Best Screen Recording Software in 2026

Loom is a browser- and desktop-based recorder for short screen-and-camera videos that are shared as a link rather than as a file. Its use case is asynchronous communication inside companies: walkthroughs, code reviews, bug reports, status updates and sales prospecting messages that replace a live meeting. Atlassian announced on 12 October 2023 that it had agreed to acquire Loom; at the time Loom said almost 5 million videos were being created on it every month by 200,000 customers.

Since the acquisition Loom has been sold as an Atlassian product and bundled into Atlassian's Teamwork Collection alongside Jira, Confluence and Rovo. The paid tiers add unlimited videos and recording length, waveform trimming, removal of Loom branding and viewer identification, while the Business + AI tier adds automatic titles, summaries and chapters, filler-word removal, text-based editing and a feature that turns a screen walkthrough into Jira work items for AI agents. Enterprise adds SSO and SCIM through Atlassian Guard Standard, custom retention rules, a Salesforce integration and a 99.95% uptime SLA.

Its limitations are those of a messaging tool: the free Starter plan caps users at 25 recordings of five minutes each, and editing is deliberately basic compared with dedicated editors such as Camtasia or Descript.

Camtasia is a screen recorder and timeline video editor made by TechSmith, a company founded in 1987 that says more than 73 million people in over 190 countries have used its products. Camtasia targets people who produce polished instructional content rather than quick messages: software trainers, instructional designers, product marketers and educators.

TechSmith now sells Camtasia as a family of annual subscriptions. The entry Starter plan bundles Snagit with recording features, while Essentials adds the Camtasia Editor, editable multitrack recording, cursor effects and path editing, animations and transitions, quizzes and SCORM export for learning management systems, text-based editing and automatic filler-word removal. The Create tier adds AI script generation and AI voiceovers with over 200 voice options, and Pro adds avatar generation, script translation, audio dubbing and access to over 100 million royalty-free stock assets.

Camtasia's strengths are its editor and its e-learning outputs; quizzes and SCORM packaging are rare among recorders. The trade-off is cost and weight: the plans that include the full editor start at US$179.88 a year, individual licences are non-transferable, and the software is a desktop application rather than a share-link tool.

OBS Studio, from the OBS Project, is free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13 or newer (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Linux, and is funded by sponsors and backers rather than licence fees; version 33.0.1 was listed as the latest release when this list was reviewed.

OBS works on a scene-and-source model. A scene can combine window captures, displays, webcams, capture cards, images, text and browser sources, and users switch between an unlimited number of scenes with custom transitions. It includes an audio mixer with per-source filters such as noise gate and noise suppression, VST plug-in support, hotkeys for nearly every action, a Studio Mode for previewing scenes before they go live and a Multiview that monitors eight scenes at once. An API supports native plug-ins and Lua or Python scripts.

That flexibility explains its popularity with streamers, educators and anyone recording long or complex sessions without a watermark or time limit. The cost is effort: OBS has no built-in editor, no cloud sharing and no team administration, so recordings must be trimmed and distributed with other tools.

Snagit is TechSmith's capture tool, best known for screenshots but also able to record screen video and animated GIFs. It is sold separately as Snagit Individual and is included in every Camtasia plan. TechSmith, founded in 1987, positions Snagit for workplace communication and documentation rather than for produced video.

Snagit captures full screens, windows, regions, scrolling panoramas and multi-step sequences, and includes an image editor for arrows, callouts and blurring. TechSmith's Starter bundle lists AI blur and redaction of images, standard operating procedure and guide creation, background noise removal and webcam background removal, along with unlimited 4K/60fps recordings and an animated GIF maker. For people who mostly need annotated screenshots and occasional short clips, it covers both jobs in one licence.

Its video capabilities are intentionally light. There is no multitrack editor, so longer tutorials usually move into Camtasia or another editor, and sharing is file- and integration-based rather than a hosted video page like Loom or Zight.

ScreenPal is the current name of Screencast-O-Matic, a long-running browser and desktop recorder popular in education; the company's site states that Screencast-O-Matic is now ScreenPal and that it is based in Seattle, Washington. ScreenPal says it has 9 million users worldwide.

The product combines screen and webcam recording, screenshots, a video editor and hosting. Its plan ladder runs from a free tier through Deluxe and Max to Team Business. Deluxe is described as full-featured capture and editing, while Max adds interactive elements and AI time-saving tools, and Team Business is priced per user for groups of three or more.

ScreenPal's main advantage is price: the paid individual tiers cost a fraction of Camtasia or Descript. It has a long track record in schools, where teachers record lessons and feedback. The trade-off is that its editor and AI features are less extensive than those of Descript or Camtasia, and enterprise controls are lighter than Loom's or Vidyard's.

Descript is an editor in which video and audio are edited by editing a transcript, much like a document. Its product menu lists video editing, podcasting, a screen recorder for instant sharing or B-roll, Rooms for remote recording and AI enhancement that fixes sound and mistakes. For screen recording, it suits people who record a tutorial or demo and then want to cut it heavily without learning a timeline editor.

Plans are metered by media hours and AI credits. Hobbyist includes 10 media hours and 400 AI credits per month with watermark-free 1080p export; Creator raises this to 30 media hours, 800 AI credits, 4K export and full access to Underlord, Descript's AI co-editor, plus more than 20 other AI tools; Business allows teams of up to five and adds collaboration features.

The approach is efficient for talking-head and voice-led screen videos but can feel indirect for pure screen footage without narration. The metered model also means heavy users must watch their media-hour and credit allowances, and its quick-share features are less central than in Loom.

