Loom vs Vidyard vs Tella: which is best for client video updates

Pick Loom for the fastest, most familiar way to record a client update. Pick Vidyard if video is part of your sales and outreach. Pick Tella if you want updates that look produced. All three record your screen and face and give you a link, which turns a status call into a clip the client can watch later.

Why a recording beats another meeting

A recorded update beats a call because the client can watch it when they have time. Microsoft's Work Trend Index found workers are interrupted about every two minutes, roughly 275 times a day, and receive 117 emails and 153 Teams messages on a typical weekday. A live meeting on top of that costs both of you.

The shift is already large. Atlassian reports that Loom customers recorded 88 million videos in 2024, which Loom estimates replaced 202 million meetings. That figure is Loom's own estimate, but the direction is clear. For a small business, each recorded walkthrough is a call you did not need to schedule, attend or recover from.

Live calls still win for negotiation and real discussion. For a one-way update (here is what I did, here is what is next, here is what I need from you), a clip is faster for everyone.

Short videos get watched

The one rule for client video is brevity. Vidyard's business video benchmarks report that videos under one minute have a 65% completion rate, while videos over 20 minutes fall to 20%. A tight two-minute update gets watched to the end. A rambling fifteen-minute one gets abandoned halfway.

Record as if the client is busy, because they are.

Pricing side by side

Prices change often, so read these as of the date you check each page.

The Loom figures come from Loom's pricing page: the Starter plan is free with 25 videos and 5-minute recordings, then Business and Business plus AI are paid. Tella lists Pro at $13 and Premium at $19 per user per month on annual billing, with no free plan, and trials without credits. Vidyard's page shows a free plan with limited features, a Starter plan with a 14-day trial and custom pricing for teams.

Where each one wins

Loom

Loom wins for pure client updates. It is fast to record, familiar to most clients and generous enough on the free plan to start today. For a screen walkthrough of a design, a build or a report, it is the default. The free plan limits you to five-minute recordings, which suits the two-minute update you should be sending anyway.

Vidyard

Vidyard wins if video is part of how you win work, not only how you report on it. Its hosting, analytics and integrations lean toward sales and outreach, so if you send video pitches or embed video in proposals and want to see who watched, it is built for that job.

Tella

Tella wins on production value. If you want updates that look intentional, with clean layouts and a designed feel instead of a plain screen recording, Tella is the one. It costs more per month than Loom's paid tier at the low end and has no free plan, so it makes sense when the recordings are also part of how you present your work.

For the wider habit, see how regular status updates build trust.

How to record an update people finish

The tool is the easy part. The skill is recording something a busy client watches to the end. A few habits help.

• Lead with the point in the first ten seconds. That is where you earn the next two minutes or lose them.
• Show, do not tell. Share your screen and walk through the actual work.
• Keep one update to one topic, so the client can watch the clip that concerns them.
• End with the one decision you need, so the video leads to an action.

Vidyard's benchmark also reports that video creation jumped 88% in 2024 over the prior year, which shows how normal this way of working has become. Microsoft notes that meetings after 8pm rose 16% year over year, so a clip the client can watch on their own schedule is a relief for both sides.

A well-structured video can also communicate the work better than a call, because the client can pause, rewind and revisit the exact moment they need.

What to say in the first thirty seconds

The opening decides whether the clip is watched. Skip the greeting and the weather. Say who you are only if the viewer might not know, then state what the video covers and how long it runs. For example: "This is the week three update on your website. Two minutes. I will show the homepage, flag one question, and end with the decision I need from you."

That one sentence tells the client the length, the content and the ask, so they can decide to watch now or later. It also gives you a script for the rest of the recording. Show the thing, say what changed since last time, name the single open question, and stop. If you find yourself explaining the history of the project, cut it. The client was there.

Add a short written line under the link too, because some people will read before they watch. One sentence with the question you need answered is enough.

Where the recording should live

A recording is only useful if the client finds it. A link buried in an email thread gets lost, and a client who has to hunt for last week's walkthrough will ask for a call instead.

Attach the video to the thing it is about: the project, the delivery or the approval request. Put the link next to the file the client is reviewing, and say in one line what you want them to do after watching. That way the clip, the files and the decision sit in one place. If you want help wording the request, see how to ask a client to approve work.

How Delivvo keeps video updates with the work

Delivvo does not record video. It gives the recording a home next to the deliverables, the approval and the invoice, so the client does not search for it.

1. Record the update in Loom, Vidyard or Tella and copy the link.
2. Open the client's project in Delivvo and post the link in a message in the client portal, next to the files you are discussing.
3. Upload the file for review. Versions are kept, so the client sees the current one and you keep the history.
4. Ask for approval from the portal. The client reviews the clip and the file together, and approves with one click.
5. When the work is approved, the invoice and the payment sit in the same portal.

Clients open the portal with a one-time code, so there is no password to remember, and the whole thread of updates, files and approvals stays on one page they can return to. When a client asks what you said three weeks ago, the answer is a click away instead of a search through old emails and chat history. Your own notes stay organised by client and project too, which helps when a project pauses and starts again months later. The client pays through your own gateway, and Delivvo takes 0% of the payment.

If your updates are polished product demos and you edit your own footage, Cutroom is Delivvo's AI video editor. It runs on your own computer, files stay on the machine, and it costs $99 once with no subscription.

Free covers 3 clients and 3 active projects with no card. See the client portal and client approvals pages.

This sits inside Delivvo's CRM for service businesses. More on Delivvo for teams.

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