On this page
All prices below are as of October 2026, in US dollars unless noted. Each vendor’s pricing page is linked in the sources at the end. Prices can differ by country.
Disclosure: PlumCam is our app. Every other tool on this page is made by another company, and several of them beat PlumCam outright at jobs it wasn’t built for. We say where.
Start here: what your Mac already does
Before you buy anything, check what you have. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar. You can record the entire screen, a selected window or a selected portion. Selected window arrived in macOS 26.
macOS 27 “Golden Gate”, released in September 2026, added Include System Audio. That records the sound coming out of your Mac, not just your microphone. On macOS 26 and earlier, the built-in recorder captures the microphone only.
For plenty of people, that settles it. Our guide on how to screen record on a Mac covers every option. What Apple still leaves out is what the rest of this page is for:
- No camera with the screen. The toolbar has no camera bubble. If your face needs to be in the video, you need a workaround or another app.
- No share link. You get a .mov file on your desktop. To send it, you upload it somewhere first.
- No editing. The toolbar can’t trim, cut, zoom or add captions.
Every paid app below sells you one or more of those three things. Work out which one you need and the choice gets easier.
The 10 at a glance
| App | Free plan | Entry price | Editor | Share link | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlumCam | Yes | $9.99/mo | Advanced (Pro) | Your Google Drive | Recording yourself |
| Screen Studio | — | $9/mo yearly | Advanced | Optional | Launch and demo videos |
| CleanShot X | Trial | $35 once | Basic | CleanShot Cloud | Screenshots first |
| ScreenFlow | Trial | $199 once | Advanced | — | Editing, no subscription |
| Camtasia | — | €39.56/yr | Advanced | Screencast | Training videos |
| Descript | Yes | From $16/mo | Advanced | Not stated | Editing by transcript |
| Tella | Trial | $13/mo yearly | Advanced | Tella link | Changeable layouts |
| Loom | Yes | $18/mo | Basic | Loom link | Team video messages |
| OBS Studio | Yes | Free | — | — | Long recordings, streaming |
| macOS built-in | Yes | Free | — | — | Quick captures |
What changed recently
Buying once is getting rare. Screen Studio no longer sells one-time licences. CleanShot X’s $35 one-time price includes one year of updates, with an optional $19 renewal each year. Camtasia is sold as yearly plans. ScreenFlow, at $199 from Telestream’s store, is now one of the few full editors you pay for up front.
Apple closed the system-audio gap. Until macOS 27, recording your Mac’s own sound with the built-in tools wasn’t possible. Now it’s a checkbox. That makes the free recorder a real option for tutorials with app or video sound.
The apps, one by one
PlumCam: the quickest way to record yourself and send it
Our app · Best for Mac users explaining things to colleagues, clients or students, with their face on screen
PlumCam fills the two biggest gaps in the built-in recorder: your face and the link. You record the whole screen or one window, with your camera in a round bubble and your microphone. The video saves on your Mac as an .mp4. PlumCam can upload it to your own Google Drive and give you a share link. There’s no account and no PlumCam cloud.
Pro fills the third gap, editing. It records videos of any length, at up to 4K and 60 fps, with no logo. The editor trims, splits and cuts, sets volume or mute per part, removes noise, adds music that ducks under your voice, and adjusts brightness, contrast and saturation. Captions are transcribed on your Mac in many languages. You can edit them, burn them into the video or export an .srt file. Pro also uses your iPhone as the camera and can blur your background.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Screen or windowMac sound and microphone
- Face
- Round bubbleBackground blur, iPhone as camera
- Quality
- Basic1080p, 30 fpsPro4K, 60 fps
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- BasicNoneProAdvanced
- Sharing
- Google Drive linkYour own Drive, uploaded from the app
- Export
- .mp4
Price
- Free
- YesBasic plan
- Monthly
- $9.99Pro, first month free
- Annual
- $99.99Pro, paid upfront
Watch out for
- macOS only
- Basic: videos up to 5 minutes, with a small logo
- No team workspace or viewer analytics
Screen Studio: the best-looking output on the Mac
Best for product marketers and indie founders shipping launch and demo videos
Screen Studio’s automatic zooms and smooth cursor make a plain screen recording look like an edited product video. It records screen and camera, with overlay and split layouts, plus your microphone and your Mac’s sound.