Screen Studio is a macOS-only recorder designed for polished product demos and social clips. Its distinguishing method is that it records the screen without the mouse cursor, logs precise cursor movement separately and adds the cursor back afterwards, which allows smoothing of motion, resizing of the cursor and automatic zoom effects after recording.

Every feature is included in every plan, including export up to 4K at 60 fps, shareable links, cloud transcripts and project sharing. The company says recordings are stored and processed locally and that AI features such as transcription run on the user's computer; basic usage data collection can be switched off.

Screen Studio has a narrow focus. It does not run on Windows, and the company states there are no near-term plans for a Windows version. It is not a team messaging tool with analytics or admin controls, so it competes with Camtasia and Descript for produced demos rather than with Loom.

Zight is a capture and sharing tool combining screen recording, screenshots, GIFs, transcription, AI summaries, step-by-step guides and Video Requests, a feature that collects a recording from someone else without requiring an account or install on their side. It is aimed at customer support, onboarding and documentation teams as well as sales.

Its pricing page positions Zight as a replacement for several single-purpose tools, comparing it with Loom for recording, Fathom for meeting summaries, Scribe for guides, Jam for bug reports and Birdie for support video requests. The Collaborate plan for teams of two or more includes unlimited AI smart actions, up to 50 Video Requests, custom branding and calls to action, and GDPR and SOC 2 Type II compliance; the Scale plan adds premium help-desk integrations such as Zendesk, Intercom and Salesforce Service Cloud, SSO and SCIM, HIPAA compliance with a business associate agreement, custom retention and S3 storage.

The free Share plan is limited to quick sharing and 15-second GIFs, and Video Request volumes are capped below the Scale tier.

Tella is a browser-based screen recorder that records in clips and applies layouts, backgrounds and branding so that the output looks like a produced presentation rather than a raw capture. It is used for product demos and course content. Its pricing page now sits on tella.com, having moved from the tella.tv domain to tella.com.

Two self-serve plans are listed. Pro covers the essentials for creating professional video, while Premium adds advanced features and analytics; an Enterprise tier exists for larger buyers, and a SOC 2 Type II report is available. Tella uses a credit system for AI features; workspace owners can buy one-time top-ups from 25,000 credits for US$25 up to 2,500,000 credits for US$2,250, and purchased credits do not expire. SSO and SCIM are add-ons on any paid plan and included with Enterprise.

Tella's focus on style is its advantage over Loom and its limitation compared with Camtasia: it has fewer advanced editing controls, and as a browser tool it depends on a stable connection.

Vidyard is a video platform for sales and marketing teams that combines screen and camera recording with hosting, viewer analytics, CRM integrations and, more recently, AI-generated videos and avatars. Its pricing page lists a free plan with five recorded videos a month and recordings up to 30 minutes, plus 15 AI videos and stock and custom AI avatars.

The Starter plan adds unlimited recording, full video analytics, team performance analytics, branded sharing pages, call-to-action templates and password-protected videos. The Teams plan, aimed at teams of five or more, adds CRM and marketing-automation integrations, advanced analytics, fully customisable calls to action and captions; Enterprise adds unlimited integrations, SSO and custom permissions. A Video Agent add-on provides unlimited AI videos and automated video creation and delivery.

Vidyard is more specialised than general recorders: its value lies in tracking which prospects watched what and syncing that data to the CRM. Paid prices are not displayed on the pricing page, Teams and Enterprise are invoiced on custom terms, and the free plan does not include video hosting.

Bandicam is a desktop recorder from Bandicam Company, long used for gameplay capture and general Windows screen recording; the company now also lists a Mac edition, a separate editor called Bandicut and AI features such as transcription, auto zoom and webcam background removal. The download page listed Bandicam 2027, version 27.0.7, dated 15 October 2026.

The free version records with limits; paid licences remove the recording time limit and watermark and include updates and support. Bandicam sells personal licences for non-commercial use without an invoice and Business & Education licences for organisations, and offers both annual and perpetual options. Perpetual licences cover a specific major version; the company notes that perpetual licences bought before 18 November 2023 apply to the older 2024 release.

Bandicam's strengths are low overhead and a simple interface, which suit recording games and long desktop sessions on modest hardware. It does not offer cloud hosting, team sharing or viewer analytics, and editing requires the separate Bandicut product.

ShareX is a free and open-source screenshot tool for Windows that also records the screen and automates file sharing. Its site describes it as free forever, open source and usable without an account. It is distributed as an installer, a portable build and through the Microsoft Store and Steam.

Beyond region capture and screen recording, ShareX includes an image editor, image effects, scrolling screenshots, OCR, a background remover, pin-to-screen, command-line arguments and a configurable action pipeline that can upload captures automatically to destinations such as Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage and Cloudflare R2 through custom uploaders.

ShareX is aimed at technical users who want automation more than polish. It runs only on Windows, its recording output is basic, and the dense settings menus take time to learn. There is no hosted viewing page, analytics or team administration.

Movavi Screen Recorder is a desktop recorder for Windows and Mac from Movavi, a maker of consumer video software. It records the full screen or a custom area at up to 4K, captures system audio and microphone together or separately, overlays a webcam, takes scrolling screenshots and lets users draw on screen while recording.

Two features distinguish it among consumer tools: a recording scheduler that starts and stops capture at set times, useful for recording webinars or streams unattended, and on-screen highlighting of the cursor, clicks and keystrokes for tutorials. Noise reduction can be applied during recording. It is also included in the Movavi Video Suite and Movavi Unlimited bundles alongside Movavi's video editor.

The free trial lasts seven days and places a watermark on output, and the product page does not list prices, so buyers must go to the checkout to see the current amount. There are no cloud sharing, team or analytics features.