20 Best Free Video Recording Software in 2024

Movavi Screen Recorder offers everything you need from a screen recorder in an easy-to-use package for Windows 7, Windows 10, and macOS users. You can choose the capture area, and then either take a screenshot or record your screen. You can also opt to record your webcam rather than the screen.

You have the option to capture internal audio or external sources and you can choose to capture audio only if you prefer. There are simple editing tools to help you tweak your recording to exactly how you want it. You can also annotate your images or videos and captures can be saved in most popular formats.

With the option to set up scheduled recording, Movavi Screen Recorder makes creating screencasts or video tutorials quick and easy. It’s the perfect tool for beginners, while professionals can still create high-quality recordings with ease.

Key features:

• Draw notes, shapes, and figures on videos in real time to enhance video instructions
• Show anything you type and click during the recording for even easier explanations
• Grab webcam footage or just the audio stream, then create training videos, interactive instructions, and engaging podcasts
• Capture on-screen activity and make efficient lightweight recordings

TinyTake is free video capture software for Windows 10 and macOS. With a click of the mouse or one of the simple keyboard shortcuts, you can capture an image or video of a region, a window, the entire screen, or your webcam.

You then have the option to save it locally or upload it to the cloud with TinyTake’s free online web gallery (the free version offers 2 GB of storage). You can then access your captures anywhere or share a link with others. Options to annotate your captures or upload videos to YouTube are only available with a paid subscription.

Key features:

• Capture screenshots of a region, window, full screen, or webcam
• Capture videos from the screen or webcam
• Online web gallery gives access to all of your captures wherever you are

Being one of the best recording software for PC, ScreenPal offers everything you need to start filming screencasts in just a couple of clicks. You can choose to record the screen, the webcam, or both at the same time, which is ideal for creating tutorial videos.

You can record narration with an external mic, but if you want to record the internal audio, you’ll need to pay for one of the subscriptions. The good news is these subscriptions are very competitively priced. You’ll also need a subscription to access editing tools beyond basic trimming and captioning.

You can upload your videos to YouTube or Google Drive with the free version, and the paid tiers also allow you to upload to Dropbox and Vimeo.

Key features:

• Record screen, webcam, or both at the same time
• Record narration through an external mic
• Record internal audio with paid subscription
• Trim videos and add captions
• Upload to YouTube or Google Drive

AceThinker Screen Grabber Premium offers you a range of recording options through a simple-to-use interface. You select the area you want to record, choose whether or not to record the webcam, and decide if you want to record system audio, external audio, or both. Hit Record and you’re off and running.

The paid version of this recording program for Windows and Mac includes additional tools that can help you to make your screen recordings even better, such as real-time annotations and picture-in-picture webcam overlays. You can also choose to have animated mouse clicks and a mouse hot spot to make it easy to follow your tutorial videos.

Key features:

• Video capture from screen or webcam
• Editing and annotation tools in the paid version
• Record external and system audio simultaneously
• Animated mouse clicks for tutorial videos

If you’re after high-quality recordings, then Riverside is the platform for you. Join creators like Gary Vaynerchuk and Marques Brownlee who use Riverside to create video content the effortless way.

Riverside is an all-in-one video editing and recording platform with easy-to-use tools that streamline your workflow. You can record video in up to 4K resolution without worrying about your internet connection. The platform uses local recording so everything records directly on your device instead of relying on the web.

On Riverside, you can record webcam, audio, and your screen, but you can also upload slides for a high-quality presentation video. Record with up to 8 participants, and you’ll receive separate audio, video, and screen-share tracks for each person. This gives you more editing flexibility, but with Riverside’s built in editor, post-production becomes a breeze. The text-based editor makes editing as easy as reading a text doc, and the AI tools mean you can polish your audio and video in a few quick clicks.

Key features:

• Local recording with up to 4K video and 48kHz audio resolution
• Text-based editor with seamless AI tools for easy post-production
• Presentation recorder for capturing slides in high-quality
• Automatic AI transcriptions available in 100+ languages
• Built-in teleprompter to keep on track while recording

ScreenMix is a free and easy-to-use screen recorder built for Windows 10 & 11. It allows you to record your entire screen or select a specific area to capture. You can also record audio from your microphone or system sounds. 

ScreenMix has a clean, intuitive interface that makes it simple for beginners to get started. But it also includes advanced features like mouse highlights and keyboard shortcuts for power users. The free version is fully featured, but there’s a 15-minute limit. An optional premium upgrade unlocks additional capabilities.