The editor trims, cuts, speeds up sections, edits through the transcript and removes filler words. Captions can be made on your device and exported as .srt. Files are saved locally, and optional share links play at 1080p60 for videos up to 30 minutes.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesMicrophone and Mac sound
- Face
- Overlay or split layouts
- Quality
- Not statedShare links 1080p60
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Optional linkVideos up to 30 min
- Export
- Local fileType not stated; captions as .srt
Price
- Free
- —
- Monthly
- $29
- Annual
- $9/moBilled yearly
Watch out for
- macOS only (13.1 or later)
- No free plan
- Share links: videos up to 30 minutes
CleanShot X: a screenshot tool that also records
Best for designers, developers and support people who take far more screenshots than videos
CleanShot X does screenshots, annotation and screen recording in one app. The recorder adds a camera overlay and records your microphone and your computer’s sound. A built-in video editor adds smart zooms. CleanShot Cloud handles sharing: 1 GB on Basic, unlimited on Pro.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesMicrophone and computer sound
- Face
- Camera overlay
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Built-in editor
- Sharing
- CleanShot Cloud linkBasic 1 GB, Pro unlimited
- Export
- Not stated
Price
- Free
- —7-day trial through Setapp
- Monthly
- Not stated
- Annual
- $10/moPro, per user, billed yearly
- Lifetime
- $35 paid onceBasic, 1 year of updates; renewal $19 a year
Watch out for
- macOS only (13 or later)
- No free plan (7-day trial through Setapp)
- Basic: 1 GB of cloud storage
- Pro: per-user pricing
ScreenFlow: a full editor you pay for once
Best for Mac course creators and screencasters who want a serious editor without a subscription
ScreenFlow records screen, camera and microphone at the same time and puts them in a multi-track editor. It has a caption editor, exports locally and can share to social and cloud services. The trial has no time limit; exports carry a watermark until you buy.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesCamera and microphone at the same time
- Face
- YesRecorded alongside the screen
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- No hosted linkShares to social and cloud services
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- TrialExports carry a watermark, no time limit
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —Optional stock media $99 a year
- Lifetime
- $199 paid onceUpdate terms not stated
Watch out for
- macOS only
- Watermark on trial exports
- No instant share link
- Listed for macOS Sonoma and Sequoia; macOS 27 support not stated
Camtasia: the training-video standard
Best for instructional designers and training teams, especially on mixed Mac and Windows fleets
Camtasia is a full timeline editor that records screen and camera on every plan. Text-based editing and speech-to-text captions start with Essentials. E-learning features such as quizzes and SCORM export set it apart. You can save locally or share through TechSmith’s Screencast cloud.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesOn every plan
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Screencast linkTechSmith’s cloud
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- —
- Monthly
- —Yearly plans only
- Annual
- €39.56Starter a year; Essentials €182.49, Create €252.62, Pro €607.71
Watch out for
- No free plan
- Yearly billing only
- Watermark on Starter exports
- Needs macOS 14 or later
Descript: edit the video by editing the words
Best for podcasters and course creators with long talking-head or interview footage
Descript turns your recording into a transcript, and the transcript becomes the timeline. Delete a word and the video goes with it. It records screen and webcam, includes captions on every plan, and works in the cloud with local export.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesWebcam with the screen
- Quality
- Up to 720pFree plan; paid plans not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Not stated
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- Yes60 media minutes a month, 720p, watermark
- Monthly
- From $16Per person; billing period not stated
- Annual
- Not stated
Watch out for
- Free plan: 60 media minutes a month
- Watermark on free exports
- Per-person pricing
- Needs macOS 14 or Windows 11 or later
Tella: record, edit and share in one place
Best for founders and educators making polished demos who want hosting included
Tella records screen and camera as separate tracks at up to 4K, with your microphone and system audio. Because the tracks stay separate, you can change the layout after recording. The editor trims, zooms and edits through the transcript, and subtitles are automatic in 106 languages. You share a hosted link or export in 4K.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesMicrophone and computer sound
- Face
- Separate trackChange the layout after recording
- Quality
- Up to 4K
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- Advanced
- Sharing
- Tella link
- Export
- Up to 4KType not stated
Price
- Free
- —7-day trial, no card
- Monthly
- Not stated
- Annual
- $13/moPro, per user, billed yearly; Premium $19
Watch out for
- No free plan (7-day trial, no card)
- Per-user pricing
- Listed prices are for annual billing
