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Screen capture tools go beyond just capturing images, video, and audio.
Some tools come with visual and audio editing features, annotation features, the ability to add visual effects, and more. So the best screen capture tool for you will depend on what you intend to do with it.
Read on if you’re looking for the right screen capture tool or app. We’ve compiled a list of the best free and paid screen capture tools – each with its own unique features and use cases.
What is a screen capture app?
A screen capture app lets you capture images, videos, and often also audio from your computer or mobile device. These apps let you record output from the entire computer screen or just a section.
As we mentioned, screen capture tools can go beyond just capturing content from your computer. Many allow you to add annotations, edit captured video, audio, or images, add special effects, and more.
Screen capture tools are versatile and are ideal for different purposes. Some of these use cases include:
- Podcasters and Video Creators: To film content.
- Business/Marketing Teams: To record screens for training/education purposes or to collaborate with remote teams.
- Educators: To create tutorial videos, guides, and online learning modules.
- Developers: To create app/software demonstration videos.
- Technical Support Team: For error or bug tracking, diagnosis, and troubleshooting.
How to choose a screen capture tool or app
Here are some important things to look for in a screen capture tool.
- Purpose: What do you need the screen capture tool for? Do you need to capture images, videos, audio, or all of them? Do you need to annotate the captures or edit them? Make sure the tool you choose can meet your specific requirements.
- Audio and Video Quality: A good screen capture tool should be able to record video and sound in high quality. Aim for at least 720p HD video resolution and 41.1kHz audio.
- Interface and ease of use: A screen capture tool with a user-friendly interface makes recording so much easier.
- System compatibility: Check if your operating system supports the tool before purchasing it.
- Sharing options: Look for tools that allow you to share to popular cloud-based platforms and social media sites.
- Price: Make sure the screen capture tool is within your budget.
11 Best Screen Capture Tools and Apps for 2024
Best Free Screen Capture Tools and Apps
Many free screen-capture tools have all the features you need for most tasks. Here are the best ones in the market:
Riverside
Price: Free package, Standard package for $15/month, and Pro package for $24/month. Custom quotes upon contacting the sales team for the Team package
Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS
Riverside is a fantastic tool for capturing video for content creators and live streamers.
With Riverside, you can capture video from your screen in 1080p and webcam in up to 4K resolution. The platform uses local recording, where all files record directly on your device instead of over the internet. This ensures your recording quality is unaffected even if your internet is faulty. As you record, these files automatically upload to the cloud so they’re secure and easily accessible online.
If you’re hosting multiple guests for your podcast or video, you can record separate audio and video tracks for each participant. This gives you complete control in post-production.
To speed up your editing process, try Riverside’s text-based video and audio editor. With our Ai transcriptions, video editing becomes as easy as editing a text document.
Even beginners who have never used a screen recording tool will find it easy to work with.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Up to 4K video recording, and 1080p screen captures making it great for YouTube uploads
- Local recording for smooth capture, without video stuttering or choppy frames
- Automated text-based video and audio editing that reduces post-production time
- Records up to 7 additional guests
- Highly accurate Ai transcriptions in over 100 languages
- Presentation recorder on the Business Plan with up to 4K locally recorded slides
Cons:
- Watermark on any edited videos on the free plan
Best for: Riverside is ideal for content creation, podcasting and live streaming. However, because of its features, it’s also widely used by educators, business professionals, and marketers.
For instance, you can use Riverside to create short clips for social media as well as to live stream.
Free Cam
Price: Free package, Cam Pro package for $227/year.
Compatibility: Windows
If you're looking for an easy-to-use screen capture with simple editing features, Free Cam is an excellent option.
Besides recording the entire screen, you can also record just a section. It captures video in 720p (the paid version records up to 1080p). With it, you can also add voice-overs or background music to your recordings.
Free Cam lets you highlight your mouse for emphasis purposes and includes editing features that help with trimming, background noise removal, and audio polishing. You can instantly upload your recording to YouTube or save it to your computer in WMV format.
Pros:
- Intuitive interface
- Simple editing features
- No watermarks
- Direct YouTube upload
- No time limit
Cons:
- Limited saving and sharing options
- Lacks advanced editing features
- Glitches with YouTube upload and editing features
Best for: Free Cam is great for basic screen capture and editing. You can use it for creating professional video lessons and e-Learning presentations.
Xbox Game Bar
Price: Free
Compatibility: Windows 10 and above
If you have a Windows 10 or 11 device, you’ll be glad to know that Xbox Game Bar is already available on your system – no installation required. You can utilize it to record games, videos, browser activity, and more.
You can record game clips up to 1080p resolution using the' Capture' button. If the game is at a higher resolution, the software scales them down.
Additionally, you can record microphone audio if you want to add commentary.
Pros:
- Built-in screen recorder for windows 10 and above
- Easy to use
- High video resolution up to 4k
- Captures microphone and internal audio
Cons:
- Only supports Windows
Best for: If you have a Windows 10 or higher device, you’ll find Xbox Game Bar a great free option.
Screencastify
Price: Free package, Starter package for $7/month, and Pro package for $10/month.