Key features:

• Intuitive interface for beginners

• Advanced features for power users

• Record screen, audio, webcam

The next on our list is Ezvid. You can use this video recorder for free – it allows you access to all of its features without any subscriptions or one-time payments. The core features include screen or webcam recording, audio narration, and video editing. You can also access advanced features, including picture-in-picture webcam recording and both internal and external audio recording.

One feature that sets Ezvid apart from its rivals is speech synthesis. This allows you to turn any text into spoken word. It means that whilst you have the option of recording your own narration, you can also just type in your narration and have the text-to-speech function read your narration for you.

If you’re making long, narration-heavy content, Ezvid can speed things up considerably.

Key features:

• Record the screen, or screen and webcam with picture-in-picture
• Record narration with external audio devices
• Text-to-speech for quick and easy narration
• Video editing tools include playback speed controls
• Upload recordings directly to YouTube

This recording application for Windows comes in two flavors. Flashback Express is the free video screen recorder, which offers all the basics you need. You can record any part of your screen, add webcam footage to your recording, and record narration from an external audio source. Unlike many competitors, there are no watermarks and no recording time limits.

FlashBack Pro is the paid version that adds additional features such as video editing, video effects, and allows you to add text, images, and sounds to your recordings. You can also export to all major formats; FlashBack Express only allows you to export to WMV, AVI, or MP4.

Key features:

• Record screen, webcam, or both simultaneously
• Record commentary from an external mic
• Upload to YouTube or save to WMV, AVI, or MP4
• The paid version allows saving in any format and includes editing tools

OBS Studio is video capture software that’s free and open-source. It allows you to record or stream video from a wide selection of sources, including individual windows, browser windows, and your webcam. You can use capture cards as a source, allowing you to stream or record gameplay from consoles such as an Xbox or PlayStation.

OBS Studio includes video editing tools that allow you to edit individual clips or combine clips together using in-built transition effects. You can even mix together clips while streaming live. There are also audio mixing options which are something that many rivals don’t offer.

Key features:

• Record multiple sources, including specific windows, webcams, and capture cards
• Offers recording and live streaming
• Video editing tools, including transitions between scenes
• Audio mixing from multiple sources

ScreenFlow is a video recording application for Mac that offers a powerful collection of features. You can record your screen, your webcam, and can even record the screens of connected iPhones and iPads.

It has an impressive array of editing tools that allow you to add professional-looking effects to your recordings. You can add filters such as color filters or blur, use animations or motion graphics, and even remove or change the background of a webcam recording without the need for a green screen.

The free to download version of ScreenFlow is fully featured but will add a watermark to your finished projects.

Key features:

• Record from multiple sources, including connected iPhones and iPads
• Powerful editing features, including video animations and motion graphics
• Background removal feature
• Export to YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, and more
• Allows you to record the screens of connected iPhones or iPads

MadCap Flare is a professional authoring and publishing suite. It includes authoring, publishing, translation, and CMS tools, as well as image capture and screen recording apps. These apps allow you to capture or record your entire screen, or select which portion of the screen to capture. There’s no option to capture images from your webcam, however.

There are useful editing tools that include video transitions, arrows and callouts, zooming and scaling, and animated typing boxes. You can export your completed movies to HTML5 or PDF format and upload movies to Vimeo or YouTube directly.

MadCap Flare’s free trial is limited to 30 days but is fully functional during that time for you to try before you buy.

Key features:

• Dedicated apps for image capture and screen recording
• Wide selection of editing features
• Studio of applications including translation and authoring apps
• Useful how-to guides

SimpleScreenRecorder is a freeware screen recording app for Linux. It allows you to record the full screen or select a specific area to record. There is also the option to record OpenGL apps, which is useful for recording Steam games.

This free video screen capture tool is simple to use with default settings that will suit most users, but there are also plenty of customization options if you want to make changes. You can save your recordings to most formats, but there’s no way to edit them at all. You can also live stream, although this is an experimental feature.

Key features:

• Can record full screen, specific area, or OpenGL apps
• Pause and resume recording at any time
• Get key information such as file size during recording
• Export to multiple file types
• Also allows live streaming

recordMyDesktop is open-source free software to record screens on Linux. It allows you to record the full screen, select a region of the screen to record or capture a specific window. The interface is simple to use with minimal options, including the ability to change the video and audio quality to reduce file size.

