Comparison of screencasting software
This page provides a comparison of notable screencasting software, used to record activities on the computer screen. This software is commonly used for desktop recording, gameplay recording and video editing. Screencasting software is typically limited to streaming and recording desktop activity alone, in contrast with a software vision mixer, which has the capacity to mix and switch the output between various input streams.
Comparison by specification
Product name | Publisher | Latest stable version | Latest release date | OS | Software license | Source code available? |
ActivePresenter | Atomi Systems | 7.3.1 | 2018-07-11 | Windows macOS | ||
ActivePresenter Free Edition | Atomi Systems | 7.3.1 | 2018-07-11 | Windows macOS | ||
Adobe Captivate | Adobe Systems | 9.0 | 2015-08-03 | Windows macOS | ||
Adobe Presenter Video Express | Adobe Systems | 11.0 | 2016-09-14 | Windows macOS | ||
AVS Video Editor | Online Media Technologies Ltd | 7.5.1.288 | 2017-01-16 | Windows | ||
Bandicam | Bandicam Company | 4.5.0.1587 | 2019-10-23 | Windows | ||
BB FlashBack | Blueberry Software | 5.4.0.3442 | 2014-12-18 | Windows | ||
BB FlashBack Express | Blueberry Software | 5.22.0.4178 | 2016-11-09 | Windows | ||
CamStudio | CamStudio.org | 2.7.2 r326 | 2013-10-19 | Windows | ||
Camtasia | TechSmith | 2019.0.2 | 2019-05-29 | Windows | ||
Camtasia | TechSmith | 2019.0.1 | 2019-05-22 | macOS | ||
Debut | NCH Software | 4.08 | 2017-09-14 | Windows | ||
Debut | NCH Software | 4.01 | 2017-03-31 | macOS | ||
Fraps | Beepa Pty Ltd | 3.5.99 | 2013-02-26 | Windows | ||
Freeseer | FOSSLC | 3.0.1 | 2013-12-15 | Windows macOS Linux | ||
Grabilla | Grabilla | 0.3.1 | 2020-07-14 | Windows Unix macOS Java | ||
HyperCam | Solveig Multimedia | 4.0.1511.06 | 2015-11-06 | Windows | ||
HyperCam | Hyperionics | 2.29.00 | 2016-01-07 | Windows | ||
Microsoft Expression Encoder | Microsoft | 4 | 2011-11-02 | Windows | ||
mimoLive | Boinx Software Ltd. | 4.6 | 2019-01-08 | macOS | ||
Nero Vision | Nero AG | 10.6.10800 | 2011-04-19 | Windows | ||
Nvidia Shadowplay | Nvidia | 2.11.4.0 | 2016-06-21 | Windows | ||
Open Broadcaster Software | OBS Project | 25.0.8 | 2020-04-26 | Windows macOS Linux | ||
Peek | Philipp Wolfer | 1.4.0 | 2019-09-27 | Linux | ||
Pixetell | Ontier Inc. | 1.3.11913 | 2010-01-15 | Windows | ||
QuickTime X | Apple Inc. | 10.0 | 2010-03-29 | macOS | ||
RecordMyDesktop | SourceForge | 0.3.8.1 | 2008-12-13 | Linux | ||
Screencam | SmartGuyz Inc. | 3.3.0 | 2009-03-24 | Windows | ||
ScreenFlow | Telestream | 7.3.1 | 2018-06-20 | macOS | ||
ShareX | Jaex and Michael Delpach | 13.0.1 | 2019-08-28 | Windows | ||
SimpleScreenRecorder | maartenbaert | 0.3.9 | 2020-04-08 | Linux | ||
Snagit for Windows | TechSmith | 13.0.3 | 2016-10-25 | Windows | ||
Snagit for Mac | TechSmith | 4.0.6 | 2016-10-25 | macOS | ||
Snapz Pro X | Ambrosia Software | 2.6.1 | 2016-10-17 | macOS | ||
VirtualDub | SourceForge | 1.9.11 | 2012-12-27 | Windows | ||
VLC media player | VideoLAN | 3.0.8 | 2019-08-19 | Windows macOS Linux BSD Solaris QNX Haiku Syllable OS/2 | ||
Wink | Satish Kumar | 2.0 | 2008-07-14 | Windows Linux | ||
Xbox | Microsoft | Windows | ||||
XVidCap | SourceForge | 1.1.7 | 2008-07-13 | Unix-like | ||
XSplit Broadcaster | SplitmediaLabs | 3.0.1705.3117 | 2017-06-27 | Windows | ||
Product name | Publisher | Latest stable version | Latest release date | OS | Software license | Source code available? |
Comparison by features
The following table compares features of screencasting software. The table has seven fields, as follows:- Name: Product's name; sometime includes edition if a certain edition is targeted
- Audio: Specifies whether the product supports recording audio commentary on the video
- Entire desktop: Specifies whether product supports recording the entire desktop
- OpenGL: Specifies whether the product supports recording from video games and software that employ OpenGL to render digital image
- DirectX: Specifies whether the product supports recording from video games or software that employ Direct3D to render digital image
- Editing: Specifies whether the product supports editing recorded video at least to some small extent, such as cropping, trimming or splitting
- Output: Specifies the file format in which the software saves the final video
Product name | Audio | Entire desktop | OpenGL | Direct3D | Vulkan | Direct2D Fullscreen | Editing | Output | - | - | - | - |
ActivePresenter | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
ActivePresenter free edition | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Adobe Captivate | SWF, EXE, MP4 | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Adobe Presenter Video Express | MP4 | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Bandicam | AVI, MP4 | - | - | - | - | |||||||
BB FlashBack | AVI, FLV, SWF | - | - | - | - | |||||||
BB FlashBack express | AVI, FLV, SWF, MP4, WMV, Animated GIF, PowerPoint slideshow, self-extracting EXE | - | - | - | - | |||||||
CamStudio | AVI, SWF | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Camtasia | .camrec, AVI | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Debut | AVI, FLV, MKV, MP4, WebM, WMV, 3GP, ASF, DV, MOV, MPG, OGV | - | - | - | - | |||||||
FFmpeg with a plug-in | cf. | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Fraps | FPS1 in AVI | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Freeseer | Ogg | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Ginj is not Jing | PNG, Support for DropBox, Google Photos | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Grabilla | WMV, mp4 on website. | - | - | - | - | |||||||
HyperCam | AVI, WMV | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Jing | SWF | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Microsoft Expression Encoder | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Nero Vision | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Nvidia Shadowplay | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Open Broadcaster Software | Simple mode: FLV, MP4, MOV, MKV, TS, HLS Advanced mode: Any format supported by libavformat | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Pixetell | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
QuickTime X | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
RecordMyDesktop | Theora in Ogg | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Screencam | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
ScreenFlow | ProRes, MP4, GIF, AAC | |||||||||||
ShareX | AVI, MP4, GIF | - | - | - | - | |||||||
SimpleScreenRecorder | Formats supported by libavformat | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Snagit | MP4 | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Snapz Pro X | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
VirtualDub | AVI | - | - | - | - | |||||||
VLC | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Windows Media Encoder | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
Wink | SWF, PDF | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Xbox | MP4 | - | - | - | - | |||||||
XVidCap | - | - | - | - | ||||||||
XSplit Broadcaster | MP4, FLV | - | - | - | - | |||||||
Product name | Audio | Entire desktop | OpenGL | Direct3D | Editing | Output | - | - | - | - |