Screen recorders split into tools that save a file on your machine and tools that host the video and bill you for the hosting.
This guide ranks thirteen of them on that split: what stays free, which limit hits first (minutes, video count or commercial use), what the shared-link plan costs per seat, and what happens to your recordings if you stop paying.
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In short
What screen recording software does
Screen recording software captures what is shown on a computer display, usually with microphone and webcam, and saves it as a video file or uploads it as a shareable link.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each screen recording tool is built for. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Free plan with limits; per-user monthly plans; Enterprise quoted
Yes
Teams already on Atlassian who want quick video replies
Anyone who needs unlimited free recordings or self-hosting
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
Open source recorder with local files, shared links and self-hosting
Ranked #1 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublished pricingNorth America
Cap records in two ways: Instant mode uploads while recording and gives a link, Studio mode saves locally with an editor. The code is published under AGPLv3, with Docker Compose instructions for a server, so leaving Cap Cloud is a documented move.
The cost of that freedom is operations: you carry the storage, backups and upgrades, and a company still needs the desktop licence or Pro to record legitimately for work.
What stands out
Open source
Self-hostable
Free personal tier
Where it costs you
The free plan is for personal use only and has no commercial rights
Self-hosting makes you responsible for storage, upgrades and security
Right for
Teams that want Loom-style links with the option to host them themselves
Wrong for
Non-technical teams who cannot run a server
United StatesFree for personal use; one-off or yearly desktop licence; per-user monthly Pro, published
Screen and camera recorder with an editor and no free plan
Ranked #2 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Tella records screen and camera as separate tracks, which lets you change layout after the fact rather than at the moment of recording. Clips run up to six hours and storage is unlimited on paid plans, so long walkthroughs fit.
The price is a subscription from the first day. Pro limits viewer analytics to thirty days of history, so a team that reports on view data needs Premium, or has to export that data regularly.
What stands out
Separate tracks
Seven-day trial
Clips to 6 hours
Where it costs you
No free plan; the seven-day trial is the only free route
Custom domain and branding removal need the Premium tier
Right for
Producing tutorials and product videos where layout and captions matter
Wrong for
Quick throwaway replies needing a free plan
United StatesPaid plans billed annually, Enterprise quoted; seven-day trial, no free plan
Formerly Screencast-O-Matic, a recorder and editor with a free tier
Ranked #3 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
ScreenPal sells in tiers: a free one, Deluxe with unlimited recording and hosting, Max with the AI tools and premium stock media, and a per-user team plan with SSO and SAML.
The ladder is easy to follow and each rung is published. Teams of one or two cannot use the team plan, so they buy individual plans and manage them separately, without the central admin that the team tier provides.
What stands out
Free tier
Built-in editor
Team plan
Where it costs you
The free plan limits recording to fifteen minutes and ten hosted videos
The team plan has a minimum of three users
Right for
Individuals and small teams wanting one cheap supplier for recording and editing
Wrong for
Pairs of colleagues needing a managed team plan
United StatesFree tier with limits; per-month plans billed annually; team plan from three users
Free GPL recorder and streamer built around scenes and sources
Ranked #4 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
OBS Studio composes scenes from multiple sources, mixes audio and records or streams the result. It is licensed GPL version two or later and supported by sponsors rather than licence fees, so there is no seat count and no tier to outgrow.
What you give up is convenience: the site lists no link to send and no viewer analytics, and there is a learning curve around scenes and sources before the first clean recording.
What stands out
GPL licence
Free
Windows, Mac, Linux
Where it costs you
Scene and source setup is heavier than a one-click recorder
The site lists no hosted link or viewer tracking
Right for
Technical users who want free, unrestricted local recording and streaming
Wrong for
Colleagues who want to record and send a link
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source, no paid tier
Free open source capture tool for Windows with upload workflows
Ranked #5 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
ShareX is free, GPL-3.0 licensed and built around a workflow: capture a region, window or the whole screen, or record video or a GIF, then run tasks such as upload, annotate or convert.
Custom uploaders let you send files to your own server or storage. The site describes a customisable workflow system, and it lists no team plan or paid support to fall back on.