There are no editing options available; you can’t trim or make changes to the recording. The application is focused on open-source protocols, and as such, the only output options are OGA files for audio and OGV files for video. The application is lightweight, meaning it can run on older hardware.

Key features:

• Record full screen, specific windows, or select a region
• Simple to use with few settings to change
• You can change audio and video quality for smaller file sizes

Action! Screen Recorder is one of the most versatile video capture programs you can buy. It offers screen recording and life streaming to Which, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms in resolutions up to 8K, it has a green screen mode, and it can record from your webcam or external capture devices. It can even remove the background of clips via Intel’s RealSense technology. Action! Screen Recorder isn’t the best game capture software for modest or older PCs but it’s good for higher-spec setups. The program comes with a 30-day free trial.

Key features:

• Livestreaming capabilities for YouTube and Twitch
• Simple UI
• Record up to 8K resolution

Aiseesoft Screen Recorder is an advanced software for recording videos, webinars, lectures, games, and webcam videos. You can customize plenty of parameters including recording, output, sound, etc. Aiseesoft has a unique real-time video encoding technology that produces high-quality video and sound.

Key features:

• Real-time video encoding
• Can limit recording to a specific window

Screencapture.com is an online screen recorder that allows you to record the entire screen, a window, or even a browser tab. It’s compatible with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

You can select whether to record system audio, your microphone, or both. There’s also the option to simultaneously record your webcam. When you finish recording, you’re given a preview of the recording, which you can choose to download in MP4 format.

Key features:

• Record the entire screen, a specific window, or a specific browser tab
• Record system sound, microphone, or both
• Option to record webcam simultaneously

Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder allows you to record the full screen, select a specific region, or record your webcam. You can simultaneously record your system audio, your microphone, or both.

Although the app runs online, you’ll need to download a small free video recording app as a launcher the first time you use it. Once you’ve installed this, you can start, stop, edit, and save recordings all from within your browser.

Once your recording is complete, you have the option to trim it by setting the start and end points, and you can save it to a wide range of formats, or upload it to the cloud.

Key features:

• Record full screen, selected regions, or webcam
• Record system sound, microphone, or both
• Can add live annotations
• Save in multiple formats

AceThinker Online Screen Recorder allows you to record from your webcam as well as recording the full screen or a specific region. You can launch it directly from your browser, although you’ll need to download and install a small launcher app the first time you use it.

Selecting Start Recording allows you to choose what region to record or whether you want to record your webcam. You can select whether you want to record system audio, your microphone, or both simultaneously. You can also choose your video settings, such as the bitrate and the video format you want to save in.

Once completed, you have the option to upload your recording to YouTube, Dropbox, Google Drive, or Vimeo.

Key features:

• Record full screen, a specific region, or webcam
• Record microphone, system sound, or both
• Add annotations during recording
• Save in a range of formats

Screencastify is one of the best browser-based video recorders. As a Google Chrome extension, it allows you to quickly capture important moments in your web browser. It also allows you to capture your desktop or screen output, as well as capture video directly from your webcam.

It integrates directly with your Google account, allowing you to sync your recording to your Google Drive cloud storage. It supports an unlimited number of recordings with zero watermarks, making it a powerful free option for recording your videos, although you are limited to a maximum recording length of five minutes with a free account.

You can also quickly edit your videos, thanks to some basic features such as video trimming. If you want to narrate your videos, Screencastify allows you to do so, thanks to narration support. Overall, Screencastify is one of the most powerful video recorders for Chrome users, with cross-platform support on all platforms.

Key features:

• Record entire screen, browser tab, or webcam
• Webcam can be captured simultaneously
• Record narration from microphone
• Basic editing allows trimming of videos
• Export as MP4, GIF, or MP3
• Share recordings via the Google Drive link

Loom is a free screen recorder designed with businesses in mind. It allows you to record your screen at the same time as your webcam and microphone. The finished video is a professional-looking recording with your webcam feed appearing in a bubble over your screen recording.

You can embed your recording in popular work apps such as Slack, Jira, and Gmail for easy sharing making a great collaboration tool. You can also set up a team library where an entire team can access and share their videos.

There’s a limit of five minutes per recording for the free version, and you can only store 25 recordings. If you want to make more, you’ll need to delete some or upgrade. Standalone apps are also available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Key features:

• Record screen, webcam, and microphone simultaneously
• Integrations for Slack, Jira, Github, Gmail, and more
• Allows unlimited screenshots
• Includes video editing tools