Show, don’t tell. While it’s not the most advanced or complicated advice, screen recorder software makes it to take it seriously.
By using screen capture apps, you can replay what is happening on your screen, including how the cursor moves, to explain things, tell of problems, or share understanding. Typing out such descriptions can take much longer than just sharing the screen with someone, but you are not usually right next to the very persons who need to look at the screen with you. They overturn that problem.
This year, I screen tested and evaluated over 40 screen recording software, this is in the list of the best six that you can find.
What makes the best screen recorder for PC or Mac?
In my opinion, the finest screen capture software makes a task which shows how things work very simple. Or, if you are making a support ticket, how they don’t work. Yet it is the case that each person will be looking for something different. I personally came across and tested hundreds of apps, some of which were as small as three-button windows and the others were real system monsters. The price ranges start from free to several hundreds of dollars. undefined
- The function to allow recording a whole screen, a window/app, or a specific part of it.
- The ability to add a webcam overlay on the active screen capture.
- Concurrent sound recording by microphone and speaker.
- In-built video, sharing and/or the ability to export conveniently.
- A straightforward and user-friendly interface.
- Price plans that meet the value option
Of course, the process is not complete yet after the screen record. However, the final quality of the product itself is critical for engaging users with the product and I also paid attention to the post capture editing features.
One thing to note: It may be that an app you currently use includes screen recording in the basic features. Many tools like Dropbox Capture and Vimeo Record have added screen recording to their set of features. So it may be a good idea for you to check if the capabilities that you need are already in the tools you already use.
Moreover, iPhones and Androids also have a screen recording feature that’s in-built. But if recording your phone screen is really what you want to do, this might be all you need.
To record your screen on iPhone
- You will be able to access the Screen Recording option from the Control Center once the settings are completed after you navigate to Settings > Control Center and select the green + button.
- Whenever you are ready to record, a three-second countdown will be provided when you can swipe down from the top of the screen to open Control Center and go ahead to tap Record button.
- Tap the Record button again (it will be red now) to stop the recoding (or swiping down) by tapping the red recording status bar in the top-left corner of your screen.
To record your screen on an Android
- Pull down your device’s screen from the top, choose the screen record function.
- Tap an area to record from and then, you can decide to record or not the screen and audio. Tap Start to begin.
- When done, slide your finger down from the top of the screen once again, and press the Screen recorder notification to finish the recording.
That’s it! My recording is immediately saved within my Photos app and can be located on either device.
The Best Screen Recording Software at a Glance
Name | Best for | Standout feature | Free plan |
Camtasia | Advanced video editing | Robust editing features | N/A |
Loom | Quickly recording and sharing on desktop | Super easy to use and works across devices | Trial for 25 videos not more than 5 minutes |
Movavi Screen Recorder | Screen capture when you’re away from your desk | Scheduled captures | Digital watermarks on all free downloads. |
OBS Studio | Advanced recording tools and live streaming | Live streaming and advanced recording tools | Free |
ScreenPal | Affordable editing features | Tons of editing options | Free for unlimited recordings, up to 15 minutes duration each one of them. |
Zappy | Free screen recording for Mac | Exceedingly simple and quick | Local files and screenshots can be saved for free. |
Best screen recording software for advanced video editing
Camtasia (Windows, Mac)
Camtasia pros:
- Simple, easy-to-use capture
- Robust editing features
Camtasia cons:
- High upfront cost
The camtasia video capture interface is trouble-free, easy to use, and does not tire. You set the capture area of the video and decide on whether or not your webcam and microphone inputs are selected, then click on the ‘Record’ button.
Its in-built video editor though, differs. It’s no wonder that there’s an endless list of editing options at the same time it doesn’t seem a constraint, you may say. Also alongside the left-hand side of the application, there are click-and-drag effects and a pretty good set of stock media and on the right-hand side of the application, you will find the details properties and customization which appear whenever you choose your timeline element.
And Camtasia gives excellent tutorial videos to anyone who encounter difficulty handling its editing tools. Developing the pro introductions and outros and just dropping them in the test video for my take was just a seconds work. However, I experienced some difficulties among the interactivity features, which allow you to include quizzes or clickable buttons on your project. However, an insertion of interactivity made these elements configue much easier, whereas previewing the video and exporting the final product became notably more difficult.
This is also the only one app I tested that the looping audio tool is available when writing down text. The system waits for your four-second long phrase to be typed, and then you hit Tab and it starts playing the next set.