What stands out
Windows only
GPL licence
Custom uploaders
Where it costs you
The site presents it for Windows only
No hosted video library or viewer analytics are listed
Right for
Windows users who want free capture and automatic upload to their own destination
Wrong for
Mac users, or anyone wanting a polished editor
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source, no paid tier
Mac recorder that adds automatic zoom and cursor smoothing
Ranked #6 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Screen Studio post-processes recordings automatically: zoom follows clicks, the cursor is smoothed, and camera layouts can be switched afterwards. Exports reach 4K at 60 frames per second and the site calls the product offline first.
The privacy policy names an individual, Adam Pietrasiak, as operator, in Krakow, so continuity rests on one small business. A subscription is now the only way to buy, and the site gives no trial, so test the output before paying.
What stands out
macOS only
Auto zoom
Subscription
Where it costs you
macOS only, according to the vendor
Subscription only; the one-off licence is no longer sold to new buyers
Right for
Mac users making polished product demos with automatic zoom effects
Wrong for
Windows or mixed-platform teams
PolandSubscription, yearly or monthly; one-off licences no longer sold
Mac screenshot tool with MP4 and GIF screen recording
Ranked #7 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
CleanShot X treats recording as the second job. It captures MP4 and GIF with microphone and computer audio, adds smart zooms and cursor effects in a built-in editor, and exports for several aspect ratios.
The one-off licence includes a year of updates, and a thirty-day money-back guarantee applies. The free cloud account is optional. It is a personal-productivity tool first, so shared libraries and team controls sit in the separate Pro subscription.
What stands out
macOS only
One-off licence
Screenshots first
Where it costs you
macOS 13 or newer only
Updates after the first year of the one-off licence cost extra
Right for
Mac users who take many screenshots and record occasional short clips
Wrong for
Long recordings, team libraries or Windows users
PolandOne-off licence with a year of updates; per-user subscription for Pro
Chrome extension recorder aimed at teachers and schools
Ranked #8 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Screencastify is built around the classroom: it works on Chromebooks, connects to Google Classroom, Schoology and Canvas, and sells a Submit product for video assignments.
Pricing climbs with recording length, from thirty minutes on the free plan to sixty on Starter and one hundred and eighty on Pro, so a department that records long lectures lands on the Pro plan. Enterprise and EDU pricing is quoted, and purchase orders are accepted above a stated threshold.
What stands out
Chrome extension
Education
Free plan
Where it costs you
Runs as a browser extension for Chrome and Edge only
Free plan allows ten videos; paid tiers raise the per-video minute cap
Right for
Teachers and schools recording lessons and collecting student video assignments
Wrong for
Capturing desktop apps outside the browser
United StatesFree plan with limits; per-user plans billed annually or monthly; EDU quoted
Desktop recorder for Windows and macOS sold per PC
Ranked #9 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Bandicam sells licences by the PC, as annual or perpetual, in personal and business variants, and offers a bundle with its Bandicut editor. Paid licences remove the time limit and the watermark.
The perpetual licence is tied to a product version, so a later major release can mean a new purchase, and fleet licensing becomes a count of machines.
What stands out
Perpetual option
Per-PC licence
Free version
Where it costs you
The free version stops at ten minutes and adds a watermark
Business use needs a separate business licence priced per PC
Right for
One user on one PC who wants a local recorder bought outright
Wrong for
Teams wanting shared links or a hosted library
United StatesAnnual or perpetual licence, personal or business, per PC; free version limited
Recordings, screenshots and GIFs shared by link for support teams
Ranked #10 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Zight handles screenshots, GIFs and recordings through one link workflow. Request Video lets support staff ask a customer for a recording without an account on the other side, and the recording arrives with console logs and browser details.
The seat price is published for Create and Collaborate, but SOC 2 reporting begins at Collaborate and the Zendesk, Intercom and Salesforce integrations are on Scale, so the real cost depends on your support stack.
What stands out
Free plan
Video requests
Support workflows
Where it costs you
The free plan is limited to five-minute recordings and 1 GB of storage
HIPAA with a BAA is available only on the quoted Scale plan
Right for
Support and QA teams collecting recordings from customers
Wrong for
Individuals recording long tutorials on a free plan
United StatesFree plan with limits; per-user monthly tiers billed annually; Scale quoted
Recorder plus multitrack video editor on annual plans
Ranked #11 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Camtasia records screen, camera, system audio and microphone as independent layers, then edits them on a multitrack timeline with transitions, captions and green-screen effects.
