A lighter OBS Virtual Camera alternative
OBS Studio is a full broadcast suite, and its virtual camera is one feature buried inside it. If all you want is to loop a video file as a webcam, CamLooper does that one job — no scenes, no sources, no encoder settings.
Getting the same result without OBS
Three steps, and nothing to configure beforehand.
Install CamLooper
Install from the download page. The virtual camera driver is registered for you — there is no separate plugin step.
Choose a video
Point it at the clip you want on camera. No scene, no Media Source, no canvas resolution to match.
Select the camera
Pick CamLooper Virtual Camera in Zoom, Teams, Meet or Discord, exactly where you would have picked OBS Virtual Camera.
Already using OBS? Both register their own device, so the two appear side by side and nothing needs uninstalling. Background reading: how CamLooper works, step by step.
How the two compare
OBS Studio
A complete live-production suite: scene composition, multiple sources, filters, encoding and streaming to any RTMP endpoint. The virtual camera is an output of that pipeline.
To loop a video you add a Media Source, tick "loop", build a scene around it and start the virtual camera. It works, and it brings a lot of machinery along with it — plus a noticeable memory and CPU footprint while idle.
Best when you're streaming, compositing several inputs, or need filters and transitions.
CamLooper
One job: decode a video file with FFmpeg and loop it into a virtual camera device. Pick a file, press Start, choose the camera in your meeting app.
No scene graph to learn and nothing to configure before the first run. The installer registers the camera driver, and the app stays out of the way once it's playing.
Best when you want a pre-recorded clip to play as your webcam in Zoom, Teams, Meet or Discord and nothing more.
OBS alternative questions
Can I run CamLooper and OBS at the same time?
Yes. Each registers its own virtual camera device, so both show up in your meeting app's camera list and you choose per call. Note that only one application can hold your real webcam at a time — that limit is unrelated to the virtual cameras.
Is CamLooper free like OBS?
Free to use, including commercially, with no account or watermark. OBS is fully open source under the GPL; CamLooper is source-available and funded by small in-app ads that never touch your video.
My OBS Virtual Camera isn't showing up — will CamLooper fix that?
Often, yes, because there's far less to go wrong in the path. But the underlying cause is usually the meeting app caching its camera list at launch. Diagnose it first with OBS virtual camera not showing up.
Does CamLooper do overlays, filters or scene switching?
No — deliberately. If you need compositing, text overlays or multiple sources, OBS is the right tool. CamLooper covers the case where you just want a video file to play as your camera.
Which platforms does it support?
Windows 10 and 11 and Linux today; macOS is in progress. On Linux the camera uses v4l2loopback — see the v4l2loopback setup guide.
What this is not for
Don't use CamLooper for proctored exams, identity or KYC verification, job interviews, or to impersonate anyone. It exists so you can meet a camera-on requirement without broadcasting your home to a room of strangers.
How you use CamLooper is your responsibility alone. Your school's rules, your employer's, your platform's terms of service and the law where you live all still apply.