
  • Brand kits
  • Share and embed
  • One-click recording
  • AI titles, summaries and chapters
  • Clean-up
  • Turn video into docs
  • Viewer insights
  • Meeting notes

Pros and cons

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
Pros
  • Saves hours of writing for every episode
  • Custom prompts make the output repeatable
  • Searchable library across all your recordings
  • Imports from Zoom, Drive, RSS and YouTube
  • API access on Starter and above
  • Very fast: a narrated guide in minutes with no script or editing
  • One capture gives you a video and a written SOP
  • Blur tool keeps customer data out of shared guides
  • Usable free plan for small teams starting out
  • The quickest way to record and share a screen video
  • Viewers need no account or download
  • AI summaries and chapters make videos easy to skim
  • Works everywhere: Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone and Android
  • Embeds cleanly in Slack, Notion and Jira
Cons
  • Social posts often sound generic and need rewriting
  • No free plan, only paid tiers
  • Hours are capped, and the step up to Business is large
  • You can get similar drafts by pasting a transcript into Claude or ChatGPT
  • Works best in the browser; desktop apps and complex web pages can capture badly
  • Editing is basic, with no multi-track timeline or fine audio control
  • Premium voices and desktop capture cost extra or need a higher plan
  • Few options for organising a large guide library on the cheaper plans
  • Free plan limits run out quickly for regular users
  • Price increases and the loss of free viewer seats since Atlassian bought it
  • AI features are a separate, pricier tier
  • Some users report failed uploads, lag and audio sync problems

Who each one is for

AttributeCastmagicGuiddeLoom
Best for
  • Podcast show notes and timestamps
  • LinkedIn posts from interviews and webinars
  • Newsletters built from episodes
  • Agencies repurposing client recordings
  • Writing SOPs for software tasks
  • Staff onboarding guides
  • Customer help centre how-tos
  • Documenting a process before someone leaves
  • Async updates instead of meetings
  • Walking clients through work
  • Staff training and how-tos
  • Personal sales videos
  • Bug reports and design feedback
You'll find it used by
  • Podcasters
  • Content marketers
  • Agencies
  • Coaches
  • B2B marketing teams
  • Operations managers
  • Customer support teams
  • L&D teams
  • SaaS companies
  • IT teams
  • Sales teams
  • Consultants
  • Customer success
  • Product teams
  • Managers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Castmagic, Guidde or Loom?

They tie on our overall rating (Castmagic 4.0/5, Guidde 4.2/5 and Loom 4.2/5). Castmagic is best for podcast show notes and timestamps and LinkedIn posts from interviews and webinars. Guidde is best for Writing SOPs for software tasks and staff onboarding guides. Loom is best for async updates instead of meetings and walking clients through work.

Which is cheaper, Castmagic, Guidde or Loom?

Castmagic: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $19/mo. Guidde: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/creator/mo. Loom: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $18/user/mo.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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