Capture what’s happening on your screen with the best free screen recorder. Whether it’s the entire display or just a selected window or area you’d like to capture, and whether you want to live stream that recording or save it as a video file, there are excellent screen recorders out there that are cost-free.
The best free screen recorder currently is OBS Studio. A remarkable program with a feature set that rivals those of the more premium tools, this can record everything happening on your desktop, as well as capture footage from your webcam and use it for picture-in-picture video, and even record audio from a microphone. It also gives you the option to save the results in a format of your choice, or stream them via the service of your choice.
Still, while OBS Studio is certainly an ideal choice for professionals and gamers alike, there are other capable options that are worth looking into. If you only need to capture a few minutes of footage, a more straightforward tool might be all you need.
So, we’ve rounded up the very best free screen recorders for all projects and levels of experience. Whether you’re making a software tutorial for your YouTube channel, recording a Let’s Play video, or capturing a video call, there’s something here that’ll fit the bill.
The best screen recorders overall
Flashback Pro offers a much more comprehensive set of tools than the free Flashback Express version listed below, including the ability to edit video and audio frame by frame, add picture-in-picture video and annotations. View Deal
Debut Video Capture is packed with premium tools, including scheduled recordings and flexible output options. It’s easy to use and reliable, and is a great choice if you’re looking for a screen recording app. Everything is clearly labelled, and you’ll never be left casting around for the option you need.View Deal
3. Camtasia
Camtasia has been in the screen recording game longer than most, and offers more features than most too – as well as capturing what’s on screen with aplomb, this fully fledged video editing solution can also add plenty of extras and edits on top too. Whatever you want to record, from games to PowerPoints, Camtasia can take it all in its stride.View Deal
The best free screen recorders at a glance
- OBS Studio
- FlashBack Express
- Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder
- Debut Video Capture
- ShareX
- Screencast-O-Matic
1. OBS Studio
The best screen recorder for any software, including games
Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
HD streaming and recording
No restrictions on video length
Open source and ad-free
Setup takes a little while
If you’re a keen gamer, OBS Studio is easily the best free screen recorder for you. Unlike the hugely popular FRAPS (which only lets you record for 30 seconds at a stretch unless you’ve bought a license, and applies a watermark to the resulting footage), OBS Studio is open source, and completely free to use without restrictions.
OBS Studio supports both streaming and recording in high definition, with no restrictions on the number or length of your creations. You can stream live to Twitch or YouTube gaming, save projects and come back to them later, or encode your footage in FLV format and save it locally.
Because OBS Studio can record directly from your graphics card, it’s able to capture games running in full-screen mode (many other screen recorders can only record if the game is windowed), with customizable hotkeys to control the recording. OBS Studio can also make full use of multi-core CPUs for improved performance, and can record at 60FPS (or even higher).
It might take a little while to set it up exactly how you want, but OBS Studio is by far the best and most powerful screen recorder for gamers.
Read our full OBS Studio review
2. FlashBack Express
Ideal for recording games and capturing footage from a webcam
Platform: Windows
Well designed interface
Choice of output formats
Record from screen or webcam
Some tools are paid-only
OBS Studio is our favorite free screen recorder, but Flashback Express comes an extremely close second. Despite being a free version of a paid program, FlashBack Express won’t put ugly watermarks over your recordings or impose time limits, and it’s packed with features and tools that rival many premium programs. Its interface is less intimidating than OBS Studio, so if you’ve never used a screen recorder before, it’s an excellent choice.
You can record from your whole screen, a window, a selected area, or a webcam. Once you’ve finished, your recording will appear in a simple editor, where you can crop and trim it to suit your needs, then export it to YouTube, an FTP server, or your PC.
That’s all fairly standard fare for a free screen recorder, but take a minute to dive into Flashback’s advanced options and you’ll find a wealth of thoughtfully designed settings that will make your desktop recordings look truly professional. The recorder can automatically obscure passwords entered on screen, replace your silly wallpaper with a plain one, hide messy desktop icons, and highlight your mouse pointer to make it easier to follow. There’s also a dedicated gaming mode that lets you define the number of frames recorded per second.
There’s no limit on the length of your recordings unless you choose to set one, which can be useful if there’s a chance you might accidentally leave the recorder running. You can also choose to break long recordings up into chunks – a brilliant touch that helps you avoid creating huge, unwieldy files. Your recordings won’t be watermarked, either.
Following a recent update, Flashback Express can export in WMV, AVI and MP4 formats, eliminating the need for a separate video converter, and it no longer requires a free license key for activation – just install the software and you’re ready to start recording.
Developer Blueberry Software has also released a free screen recorder designed specifically for games – FBX. This recorder captures HD in-game footage, with hardware acceleration for AMD and Nvidia cards, and Intel CPUs.
If you’re thinking about upgrading to FlashBack Pro, Blueberry software is offering TechRadar readers an exclusive 25% discount.
