README

Cap


	Beautiful, shareable screen recordings. Open source, fast, and built for teams that want to own their data.



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Cap is the open source alternative to Loom. It gives you fast screen recording, polished local editing, instant share links, comments, transcripts, analytics, team workspaces, custom domains, custom S3 storage, and full self-hosting when you need complete control.

Use Cap for product demos, bug reports, onboarding, tutorials, design reviews, engineering walkthroughs, async standups, client updates, and any moment where showing the work is faster than scheduling another call.

 Why Cap

- Record, edit, share. Capture your screen, camera, and microphone, then share a link or export a finished video.
- Instant Mode for speed. Upload while recording and get a shareable link the moment you stop.
- Studio Mode for polish. Record locally, edit with backgrounds, zooms, trimming, captions, and export controls.
- A native desktop app. Cap runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with a web dashboard for viewing, sharing, and managing recordings.
- Own your storage. Use Cap Cloud, connect your own S3-compatible bucket, keep recordings local, or self-host the full platform.
- Privacy by default. Share publicly or privately, add passwords, use your own domain, or keep sensitive recordings off hosted infrastructure.
- Async collaboration. Comments, reactions, transcripts, viewer analytics, and team workspaces keep feedback attached to the video.
- Cap AI. Generate titles, summaries, clickable chapters, captions, and transcripts automatically.
- Move from Loom. Import existing Loom videos into Cap and keep your library in one place.

 Recording Modes

| Mode | Best for | How it works |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Instant Mode | Fast feedback, bug reports, async updates | Cap uploads while you record, then gives you a share link as soon as recording stops. |
| Studio Mode | Product demos, tutorials, launches, client work | Cap records locally, opens the editor, and lets you export or share a polished video. |

 Data Ownership

Cap is designed for people and teams who do not want their recording workflow locked inside a black box.

- Use Cap Cloud for the fastest hosted experience.
- Connect AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, MinIO, Wasabi, or another S3-compatible provider.
- Serve share pages from your own domain.
- Self-host Cap Web, the API, database, media server, and object storage with Docker Compose.
- Point Cap Desktop at your self-hosted instance from Settings  Cap Server URL.

 Get Started

For most users, the fastest path is:

1. Download Cap for macOS, Windows, or Linux from cap.so/download.
2. Sign in or create an account.
3. Choose Instant Mode or Studio Mode.
4. Record your first Cap.
5. Share the link, export the file, or keep it local.

The full product docs live at cap.so/docs.

 Self-Hosting

The fastest way to self-host Cap Web is Docker Compose:

bash
git clone h

Top issues

Latest release

Cap 0.6.2 is available in seven languages, adds Turbo export for MP4 exports up to 2.8x faster, and brings Focus mode for recording a single window. The picker and main window have a redesigned, cohesive look across macOS, Windows and Linux, and the release includes more than 200 fixes and performance improvements.

 Features

- Multi-language support - Cap is available in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, German and Hindi. It follows your system language, or pick one in Settings → General → Language. The app switches straight away, with no restart.
- Turbo export - A new