Compatibility: Chrome browsers on both Windows and Mac
Screencastify is a screen recording tool designed for Chrome browsers and works as a Chrome extension. It has three main features: Record, Edit, and Submit.
- The Record feature lets you capture your computer screen and webcam video in 1080p resolution.
- Next, the Edit feature lets you annotate videos with stickers, text, and shapes or highlight your mouse. You can merge, cut, crop, blur, or zoom in on recorded clips.
- Lastly, the Submit feature lets you share the video via a link. This is especially useful to teachers/instructors because they can assign assignments to students quickly. However, it's not just for educators; anyone can use Screencastify to send videos to their team members.
Pros:
- Beginner friendly
- Great tool for teachers
- Generates closed captions
- Automatically saves files to Google Drive
Cons:
- Five minutes video recording limit
- Limited to Chrome browsers
- Basic recording and editing tools
Best for: Screencastify is a fantastic screen recording tool for browsers. Anyone, especially teachers, will find it useful for digital learning.
OBS Studio
Price: Free
Compatibility: Windows, Mac, and Linux
OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is an excellent choice for gamers and streamers and has a highly customizable interface. (Just be warned that this same interface can be a bit too much for beginners to take in.)
It has various filters (such as stickers and color correction) and transitions. You can also add two simultaneous audio sources for recording. Plus, you can adjust your frame rate, video/audio quality, and output.
Pros:
- Customizable interface
- Advanced streaming and recording features
- Supports live streaming platforms
- Hotkeys to easily carry out tasks
Cons:
- Not for beginners
- No built-in editing tools
- Lags in recording at times
Best for: OBS studio is great if you want an advanced gaming or live streaming screen recorder.
Best Paid Screen Capture Tools and Apps
Here are the best paid screen capture tools.
Snagit
Price: Individual and Business package for $62.99, Education package for $37.99, Non-profit package for $53.99
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
Snagit is a great overall screen capture tool for both beginners and advanced screen recording tool users. You can record high-quality videos and edit them with its feature-rich video editor.
Its Screen Draw feature lets you add text, shapes, numbers, and other information to your screen while you record. You can also annotate the video with comments or notes. Another neat tool is its text extraction feature that lets you extract text from a recorded video file and save it to another document.
This video screen capture tool also lets you trim, blur, magnify, highlight, and crop recordings. The Snagit Editor allows you to add special effects to your recording with tools like page curls, shadows, reflections, etc.
While all this may sound overwhelming, Snagit has handy tutorials that let beginners easily navigate the software.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Text extraction feature that lets you extract texts from the video
- Picture-in-picture feature lets you include webcam in your recording
- Advanced editing functions
- Effortless collaboration, syncing, and sharing
- Integrates with Microsoft Excel, Gmail, Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube, etc.
- Supports various file formats, including MP4, jpg, PNG, PDF, Wpg, etc.
Cons:
- Expensive
- While it’s great for beginners, the editing features can still be a little overwhelming
Best for: Snagit is the best screen capture for anyone, including business professionals, marketers, educators, and creators. It’s an excellent option if you’re looking for a tool that has extensive editing functions and allows for multiple integrations.
Loom
Price: Starter Package for free, Business Package at $8/month. Custom quote when you contact the sales team for Enterprise Package.
Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS
Loom is a collaborative screen capture tool that makes it easy to work with colleagues. Just hit the record button, share something on your screen to be conveyed to your colleague, and instantly share it with them. In turn, they can respond to your video by commenting on it.
In short, if you want to cut back on long meetings and emails, Loom is a great tool. It has video analytics that shows who has viewed or engaged with your videos. Loom also integrates with Slack, GitHub, Gmail, Jira, Dropbox, Zendesk, and more.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Great interactivity features
- Multiple integration options
- Closed caption generation
- Works for desktop, mobile devices, and chrome extension
Cons:
- Frequent bugs
- Limited editing features
Best for: Loom is best for collaboration. You don’t have to worry about holding long meetings; most of what you convey can be done through Loom.
Apowersoft Unlimited Screen Recorder Pro
Price: Personal package for $69.95 (Lifetime) and Business package for $159.95 (Lifetime)
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
Apowersoft Screen Recorder Pro is a helpful screen capture tool that lets you record How-to and demonstration videos. It does this with two helpful built-in editors: the real-time screencast editor and the professional video editor.
With the real-time screencast editor, you can instantly annotate your recording with callouts, text comments, highlights, etc. – without pausing the recording process. This is the biggest reason the recording tool works well for demos and how-to videos.
You can use the professional video editor for trimming, merging, logo addition, and more.
Screen Recorder Pro lets you schedule recording tasks, so you don’t have to be in front of your computer all the time. A built-in video converter saves your recording to MPEG, 3GP, MP4, AVI, and so on.
Pros:
- Easy-to-understand interface
- Comes with two built-in editors
- Multiple sharing options
- Scheduled recording
Cons:
- Unresponsive customer service
- Issues with video and audio synchronization
Best for: Apowersoft Unlimited Screen Recorder Pro is best for demonstration and how-to recordings.
