January 21, 2021· ·4 min read
There are many screen recorders out there, so we’ve rounded up some of the best screen recorder tools so you can find the one that works for you.
Are you looking for the best screen recorder available?
There are tons of reasons you might want to make screen recording video, from sharing presentations at work to proving your video game skills.
Regardless of your purpose, you have two main options: you can view the recording natively on your device, or you can use a Chrome extension, software application, or other tool.
With a multitude of online screen recorder tools to choose from, it can be difficult knowing where to start. We did the hard work narrowing it down to some of the best free screen recorders (plus a paid option).
Best Screen Recorder Tool Summary
1. The Vidyard Chrome Extension
Price: Download a Chrome extension for free
Benefits: Works on most devices, intuitive, allows sharing, HD quality, no watermark, allows you to share your screen and yourself at the same time
For versatility, there’s nothing quite like Vidyard’s free Chrome extension – it’s a simple screen recorder that works on both Mac and Windows. You can also use it on iPhone to record videos of yourself (but not on your screen).
Since this is a Chrome extension screen, it will work on most devices. The user interface is intuitive and allows sharing. The recordings are in HD quality and have no watermarks.
Wondering how to record your screen and yourself at the same time? With Vidyard, you can. You can either just record your screen or add a webcam bubble with your face to add a human touch to your screen recordings.
Vidyard is great for recording demos, walkthroughs, presentations, and more.
On Mac and Windows, just download the screen recorder Chrome extension. On iPhones, visit the iTunes App Store.
Pro tip: Vidyard is also a video hosting and sharing tool. It automatically uploads your videos to the cloud (saves space on your device), allows you to trim recordings, email videos with just a few taps, and get notified when someone is viewing your content.
Free screen recording
Just record and share your screen.
get it free
2. OBS Studio
Price: Download desktop software for free
Benefits: HD quality, unlimited length
OBS is an acronym for Open Broadcast Studio and is a desktop screen recording app for gamers. However, it can be useful for recording long marketing webinars or in-depth product demonstrations.
It’s best for long-term shooting and making game videos. You can also stream footage live on YouTube or, if you’re a marketer in the video game world, Twitch.
Pro tip: You can customize keyboard hotkeys in Settings to control recording in full screen mode.
3. FlashBack Express
Price: Download desktop software for free
Benefits: Edit your videos
FlashBack Express is also designed for gamers and includes a built-in video editor that allows you to crop or annotate your videos before exporting them to either YouTube or your desktop.
It doesn’t add watermarks to your videos like some screen recorders do, and has a feature that I haven’t seen anywhere else: you can ask them to obscure any passwords you enter while recording so you don’t get one Corporate systems get access to your videos.
4. Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder
Price: Download desktop software for free
Benefits: Create GIFs, many export options
Apowersoft is suitable for tutorials, live streaming, live chats and software demonstrations. You can use it to create your own customizable keyboard shortcuts and export them to many formats, including GIF.
You can upload your finished video directly to YouTube, Vimeo, G-Dive or Dropbox. However, if you want to edit videos, you have to upgrade to the paid version, although there is a free trial version.
5. Debut video recording
Price: Paid, download software
Benefits: Schedule your recordings
The debut differs from other screen recording tools in two ways: it lets you record video from external devices like security cameras and schedule it to start new recordings. This is useful when you want to make a time-lapse of something you drew in Photoshop, for example.
It costs money, but not a lot: just $ 3 a month if you pay quarterly.
6. ShareX
Price: Download free software
Benefits: Create GIFs and take screenshots of scrolling web pages
ShareX doesn’t have the most intuitive interface, but it does allow you to capture an image of an entire website that requires you to scroll down.
It can also recognize the text in these images using optical character recognition (OCR), in case you want to know what’s in these screenshots.
7. Icecream Screen Recorder
Price: Free download from the Apple Mac Store
Benefits: Comment on videos, enlarge them
Icecream excels at video editing and annotation. Easily add logos, add names, or zoom in on specific areas during a demo. You can export your video in many different file formats and set custom hotkeys for quick recording.
Bonus: Icecream’s screen recorder supports over 50 languages, making it a great choice for global teams.
8. TinyTake
Price: Download free software (Windows only)
Benefits: Bulk file sharing
As the name suggests, TinyTake is simple and easy to learn. It has a five hour recording limit, but that isn’t important to most marketers.
TinyTake is great for product reviews, capturing bugs, and recording demos. You can export video files in bulk, upload them to YouTube, or save them online.
Free screen recording
Just record and share your screen.
get it free
This post was originally published on October 1, 2019. It was updated on January 21, 2021.
Chris Gillespie
Chris Gillespie is the author and founder of Find A Way Media, which helps great companies create killer marketing content. Chris is based in Brooklyn and has sold SaaS technology solutions for years. Now he is helping these companies develop their content marketing strategies.
