Clipy for Mac — Free Loom Alternative for Apple Silicon
The fastest way to record your screen on Apple Silicon. Hit a hotkey, record, stop — a share link is in your clipboard before you can open Slack. Free forever, no watermark, no signup to watch.
Apple Silicon · Intel build coming soon
Version 0.1.13·Released May 4, 2026·17 MB
SHA-256: 4750adfcee775024a140065c4bcb2c6eefc7eba638163e77b6647d9a9808c8b4
Drag Clipy.app to Applications. macOS will verify the Apple Developer ID signature on first launch — no Gatekeeper override needed. Requires macOS 12.3 or later.
Clipy for Mac is a free, native Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4) screen recorder for macOS 12.3 or later. Record full screen, an app window, or a single tab with optional webcam bubble and system audio — then get a share link the moment you press Stop. No watermark, no signup to watch. Signed and notarized by Apple.
Why is Clipy the Mac screen recorder you actually want?
Free forever
No plans, no watermark, no hidden limits. Record as much as you want.
Native Apple Silicon
Compiled for arm64 with ScreenCaptureKit + h264_videotoolbox. No Rosetta, no x86 overhead.
Signed and notarized
Released through Apple's notarytool. macOS approves the first launch — no Gatekeeper warning.
Plays on any device
Share links open in any browser — Mac, iPhone, Windows, Android. No signup to watch.
How does Clipy compare to Loom, Screen Studio, CleanShot X, QuickTime, and OBS on Mac?
Most Mac screen recorders make you pick between price, polish, and speed-to-share. Clipy is the only free, native menu-bar app that gives you a share link the moment you stop recording — no export, no watermark, no upgrade prompt.
| Feature | Clipy | Loom Desktop | Screen Studio | CleanShot X | QuickTime | OBS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free, no trial | Yes | Free tier (capped) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| No watermark on free | Yes | No | Yes (paid) | Yes (paid) | Yes | Yes |
| Native Apple Silicon (arm64) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Menu-bar mode | Yes | No (Dock app) | No (Dock app) | Yes | No | No |
| Instant share link on Stop | Yes | Yes | No (export step) | Cloud add-on | No | No |
| Custom global hotkey | Yes (default ⌘⇧R) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Webcam bubble overlay | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes (manual) |
| System audio capture | Yes (macOS 13+) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (extra extension) | Yes (extra extension) |
| Auto-update | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Via macOS | Manual |
Sources: vendor websites and our own usage as of 2026. Read the deep dive: Clipy vs QuickTime and Clipy vs Loom.
Why does Apple Silicon matter for Mac screen recording?
Clipy ships as a native arm64 binary. It uses Apple's ScreenCaptureKit to grab the display and routes pixels straight into h264_videotoolbox, the same hardware H.264 encoder Final Cut Pro uses. There is no Rosetta translation, no x86 overhead, and no compatibility shim — your M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip runs Clipy as fast as the silicon allows.
Once a recording starts, Clipy streams the upload to our servers in parallel with capture. By the time you press Stop, most of the video is already on the wire — your share link lands in your clipboard within a few seconds, not after a multi-minute export-then-upload cycle.
The default global hotkey is ⌘⇧R to toggle Start/Stop, and you can rebind it from Settings if it conflicts with another app. Flip on Menu-bar only mode and Clipy hides from the Dock entirely (a Tauri LSUIElement toggle) — recording lives behind the menu-bar icon and your keyboard shortcut, no window in your way.
And it stays free with no watermark and no signup-to-watch. Anyone with the link can play your recording in any browser, on any device, without making an account.
What are the system requirements for Clipy on Mac?
- Operating system
- macOS 12.3 (Monterey) or later
- Processor
- Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4)
- System audio capture
- Requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or later
- Disk
- ~150 MB installed; recordings stream upload, so they don't pile up on your drive
- Network
- Internet connection required for share-link uploads
- Intel Macs
- Not supported today. Use the Clipy web app in your browser instead.
What are the three ways to record on Mac with Clipy?
- 1
Desktop app (this page) — best for Apple Silicon Macs. Lives in your menu bar, records system audio plus mic, no browser tab required. Pick this when you record often or need system audio.
- 2
Chrome extension at clipy.online/products/chrome-screen-recorder — best for quick tab or window recordings straight from Chrome. Works on Intel and Apple Silicon, no install beyond the extension.
- 3
Web app at clipy.online — works in any browser on any platform. No install at all. Pick this on a borrowed Mac, an Intel machine, or any device that is not yours. Once you record, your share page comes with a downloadable transcript and inline timestamp links to jump around the video.
Who uses Clipy for Mac?
