Best Screen Recorders for Windows and Mac

Screen recording has become an essential tool for many laptop users. For a teacher to record an assignment or a YouTuber explaining about software, or a gamer recording his best performance.Many of us are dependent on screen recorders. A screen recorder records the active screen and publishes it into a video format, which can be used for future references or sharing it to others. So now that we know how handy screen recorders are. Let us look at some of the best free screen recorders for Windows and Mac laptops. You may also look at how to take screenshots on Apple devices.

Best free screen recorders for Windows:

The Windows OS has many free screen recording options, yet some are malware affected while some contain excessive bugs. It’s substantial to inspect a software before installing. So, here is a list of few Screen Recorders for Windows which offer improved functionality and are a reliable option.

Free Cam

Supported OS: Windows 10/8/7 32- and 64-bit

Free Cam is an intuitively simple screen recorder for Windows which comes with built-in audio and video editor. It has an attractive interface; also, usability is good. Even though Free Cam is free software, it does not attach watermark nor does it run ads.

Pros

• No watermark, time limits, or ads.
• Also, Voice-over and computer sound recording possible.
• High-quality resolution.
• Direct Youtube upload possible.
• Easy trimming of videos. 
• Additionally, one can remove background noise.
• A plethora of Audio Effects available.

Cons

• Only generates WMV video format.
• Also, no webcam recording.

OBS Studio

Supported OS: Windows 8, 8.1, 10 | Mac OS 10.13+ | Linux

With OBS Studio, video recording and live streaming are possible without any watermark or time limit. Hence, videogamers prefer OBS Studio for broadcasting live gameplay footage.   Using OBS Studio, you can capture not only the entire display or a window but also from webcam and microphone. The program lets you select active Desktop Applications and Audio screen during a live stream. This makes OBS a good screen recorder for windows and macOS.

A downside of OBS Studio is that it has no integrated Video Editor. You need to employ another tool if you want to edit your recorded video. OBS Studio is an open-source program we recommend you to download it from its official site.

Pro

• Records full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone and computer sound.
• Stream to YouTube, Mixer, DailyMotion, Twitch and more.
• Multiple filters to scenes, sources, and audio devices: image mask/blend, crop, colour correction, green screen, noise reduction, audio normalization, and more.
• No watermark, no time limit and ad-free.
• Intuitive audio mixer.

Cons

• No ‘Pause’ function for recording.
• Built-in video editor missing.
• The interface is difficult for beginners.

ShareX

Supported OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 7

ShareX is an open-source ad-free tool that has a plethora of custom features like a paid screen recorder would do. ShareX is mostly for developers and power users, which means an average user might find the custom features overwhelming.

Pros

• Records full screen, window, region, freehand, or scrolling.
• Incorporates hotkeys for easier and quicker navigation.
• Imports existing videos, music, or photos
• Supports many URL sharing services.
• Custom Watermark and Colour Effects available.

Cons

• A high-quality game recording is missing.
• Complicated for an average user.
• No webcam recording
• Feedbacks suggest failure during large file uploads.
• Moreover, the video editor is missing.

Flashback Express

Supported OS: Windows

Flashback Express is a free screen capture software by Blueberry Software that records screen, webcam, and sounds. There is no time limit on the recording, nor are there any watermarks on output video. It can also capture multi-monitor screens; you can also limit it to a single screen. Scheduling recording time is also possible.

Flashback Express is a free version of a paid application, Flashback Pro. The free version excludes features like video editing, annotations, or effects. Despite that users can save videos like MP4, AVI, or WMV and directly upload videos to YouTube.

Pros

• Record full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone, computer sound.
• Scheduled recordings.
• Record multi-monitor screens.
• Also, Cursor highlighting is possible.
• Publish videos directly to YouTube.
• No watermark or time limit, also it is ad-free.

Cons

• Not allowed to record webcam alone.
• Besides, some tools are paid only.
• Limited video output formats: MP4, AVI, WMV.
• Also, built-in video editor missing.

Best free screen recorders for Mac OS:

Apowersoft Screen Recorder

Supported OS: MacOS | Windows | Android

Apowersoft Screen Recorder is one of the best screen recorders for Mac. One can pause recordings so as to record content flexibly. It also supports recording the audio from the microphone and syncing it to the screencasts.

Pros

• Simple interface.
• Flexible screen capture (Pause feature).
• Also, a Scheduled recording is possible.
• Saves in multiple video format.

Cons

• Recording time limited to 3 minutes.
• Furthermore, it has a watermark on output video.

Monosnap

Supported OS: MacOS | Windows

Monosnap is one of the free screen recorders for Mac and screenshot program specially designed for macOS. It has integrated cloud storage to save the output videos; one can also direct the videos to a desired cloud storage solution like Dropbox, Google Drive and many others. One can use the built-in video editor or directly export to any other video editor. This makes Monosnap amongst the best free screen recorders available.

Pros

• Capture full screen, are or a window.
• Hotkeys for faster usage.
• Records videos or GIF
• Also, includes cloud storage.

Cons

• All features are not free, so one has to buy them through in-app purchases.

QuickTime

Supported OS: MacOS | Windows

QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc. It handles various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Since it is developed by Mac, it can trusted by Mac users without a doubt.

Pros

• Captures full screen or a region.
• Additionally has a supportive interface.
• Webcam and Audio recording is possible (although, not the best quality).
• Also, no watermarks added.

Cons

• Firstly, live streaming is not possible.
• And, editing has its limits.

Our Pick for Best Screen Recorders

Conclusively, for macOS, we think Apowersoft is the best option. Apowersoft has a simple interface which we really appreciate! Plus it has an option to pause recording. If that was not enough, it can schedule recordings too. The positive points weigh heavier than its downsides like recording limit of 3 minutes and a watermark. We can do with that; if could too then definitely go for Apowesoft Screen recorder.

For windows, we choose Free Cam because It has no watermark, time limits, or ads. Also, Voice-over and computer sound recording possible. You can capture High-quality resolution content. Option of Direct Youtube upload is even possible. You can quickly trim videos. Additionally, one can remove background noiseA plethora of Audio Effects available.

With this we complete our list of best free screen recorders for Windows and macOS, let us know which feature you can’t do without.