The step from recorder to editor is its point, The store now lists four annual tiers, and the licence covers two devices per user. Expect a longer learning curve than a quick recorder, and a renewal each year.
What stands out
Video editor
Annual plans
Windows and Mac
Where it costs you
Annual subscription only on the current store, in four tiers
The cheapest tier exports with a watermark
Right for
Producing courses and polished tutorial videos with a full timeline editor
Wrong for
Quick link-based sharing of short recordings
United StatesAnnual subscription in four tiers; free trial with limits
Video hosting and recording for sales and marketing outreach
Ranked #12 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Vidyard is a video platform for sales and marketing that includes a recorder, available as a Chrome extension and a free screen recorder. Its value is in tracking: analytics on who watched, branded pages and links to Salesforce, HubSpot and Marketo.
Those integrations sit on the Teams plan, which is quoted. The AI avatar Video Agent is an add-on across paid plans, so the invoice grows with how aggressively you automate outreach.
What stands out
Sales video
CRM integrations
Free plan
Where it costs you
The free plan allows five videos a month
Teams pricing is quoted rather than published
Right for
Sales teams sending tracked video messages from CRM
Wrong for
Anyone wanting only a local capture file
CanadaFree plan with limits; Starter by card; Teams and Enterprise quoted
Atlassian's video messaging recorder with a capped free plan
Ranked #13 of 13 in Best Screen Recording Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Loom records screen, camera and custom areas in up to 4K and shares them by link with comments, reactions and transcripts in more than fifty languages. It is now part of Atlassian, which matters for how it connects to Jira.
The free plan fills up fast, since it stops at 25 videos of five minutes. Business adds unlimited recordings, and the AI tier adds meeting notes and video-to-text at a higher per-seat price.
What stands out
Part of Atlassian
Free plan
Per-user plans
Where it costs you
Free Starter plan is limited to 25 videos and five minutes each
AI features require the higher-priced Business plus AI plan
Right for
Teams already on Atlassian who want quick video replies
Wrong for
Anyone who needs unlimited free recordings or self-hosting
United StatesFree plan with limits; per-user monthly plans; Enterprise quoted
Screen recording software captures what is shown on a computer display, usually with microphone and webcam, and saves it as a video file or uploads it as a shareable link. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
10 of the 13 tools here publish what they cost; the other 3 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: Cap, Tella, ScreenPal, OBS Studio, ShareX, Screencastify, Bandicam, Zight, Vidyard, Loom.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 13 vendors are established in 4 countries across 3 regions (North America 9, Europe 2, Elsewhere 2). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
3 of these are open source: Cap, OBS Studio, ShareX. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Which limit does your screen recording software hit first
Every hosted recorder here has a free plan with a different ceiling, and the ceiling decides whether you pay. Loom stops at 25 videos of five minutes, Zight at five-minute recordings and 1 GB, ScreenPal at fifteen minutes and ten hosted videos, Screencastify at ten videos of thirty minutes, and Vidyard at five videos a month.
Tella has no free plan at all, only a seven-day trial. OBS Studio and ShareX have no ceiling because nothing is hosted. Count how many recordings a person makes in a week and how long they run, then compare that with the cap. A team that records daily outgrows count-based plans within a month, while one that records twice a week may never leave them.
Count a normal week of recordings per person before choosing a plan.
Check whether the cap is on minutes, video count or storage.
Ask what happens to videos above the cap, hidden or deleted.
Local files or hosted links: where recordings should live
The market divides into recorders that write a file to your disk and services that host the video. OBS Studio and ShareX are free desktop tools that write files, and Bandicam and CleanShot X are desktop apps sold by licence. Loom, Vidyard, Zight, Tella and ScreenPal host recordings and give you a viewer link, and most bill per seat.
Cap offers both: local Studio mode, hosted Instant mode, and a self-hosting route. The choice depends on who watches. A recording for yourself or an editor belongs on disk. A recording for a customer or a distributed team is easier on a link, provided you can export the videos if the subscription ends.
Decide whether viewers need a link, a file or both.
Test downloading a finished video from the hosted service.
Check where hosted recordings are stored and how deletion works.