Bug reports in 30 seconds
Hit the hotkey, reproduce the bug, stop. Paste the link into your Jira ticket. Engineers see exactly what happened without a wall-of-text description.
How to send a screen recording as a bug report →Async Slack messages that actually land
Replace the Slack voice note with a screen recording. Unfurl in Slack, colleagues watch at their own pace, no scheduling needed.
How to share a screen recording on Slack →Async standups instead of daily meetings
Record a 90-second standup update from your Mac. Your team watches when they start their day — no one blocks anyone.
Replace your daily standup with async video →Loom alternative on Mac
Same share-link workflow as Loom, without the subscription. Free, native, works from your menu bar.
Clipy vs Loom — full comparison →What do viewers see when you share a Clipy recording?
When Clipy hands you a link, the recipient lands on a hosted Clipy share page — not a raw download. That share page has its own niceties that come from the web side of Clipy:
- A downloadable transcript your viewers can grab as a .txt for notes or context.
- Inline timestamp buttons in Q&A answers so viewers can click straight to the moment they care about.
- No signup wall — anyone with the link plays the video.
These features live on the share page (the web side of Clipy). The desktop app's job is to capture and upload fast; the share page is where viewers get their value.
Related guides
The Slack Screen Recorder Stack: Record, Share, and Unfurl Without a Meeting
The difference between metadata unfurls and Loom-style inline-player unfurls in Slack, and which screen recorders actually deliver each one.
min readClipy vs Cap.so: An Honest Comparison Between Two Indie Screen Recorders
Two indie Loom alternatives compared: Cap.so wins on open source and native desktop, Clipy wins on browser-first recording and zero-install sharing.
min readScreen Recorder With No Watermark (And What 'No Watermark' Actually Means in 2026)
A taxonomy of the five kinds of watermark — visible logo, end-card, audio bumper, viewer-page branding, metadata branding — and which tools use each.
min readScreen Recorder With No Signup — Record, Get a Link, Move On
Recorder-side and viewer-side signup are two separate problems — here is the matrix of which free tools fail each test, and why viewer-side is fatal.
min readFree Screen Recorder Online — No Download, No Watermark, No Signup
Most browser-based screen recorders break at least one of: no watermark, no time cap, no signup wall, no library cap. Here is the honest scorecard.
min read10 Best Screen Recorders Without a Watermark in 2026 (Free Tier Honest Test)
Ten screen recorders tested across five places vendors hide branding — in-video logo, end-card, audio bumper, share page, and viewer playback UI.
min readFrequently asked questions
Is Clipy really free on Mac?
Yes — completely free. No trial period, no credit card, no feature gates. Record your screen, get a share link, done.
Is Clipy signed and notarized?
Yes. Every release is code-signed with our Apple Developer ID and notarized with Apple via the App Store Connect notarytool API in CI. macOS verifies the signature on first launch — no Gatekeeper override or right-click-Open dance is needed.
Does Clipy work on M1, M2, M3, and M4?
Yes. The desktop app is compiled natively for arm64, so it runs at full speed on every Apple Silicon Mac — M1 through M4 Pro and Ultra. No Rosetta is invoked.
Does Clipy support Intel Macs?
Not yet. The current release is Apple Silicon (arm64) only. An Intel build is on the roadmap. In the meantime, the Clipy web app at clipy.online works in any browser on any Mac, including Intel.
Does Clipy work with multiple displays?
Yes. Pick any connected display from the Screen tab before starting a recording. Each display is captured at its native resolution.
Can I record a single window instead of the full screen?
Yes. Switch to the Window tab in the Clipy menu-bar UI and pick the app window you want to capture. The recording follows that window even if you move it.
Does Clipy support external microphones?
Yes. Any microphone macOS exposes — built-in, USB, Bluetooth, or audio-interface inputs — appears in the mic picker. You can also disable the mic entirely if you only want system audio.
What resolution can I record at?
Pick from 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K, or Native (matches the source display). 1080p is a good default for share-link viewing; Native is best for editing in another tool.
Where is my recording file saved?
The .mp4 is written to ~/Library/Application Support/online.clipy.desktop/recordings/ while you record. When you stop, it is uploaded and a share link is copied to your clipboard automatically. The local file is yours to keep or delete.
Do I need to sign in or create an account?
A free account is required to get a share link (so your recordings have a home on the web). Sign-in takes under 30 seconds with Google. Viewers never need an account to watch.
Will Clipy support Intel Macs or Windows in the future?
Both are planned. Windows is next on the roadmap; an Intel Mac build will follow. We post updates on the changelog at clipy.online/download/releases.
Ready to record?
Free, no watermark, no signup to watch. Download and you are recording in under two minutes.
Apple Silicon · Intel build coming soon
Version 0.1.13 · Apple Silicon only · All releases