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
editComparison by features
editThe following table compares features of screencasting software. The table has seven fields, as follows:
- Product 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
- Direct3D: 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 (audio output types are omitted)
Product name | Audio | Entire desktop |
OpenGL | Direct3D | Editing | Output |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ActivePresenter[31] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
ActivePresenter free edition[31] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
Adobe Captivate[32] | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | SWF, EXE, MP4 |
Adobe Presenter Video Express[33] | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | MP4 |
Bandicam | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
BB FlashBack | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | AVI, FLV, SWF[34] |
BB FlashBack express | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | AVI, FLV, SWF, MP4 (H.264 or MPEG-4 ASP), WMV, Animated GIF, PowerPoint slideshow, self-extracting EXE[34] |
CamStudio | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | AVI, SWF |
Camtasia (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Camtasia (Mac) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
CloudApp | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? |
Debut | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | AVI, FLV, MKV, MP4, WebM, WMV, 3GP, ASF, DV, MOV, MPG, OGV |
FFmpeg with a plug-in | Depends | Depends | Depends | Depends | No | cf. [broken anchor]FFmpeg § Codecs, formats and protocols supported |
Fraps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | FPS1 in AVI |
Freeseer | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | Ogg |
HyperCam | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | AVI, WMV |
Jing | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | SWF |
Microsoft Expression Encoder | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
Nero Vision | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
Nvidia Shadowplay | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
Open Broadcaster Software | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Simple mode: FLV, MP4, MOV, MKV, TS, HLS Advanced mode: Any format supported by libavformat |
Pixetell | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
QuickTime X | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | |
recordMyDesktop | Yes | Yes | ? | — | No | Theora in Ogg |
Screencam | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
ScreenPal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
ScreenFlow | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | Yes | ProRes, MP4, GIF, AAC |
ShareX | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | AVI, MP4, GIF |
SimpleScreenRecorder | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | No | Formats supported by libavformat |
Snagit (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Snagit (Mac) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
Snapz Pro X | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | |
VirtualDub | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | AVI |
VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | |
Windows Media Encoder | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | |
Xbox (Game DVR) /Xbox Game Bar | Yes | No | ? | ? | No | MP4 |
XVidCap | Yes | ? | ? | — | No | |
XSplit Broadcaster | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MP4, FLV |
Product name | Audio | Entire desktop |
OpenGL | Direct3D | Editing | Output |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "ActivePresenter Changes Log". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Adobe Captivate - Design awesome courses in mins". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "AVS Video Editor".
- ^ "Bandicam 8.0.0 (Bandicam 2025) - Blur effect, 'Whiteboard and All display - Bandicam Forum". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ a b "FlashBack change history". Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ "CamStudio - Free Screen Recording Software". 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Camtasia (Windows) Version History". TechSmith Support.
- ^ "Camtasia (Mac) Version History". TechSmith Support.
- ^ "Introducing: Automated Drop Naming, Enhanced Annotations, Multi-Monitor Support, and 4k Video Quality Options". CloudApp Blog. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
- ^ a b "Debut Video Capture Software Versions". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "26th February 2013 - Fraps 3.5.99 Released". Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ "Release 3.0.1". 3 January 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "HyperCam Home Edition version history". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Nero Video - Simply better film projects!". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ Nathan (9 October 2024). "What's New in Nero Platinum Suite 2025". Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "Release 31.0.0". 6 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ "Release 1.5.1". 19 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ "Pixetell: Powerful Screen Recorder for Efficient Communication". Archived from the original on 16 March 2011.
- ^ "Release v0.4.0". 14 March 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Release Notes Desktop - Version 3.14.3 - ScreenPal". Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "Version History".
- ^ "Release 16.1.0". 9 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Release 0.4.4". 24 May 2021.
- ^ "Snagit (Windows) Version History". TechSmith Support. 13 November 2024.
- ^ "Snagit (Mac) Version History". TechSmith Support. 14 November 2024.
- ^ "VirtualDub - Browse /virtualdub-win/1.10.4.35491 at SourceForge.net".
- ^ "VLC: Official site - Free multimedia solutions for all OS! - VideoLAN". VideoLAN. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "xvidcap - Browse /xvidcap/1.1.7 at SourceForge.net".
- ^ "xvidcap / News: xvidcap 1.1.7 released".
- ^ "XSplit Broadcaster Release Highlights: Powerful New Audio Mixer Features, Background Removal Updates, and More!". Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Feature Comparison". ActivePresenter website. Atomi Systems. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Supported file formats". Adobe Captivate Help. Adobe Systems Incorporated. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
- ^ "Output formats". Adobe Presenter Video Express Help. Adobe Systems Incorporated. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
- ^ a b "Feature Comparison". bbsoftware.co.uk. Blueberry Software. Retrieved 13 January 2015.