Commercial use, licences and the free tier trap
A free plan is not always free for work. Cap's free plan is for personal use and has no commercial rights, so a company needs the desktop licence or Pro. Bandicam's free version adds a watermark and ends recordings after ten minutes. Camtasia's cheapest tier exports with a watermark, and ShareX and OBS Studio are free and open source.
Read the licence page, not just the plan card. Also compare licence unit: per PC for Bandicam, per user for Loom and Tella, per user across two devices for Camtasia. A fleet of shared machines and a team with laptops need different answers, and the cheapest plan is rarely the same for both.
Read the commercial-use clause of any free plan before rolling it out.
Match the licence unit (PC, user or device) to how your staff work.
Check what a watermark or time limit does to client-facing recordings.
Platform coverage across Mac, Windows and browser
Several of the best-known tools cover one platform. Screen Studio and CleanShot X run on macOS only, ShareX is presented for Windows, and Screencastify lives in Chrome and Edge, including on Chromebooks. Loom, Zight, Tella, Cap, Camtasia and Bandicam cover both macOS and Windows, and OBS Studio and Cap also run on Linux.
If a team mixes platforms, a Mac-only favourite means two tools, two sets of exports and two training sessions. Schools on Chromebooks have a different constraint: only a browser extension will run there. Settle the device mix first, then shortlist, because a recorder that half of the team cannot install is not a standard.
List the operating systems and managed devices you must support.
Check whether a browser extension is allowed by your IT policy.
Install each shortlisted app on the least capable machine you have.
What goes wrong most often when buying screen recording software
Comparing seat prices of hosted tools with licence prices of local tools. Loom and Bandicam are billed on completely different bases.
Rolling out a personal-use free plan, such as Cap's, to a company team and discovering the commercial restriction afterwards.
Choosing a Mac-only recorder such as Screen Studio or CleanShot X for a team that also has Windows laptops.
Assuming the free tier will last, then finding that Loom's 25-video cap or Zight's five-minute limit blocks real work within weeks.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best screen recording software in 2026?
Cap leads our ranking of 13. The only recorder here whose code is public and whose hosting you can move onto your own server, which answers the exit question better than any hosted rival.
The free plan is for personal use only, so a company needs the desktop licence or Pro before the first work recording. Shared links on the free plan stop at five minutes, and self-hosting leaves you running the storage.
Which screen recording tools publish their pricing?
10 of the 13, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Cap: Free for personal use; one-off or yearly desktop licence; per-user monthly Pro, published.
ScreenPal: Free tier with limits; per-month plans billed annually; team plan from three users.
OBS Studio: Free and open source, no paid tier.
ShareX: Free and open source, no paid tier.
Screencastify: Free plan with limits; per-user plans billed annually or monthly; EDU quoted.
Bandicam: Annual or perpetual licence, personal or business, per PC; free version limited.
Zight: Free plan with limits; per-user monthly tiers billed annually; Scale quoted.
Vidyard: Free plan with limits; Starter by card; Teams and Enterprise quoted.
Loom: Free plan with limits; per-user monthly plans; Enterprise quoted.
The other 3 quote per organisation.
Is there a free screen recording tool?
Cap, ScreenPal, OBS Studio, ShareX, Screencastify, Zight, Vidyard, Loom offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these screen recording software vendors established?
In 4 countries across 3 regions: North America 9, Europe 2, Elsewhere 2.
Cap: United States.
Tella: United States.
ScreenPal: United States.
OBS Studio: Not stated by the vendor.
ShareX: Not stated by the vendor.
Screen Studio: Poland.
CleanShot X: Poland.
Screencastify: United States.
Bandicam: United States.
Zight: United States.
Camtasia: United States.
Vidyard: Canada.
Loom: United States.
Which screen recording tools are open source?
Cap, OBS Studio, ShareX.
Which screen recording tools can you host yourself?
Cap. The other 12 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of Cap?
Tella and ScreenPal are the next two on this page. Tella is for Producing tutorials and product videos where layout and captions matter; ScreenPal is for Individuals and small teams wanting one cheap supplier for recording and editing.
Who should not buy Cap?
Non-technical teams who cannot run a server. The free plan is for personal use only and has no commercial rights.
If your screen recording software product belongs among these 13, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