Filmora Screen recorder
Price: Individual package for $49.99/year, Team Package for $155.88/year, and Education Package for $40.99/year.
Compatibility: Windows and Mac
Filmora is a tool that beginner creatives will find helpful. It comes with a full video editing suite with over:
- 200 pro-quality visual effects
- 150+ creative assets (including titles, transitions, animations, stickers, and more)
- 1000+ template presets
Filmora also allows for up to 30 minutes of Text-to-Speech during recording.
Depending on your chosen plan, you can access a stock media library and over a hundred advanced editing features. You also get up to 10GB of storage space for file management.
Pros:
- Intuitive interface
- Comes with a tutorial guide
- Lots of features for creatives
- Great editing features
- Records both PC audio and external microphone
Cons:
- Expensive
- The tool can get laggy or crash
Best for: Filmora is best for beginner creatives, gamers, teachers, and marketers who want to create engaging recorded clips with impressive visual effects.
Bandicam
Price: Personal package for $33.26/year and $44.96 (lifetime), Bandicam + Bandicut package for $49.97/year and $59.78 (lifetime)
Compatibility: Windows
Bandicam is best if you want to record unlimited gameplay in 4K and up to 480 frames per second.This screen recording tool lets you capture external video sources like those from your mobile phone, Xbox/PlayStation, webcam, etc.
If you’re recording a game tutorial video, you can draw and outline your video clips in real-time. You can also add a webcam video of you on the side of your screen.
Bandicam also offers free updates and tech support for subscribers.
Pros:
- Up to 4K recording
- Simple editing features
- No watermarks
- Allows for scheduled recording
- Easy upload to YouTube and Vimeo
Cons:
- While simple, the editing features are also limited
- Software lags
- Limited output formats
Best for: Bandicam is great for 4K, high fps game recording. However, only Windows PC owners can use this tool.
ScreenFlow
Price: ScreenFlow package for $169/year, ScreenFlow Super Pak for $229/year, and ScreenFlow Super Pak+ for $259.
Compatibility: Mac
Known for its intuitive interface, ScreenFlow lets you record high-quality clips in just a few clicks. And with its simple learning curve, you can get started in minutes.
Besides the ability to add close captions, it can also import subtitles. That means you can add, edit, and publish ADA-compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act) subtitles to your clips.
ScreenFlow lets you annotate your clips, add animations, adjust the audio levels, and add logos to clips. You can also add green-screen effects with its chroma-key feature.
Pros:
- Very intuitive interface
- Share to YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia
- Closed caption support
- Picture-in-picture feature
- Batch exports
Cons:
- Expensive
- Frequent crashes and bugs
Best for: ScreenFlow’s easy-to-use interface makes it easy for beginners to create and edit recordings – without spending hours figuring out how to use the software. However, it’s only available only on Mac
Best overall tool for screen capture
The best overall tool for screen capture is Snagit. Its Screen Draw feature lets you add texts, shapes, numbers, annotations, and other features that make your recordings more captivating and informative. The other advanced editing tools also make the software worth the price.
Best free tool for screen capture
The best free tool for screen capture is Riverside. Its simple interface lets anyone use it from the get-go. What mainly sets Riverside apart from other screen capture tools is its ability to record in crystal-clear 4K resolution.
Tips for recording with screen capture tools
Here are some tips that will let you take better screen captures.
- Practice using the tool: Familiarize yourself with the screen capture tool, hotkeys, and editing features.
- Record in a quiet environment: Don’t record in a noisy environment, especially if your screen capture tool lacks a background noise removal feature.
- Opt for an external microphone for recording: Instead of using your PC’s internal microphone to record your audio (which it does a poor job at), use an external microphone.
- Maintain steady mouse movement: Minimize mouse cursor movement to avoid distracting the viewers.
FAQs on Screen Capture Tools and Apps
Does Windows 10 have a screen capture tool?
Yes, Windows 10 has a screen capture tool known as the Xbox Game Bar. You can use this to record gameplay and other activities on your computer.
If you want to record while playing a game or doing a task, press the Windows logo key + G to access Game Bar. Then press the Windows logo key + Alt + R to record in full-screen mode.
How do I capture a screenshot on my computer?
For Windows, press the Windows key + Prt Scn on your keyboard to automatically capture and save a screenshot of your whole window. If you want to screenshot only a portion of your screen, press the Windows key + Shift + S. The screenshots automatically save in the Image folder.
For Mac, press the Shift + Command + number 3 buttons. If you want to screenshot only a portion of your screen, press Command + Shift + 4. The screenshots automatically save on the desktop.
You can also take screenshots with third-party screen apps like Snagit, FreeCam, and Screencast-o-matic.
Does Chrome have a screen capture tool?
Yes, Chrome has a screen capture tool to take screenshots or record videos. Here’s how you do it:
- Press Shift + Ctrl + I (letter I) on Windows and Command + Option + I for Mac.
- Next, press Ctrl + Shift P on PC or Command + Shift P on Mac.
- On the search bar that opens up, type screenshot. You should see four screenshot options show up. Select the one you want, and once you take the screenshot, save it in the folder of your choice.
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