Read our full Flashback Express review
3. Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder
An in-browser recorder more powerful than most desktop apps
Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux (in browser)
No time limits or watermarks
Lots of export options
Can record from webcams
Not suitable for games
If you want to record a presentation, software demonstration or tutorial, give Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder a try. This browser-based tool may not be suitable for games, but it’s the best free screen recorder for any other tasks.
The first time you use Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder, you’ll be prompted to download a small launcher application. You’ll then be provided with a control bar packed with more options than you’ll find in most desktop screen recording software. You can capture footage from your desktop or a webcam, and record audio from your PC, microphone, both or neither.
You can record the whole screen, select an area manually or choose one of the preset resolutions – ideal if you’re recording a clip for YouTube, for example, and don’t want to use a separate video editor to resize it later.
Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder also offers customizable keyboard shortcuts for speed and convenience. You can choose whether or not to include the cursor in the recording and take your pick from a range of output formats including MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV and many more. You can even add annotations during the recording.
Once you’re done, you can save the recording as a video file or GIF, upload it directly to YouTube or Vimeo, or send it to Google Drive or Dropbox. You can also edit the clip. Selecting this option will download an additional component – Apowersoft Video Editor – which lets you make simple adjustments before exporting your video in your preferred format. A truly exceptional tool.
Note that the ‘Download desktop version’ button links to a program called Apowersoft Screen Recorder Pro. This is a trial version of a premium application, and is more limited than Online Screen Recorder.
Read our full Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder review
4. Debut Video Capture
Capable of recording from screens, IP cameras and webcams
Platform: Windows
Scheduled recordings
Can record from webcams
Can record from IP cameras
Looks a little dated
Debut Video Capture is a new addition to our roundup of free screen recorders, and although its slightly dated design does it few favors, it’s an extremely powerful program that can do much more than just capture what’s happening on your PC monitor.
In addition to basic screen recording (with no time limits or watermarks), Debut Video Capture can also record footage from external devices, including webcams and security cameras. It can even record on a regular schedule, which means it can become the main hub of a home security system. Not too shabby for a program that’s totally free for personal use.
There are no post-production editing tools, but you can apply filters and add your own captions and watermarks before you begin recording. There’s no option for exporting videos directly to YouTube or Facebook, but they can be saved in all the main formats, including MP4, MOV and AVI (to name just three).
Debut Video Capture is currently in public beta, so we look forward to seeing the final release version with a lick of extra polish soon.
Read our full Debut Video Capture review
5. ShareX
A great choice if you want to share your screen recordings online
Platform: Windows
Capture as video file or GIF
Dozens of export options
Also great for static screen grabs
Not suitable for games
ShareX is an open source app for capturing still screen grabs and recording videos. There are no watermarks or time limits to worry about, but the interface isn’t the most intuitive in the world so you’ll be best off using keyboard shortcuts. For quick reference, you can start a recording by tapping Shift + Print Screen, and stop it again using Ctrl + Shift + Print Screen.
You can also use this free screen recorder to save your capture as a GIF rather than a video file, which can be extremely useful for sharing on forums and social media.
Not only is ShareX among the best free screen recorders, but it can also capture an entire scrolling webpage, capture and identify text via OCR, and even capture your screen according to a schedule.
Another of its best features is the ability to send your captured grabs and videos straight to a file-sharing or social media site. There’s a vast array of options, which you can check out on the project’s site.
Unfortunately, ShareX doesn’t support taking screen grabs or recordings from games running in full-screen mode. Other than that, it’s a superb screen recorder that will serve you extremely well.
Read our full ShareX review
6. Screencast-O-Matic
A browser-based free screen recorder with a lot to offer
Platform: Windows, macOS, ChromeOS (in browser)
Supports captions
Can zoom while recording
Videos are watermarked
Maximum length 15 minutes
Screencast-O-Matic is another browser-based free screen recorder, and a very capable one at that. Recordings are limited to 15 minutes in length, but you can record as many clips as you like, zoom while recording, trim your recorded clips, add captions, save them to your desktop, YouTube or the cloud, share a video link, or add one of 30 royalty-free music tracks
Hit ‘Start recording for free’, followed by ‘Launch free recorder’. As with Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder, you’ll be prompted to download and install a small web launcher, after which the screen recorder will launch. Prepare your screen and adjust the size of the recording window to suit your needs (it can record the whole screen or just a selected area), then hit the red button. You can capture audio from your PC or a microphone, and record footage from your screen, a webcam or both.
Upgrading to a Deluxe account gives you extra features including scripted recordings, drawing and annotations, a video editor, and (perhaps most usefully) the ability to generate captions automatically with text-to-speech. That’s an impressive set of tools for $1.65 (about £1, AU$2.50) per month, but the free version of Screencast-O-Matic has a lot to offer as well.
The only real downside is that your recordings will be watermarked unless you upgrade, but if that’s not an issue then this free screen recorder is well worth a look.
