Loom Review — Send Video Walkthroughs Instead of Typing Novels

Real Pricing

⚠ Free tier limits to 25 videos total lifetime, not per month. Each video capped at 5 minutes. Business at $12.50/month removes all limits and adds AI features like auto-titles and summaries.

What It Actually Does

Loom is a video messaging tool that takes about five seconds to use. You click record, choose whether to capture your screen or your webcam or both, and start talking. When you stop recording, Loom gives you a link. You send the link. The person watching doesn’t need an account, doesn’t need to install anything, doesn’t need to do anything except click and watch. And you can see who watched it, how much of it they watched, and whether they clicked on anything you included.

The difference between Loom and sending a video file is enormous. A video file has to be compressed, attached to an email, uploaded, or shared through some file transfer service that confuses your customers. A Loom link is just a link. Click it. It plays. That’s it. The friction is zero, which means people actually watch the videos you send instead of ignoring an attachment or struggling with a file that’s too large for email.

Loom works as a Chrome extension, a desktop app for Mac and Windows, and a mobile app for iOS and Android. You can record from your computer when you’re at your desk, or from your phone when you’re on a job site. The mobile app is particularly useful for contractors who want to send a quick video walkthrough of a finished project before they leave the site.

How Contractors Actually Use It

The video estimate is the single highest-value use case for Loom in the trades. You’re sending a PDF estimate anyway. Add a Loom video where you walk through the estimate on screen, pointing out each line item and explaining what’s included and why it costs what it does. The customer hears your voice. They see your face if you include the webcam. They understand the bid better than they would from reading a document. And they trust you more because you took the time to explain it personally rather than just attaching a file.

Video estimates close more jobs than PDF estimates alone. The difference is that a customer who watches you explain the work feels like they already know you. A customer who reads a PDF estimate still feels like they’re dealing with a stranger. That trust differential is the difference between getting the job and getting ghosted.

Project updates through Loom replace dozens of text messages and phone calls. A pool contractor sends a two-minute video every Friday showing the progress — excavation this week, shell next week, plumbing the week after. The customer watches it, shows their spouse, forwards it to the parents who are helping pay for the pool. That video link gets passed around. Some of those people need pools too. That’s how you book the next job before this one is finished.

Crew instructions through Loom solve the problem of explaining the same thing five times to five different people. Record a walkthrough of how to wire a specific type of panel, or how to handle a particular chemical treatment, or how to complete a specific inspection checklist. Send it to the crew group chat. They watch it when they need it. You explain it once instead of repeatedly.

Customer walkthroughs of finished work are the final step. After a landscaping project or a pool build, send a Loom video walking through the finished result. Point out details they might not notice. Explain why you made certain design choices. The customer feels like they got a personal tour. They share that video. It’s the best marketing content you’ll ever create, and it takes five minutes to make.

What It Costs

The free tier gives you 25 videos total, not per month, with each video capped at five minutes. For a contractor who sends one or two videos a week, that’s several months of free use before you hit the limit. The five-minute cap is more restrictive for project walkthroughs than for quick updates, but it’s workable.

The Business plan at $12.50 a month, billed annually, removes all limits. Unlimited videos. Unlimited length. Plus AI features that automatically generate titles, summaries, and chapters for your videos. For contractors who use Loom regularly — sending video estimates for every bid, weekly project updates, crew training videos — the Business plan is worth it just for removing the five-minute cap and the 25-video lifetime limit.

There is also an Enterprise plan with advanced admin controls and single sign-on. No contractor needs this.

From the Trenches

A video estimate closes more jobs than a PDF estimate. This is not a theory. It’s what happens when a customer hears your voice, sees your face, and watches you walk through what you’re going to do. They trust you more because you sound like a real person instead of reading like a document. The viewer tracking confirms whether they watched it and for how long, which is more feedback than you ever got from a PDF attachment.

For pool contractors especially, weekly Loom updates are the best marketing content you will ever produce. A customer who gets a two-minute video every Friday watching their pool go from a hole in the ground to a finished project tells everyone they know about the experience. They show the videos to friends and neighbors. Those people call you when they want a pool. The videos sell the next project before the current one is complete.

The free tier gets you started. Record your next estimate as a Loom video alongside the PDF. Send both. See how the customer responds. Once you see the difference in close rate and customer engagement, $12.50 a month for unlimited use won’t feel like a decision.

Alternatives

• Cheaper: Your phone's camera app (free, no screen recording, no sharing links, no viewer tracking)
• Simpler: Nothing simpler — Loom is already about as simple as video gets
• More powerful (and more expensive): Vimeo or Wistia (professional video hosting with more features and higher cost)