My only drawback as far as Camtasia goes is its pricing model. The free trial only allows you to use it for 3 days so if you want to cancel it that means that you can’t get your money back. Plus, there’s no monthly option. The software is a bigger investment than it. Having said that, you can get the better deal now if already like the interface. Yet, it is cheaper over time compared to what most offer.
Note: could you use Camtasia if you do not require any editing but like the visual design of it? Capture (formerly Jing) is from the same company offering screen recording only.and it’s free to download and use.
Camtasia pricing: $299.99 for a lifetime business license.
Best screen recording software for quickly recording and sharing on desktop
Loom (Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone/iPad, Chrome)
Loom pros:
- User-friendly and device-agnostic, across different devices.
- Generous free plan
Loom cons:
- The apps available for mobile phones are not 100% accurate.
If you need to do it quickly and give access for people to view it, try Loom. Recording videos on Loom is a simple process. You can choose to record your screen, your screen with webcam video, or only your webcam. Once the video is recorded, it will be automatically uploaded to Loom.. You can make a few light edits on the browser, if that is your wish, or you can click on the link to share the video. It’s all very fast, so it’s mainly the win among all other screen recorders.
To use Loom’s free version, you can put up a maximum of 25 videos limited to each five minutes. “Limited”, yes, but always use it to demonstrate your progress, your concepts and finally your detailed plans of world conquest to your buddies. Or, if your coming close to 25 videos limit, you can always download your videos and store them somewhere else.
On the cons side, Loom isn’t flawless. The desktop app is fairly stable but the mobile app doesn’t do what I need perhaps.The Android version requires users to enter a Google password for login, instead of utilizing the user’s Android support for Google accounts, which seems strange. Additionally, iPhone and iPad apps lack video synchronization with video recording.
“The company has recently completed beta testing on AI-powered features such as auto-generated titles, summaries, and chapters. Additionally, the AI can automatically advance tasks and remove filler words and silence. I tested the auto-generation feature and it worked, but the results were basic. Although the AI features need an upgrade, I am not yet convinced of their value and feel they may not be worth the upgrade cost.”
Anyway, Loom does its job very well but with relatively few complaints in the majority of cases.
Loom pricing: Free for 25 videos of 5-minute max duration. A Business option plan starts at $12.50/user/month. You can access unlimited videos and recording duration with every Business plan.
Best screen recording software for screen capture when you’re away from your desk
Movavi Screen Recorder (Windows, Mac)
Movavi pros:
- The creation of scheduled captures is a simple job for me.
Movavi cons:
- No monthly pricing option
- Extensive edits are performed by calling for a Movavi program on a separate course.
Movavi Screen Recorder isn’t the cheapest option but it is still a good mid-level screen recorder for PC and a option to OBS that has its own built-in editor that does the job. But there is one feature it does exceptionally well: arrested detentions.
The tool here gives you the option to record webinars or live streams while you are away from your desk. You’ll find it in the preferences under the Scheduler’s link. You may indicate till when the next recording will occur, or you may provide the right time for a given recording to begin and finish. The beauty of it is, you can set it up in such a way that once your computer is done with a capture it automatically shuts itself down or goes to sleep.
It’s quick and clear, being true to an extent that Movavi certainly stands out for its added resolution settings. If for instance, you need to record a time-inconvenient webinar for other participants to view, it should be in a good quality.
Movavi pricing: Watermarks on all free recordings – individual license ($42.95/login) or (business license) ${42.95} annually.
Best screen recording software for advanced recording tools and live streaming
OBS Studio(Windows, Mac, Linux)
OBS pros:
- Live streaming and for the advanced video capturing cameras
- It’s totally free
Cons:
- Can be the hardest part for newbies.
OBS is a screen recording app primarily focused on live streaming. You can utilize it to showcase software usage or to capture a movie on Twitch. For instance, gamers on Twitch often use OBS. However, you can also use it to capture videos, and it’s free and powerful when it comes to recording videos, so it’s an efficient choice on the market in case you want to find Camtasia alternatives.
The majority of the apps from the list can be recorded through your webcam and the display. As OBS Studio can actually do much, much more of that. It is the whole thing for broadcasting that implies you can have as many screens and cameras as your computer with handling capacity. Likewise, you will be able to make your own studio, simple audio and vide configurations which you can then use during your recording.