Loom: the team standard for video messages
Best for teams that send video messages daily and want a shared workspace
Loom records screen and camera and hands you an instant link the moment you stop. Transcriptions in 50+ languages and captions are listed on the free plan. Trimming and stitching start with Business.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- Yes
- Face
- YesCamera with the screen
- Quality
- Up to 720pStarter; paid plans not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- BasicNone on Starter
- Sharing
- Loom linkInstant, in Loom’s cloud
- Export
- DownloadPaid plans; type not stated
Price
- Free
- YesStarter: 5 min, 25 videos, 720p
- Monthly
- $18Business, per user; Business + AI $24; billing period not stated
- Annual
- Not stated
Watch out for
- Recording limit: 5 minutes on the free Starter plan
- Starter: 25 videos per person
- Per-user pricing
- Videos hosted in Loom’s cloud
OBS Studio: free, unlimited and more than most people need
Best for long, high-quality local recordings and live streaming
OBS combines your screen, webcam and other sources into scenes, in any layout. It records to a file or streams live, and it has no recording limits of its own.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesScreens and windows as scene sources
- Face
- YesWebcam in any layout
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- None
- Sharing
- NoneLocal file or live stream
- Export
- Local fileType not stated
Price
- Free
- YesFree and open source
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —
Watch out for
- No editor
- No share link
- Scenes and sources set up by hand before recording
- Mac version needs macOS 13 or later
The macOS built-in recorder: free and better than it was
Best for quick captures with nothing to install
Press Shift-Command-5 and choose Record Entire Screen, Record Selected Window or Record Selected Portion. Options sets where to save, a timer and the microphone. On macOS 27 you can add Include System Audio. Stop with the Stop button in the menu bar or Command-Control-Esc. The file is saved to your desktop as a .mov.
QuickTime Player’s File > New Screen Recording opens the same toolbar. Its File > New Movie Recording shows your camera, and third-party guides describe floating that window on top while you record the screen. We explain that trick in how to record a presentation with your face.
What you get
Recording
- Screen
- YesScreen, window (macOS 26+) or a portion, with microphone
- Face
- NoQuickTime camera workaround only
- Quality
- Not stated
Editing & sharing
- Editing
- None
- Sharing
- NoneFile saved to your desktop
- Export
- .mov
Price
- Free
- YesBuilt in
- Monthly
- —
- Annual
- —
Watch out for
- No camera bubble
- No share link
- No editing
- The Mac’s own sound only on macOS 27 or later
When the built-in recorder isn’t enough
You need your face in the video. The toolbar has no camera bubble. PlumCam, Screen Studio, CleanShot X, ScreenFlow, Camtasia, Descript, Tella, Loom and OBS all record camera and screen together.
You need to send it, not store it. A .mov on your desktop isn’t a shared video. Loom and Tella give you a hosted link. Screen Studio and CleanShot X offer optional cloud links. PlumCam uploads to your own Google Drive.
You need it to look deliberate. Automatic zooms and a smooth cursor are Screen Studio’s reason to exist. CleanShot X and Tella have zooms too.
You need to cut things out. Trimming, removing a long pause or adding captions needs an editor: PlumCam Pro, Screen Studio, ScreenFlow, Camtasia, Descript or Tella.
If none of those apply, keep your money. The built-in recorder is free and does the basics well.
Which one should you pick?
Explaining something to a colleague:PlumCam on a Mac, or Loom if your whole team already works in it.
A product demo or launch video:Screen Studio.
Mostly screenshots, sometimes a clip:CleanShot X.
A course or training library:Camtasia on a mixed fleet, ScreenFlow if you’re Mac only and prefer to pay once.
Long interview or podcast footage:Descript.
Long recordings for free:OBS Studio.
You just need it recorded:Shift-Command-5.
Questions
Does the Mac have a built-in screen recorder?
Yes. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar. It records the whole screen, a selected window or a selected portion. QuickTime Player’s New Screen Recording opens the same toolbar.
Can I record internal audio on a Mac without extra software?
On macOS 27 “Golden Gate”, yes: turn on Include System Audio in the Screenshot toolbar’s Options. On macOS 26 and earlier, the built-in recorder captures the microphone only.
Can the built-in recorder show my webcam with my screen?
Not directly. The Screenshot toolbar has no camera bubble. You can float a QuickTime camera window on top while recording, or use an app such as PlumCam, Screen Studio or Loom.
What is the best free screen recorder for Mac?
The built-in Screenshot toolbar for quick captures, and OBS Studio for long recordings with several sources. For free recording with your face and a share link, PlumCam Basic, with videos up to five minutes.
Which Mac screen recorders can I buy once?
ScreenFlow costs $199 up front, and CleanShot X Basic costs $35 once with a year of updates. Most other paid apps here are subscriptions.
Try PlumCam free
Basic is free for good; Pro’s first month is free, then $9.99 a month.