Simple click-and-drag functionality makes resizing and relocating elements within each studio easy. You can seamlessly navigate through them using hotkeys.
Having pre-prepared audio and video presets can help avoid the need to adjust settings while live-broadcasting with OBS’s integrations. The live streaming menu features up to 80 platforms, including well-known sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch, as well as lesser-known or even obscure streaming platforms like Pandora TV. The process is simple and only requires a few clicks. Just open the Settings menu, paste your stream key into the text box, and then activate the one-click Start Streaming button on the main dashboard. Any changes made in the studio, such as sound mixing or webcam positioning, will be sent live, so be prepared.
OBS Studio pricing: Free
Best screen recorder for affordable editing features
ScreenPal (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome)
ScreenPal pros:
- Tons of editing options
- Super affordable upgrade
ScreenPal cons:
- No built-in sharing options
- Updating the turning system audio is a must.
A ScreenPal which is a screen recorder, it’s not costly but one of the highly featured option I have used. With the free plan, you can record your screen and webcam as many times as necessary, with no time limits. However, the output will be restricted to 15-minute videos without any watermark. Further, if you need to do an upgrade—to record system audio or integrating automatic captions, for instance – paid plans start from just $3/month.
Offering this affordably, when there is such a broad range of tools, is why ScreenPal should be considered. The application offers an easy-to-use interface for recording your screen and provides a variety of video editing options. ScreenPal’s screen recording feature is superior to many other applications’ default options because it includes additional tools. With ScreenPal, you can record separate narration, add overlays and transitions, pause or add video files as needed, and create manual captions. All of these complicated tools can be used directly within the application. However, ScreenPal’s straightforward interface makes them easy to master.
After creating a video, you can upload it to YouTube or Vimeo by using their respective video uploading systems or by gaining access to their website. Additionally, you have the option of uploading videos using the browser of the ScreenPal site, which provides you with additional sharing options such as embedding, sharing the link, emailing, and sharing to various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter/X, Microsoft Teams, or Google Classroom.
ScreenPal pricing: Totally free for up to 15 minutes each; use Premium plan for $3/month to get unlimited recording time, system audio recording, and extra editing functions.
Best free screen recorder for Mac
Zappy (Mac)
Zappy pros:
- Exceedingly simple and quick
- Gives you the go-ahead to animate emojis.
- It’s completely free
Cons:
- Relatively limited feature set
It may be that you just need to make an informal recording, and then send it to someone without even the need to edit it or to tweak a number of settings. Zappy is an application that allows you to record your screen easily using a keyboard shortcut or the menu bar. You can select the specific area of your screen that you want to record, and start and stop the recording by clicking on the video camera button. The app also has options for recording your voice using a microphone and for recording your face using your webcam.
If you’re a paid user, the audio file gets saved to the cloud, and a link is copied to your clipboard. If you don’t upload it, you can still grab the video offline and share it wherever and however you want.The features such as settings and editing text, however, you can choose to add arrows, boxes, text, and blurriness right from the recording or after the recording like a screenshot. It’s but nothing more than a convenient way to send something.
Cards on the table: voila,built Zappy for internal use mainly to solve the team’s problem with an existing tool that they felt wasn’t quite right. They believed that perhaps, it might serve a purpose, so they published it for public use.
Zappy pricing: Instantly share local screen recording or snapshots for free. With the available paid accounts, you can automatically upload all recordings to the cloud. The starting prices for accounts are $19.99/month.
Screen recording software FAQ
Here are some questions lots of people have about screen recording apps and how to choose the right one.
Why use screen recording software?
There are a lot of things that can make recording a screen useful. The process might involve showing someone how to do a certain thing, explaining a problem, or sharing your knowledge with coworkers, which will be possible to accomplish using a screen recording.
What’s the best free screen recording tool?
It may or may not be the case depending on what ulterior function you want to use it for. For an easy task, such as sharing something that is on top of your desktop, Loom, Zappy, and ScreenPal are excellent picks. For live streaming, make your selection OBS.
Are there any free screen recorders that don’t leave a watermark?
Free to use OBS, Zappy, and ScreenPal won’t be superimposing the watermark on your video script.
Finding the best screen recording software
The screen recorder which is best is the one which saves your time and produces the best value for your audience. Be sure on your customers and use case before choosing an app. All the video capture programs we’ve talked about earlier are either free or come with free trials, so you can try out the ones you like most for yourself and find out your favorite.