Free Screen Recording Software: What's Actually Free (and What's Not)

Let's cut through the marketing fluff. You need to record your screen, you don't want to pay for it, and you want to know which tools actually work without hidden catches.

Here's the reality: most "free" screen recorders either slap watermarks on your videos, limit recording time, cap video quality at 720p, or nag you to upgrade every five minutes. But some genuinely useful options exist if you know where to look.

I've tested the major players and broken down exactly what you get for free—and where the paywalls hit.

Best Completely Free: OBS Studio

OBS Studio is the gold standard for free screen recording. It's open-source, completely free, and has zero watermarks, no time limits, and no hidden restrictions.

OBS is designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and supports high-quality H264/AAC encoding for recordings up to 4K at 60 FPS.

What's great:

• 100% free forever with no limitations
• Create unlimited scenes combining webcams, screen captures, game footage, images, and text overlays
• Advanced per-source audio mixing with noise suppression, noise gate, and gain controls
• Full VST plugin support for professional audio
• Customizable hotkeys for scene switching, recording control, and more
• Active development community with regular updates

What sucks:

OBS has a learning curve that can feel intimidating, especially for beginners. The interface and setup process seems overwhelming at first—it flattens your recording into a single file, locking screen, webcam, and other elements together, which limits editing flexibility. There's also no built-in video editing functionality, so you'll need a separate tool to edit your recordings.

Best for: Gamers, streamers, and anyone who needs professional-quality recordings without paying a dime. If you're willing to spend 30 minutes learning the interface, OBS is unbeatable.

If you need video editing after recording, check out our guide to free video editing software or best video editing software.

Best for Quick Sharing: Loom (Free Tier)

Loom is the go-to for recording quick videos and sharing them instantly. But the free plan has real limitations you should know about.

Free plan limits:

• 5-minute recording limit per video
• Maximum 25 videos stored total—once you hit that limit, you can't record more until you delete old videos or upgrade
• Video quality capped at 720p
• No advanced editing tools like trim and stitch

Loom's free version does include screen recording with a camera bubble, system audio capture, virtual backgrounds, and background noise suppression. You can share videos instantly via link, which is the main selling point.

Paid plans: Business starts at $15-18/month per user for unlimited videos and recording time. Business + AI costs $20-24/month per user and adds AI-generated summaries, auto-chapters, and filler word removal.

Best for: Quick team communication videos under 5 minutes. If you're constantly recording tutorials or demos longer than that, the free tier will frustrate you quickly.

Best for Windows Power Users: ShareX

ShareX is a free and open-source screen capture and file sharing tool for Windows. It's completely free, has no watermarks, and includes way more features than you'd expect.

ShareX lets you capture or record any area of your screen with a single keystroke and automatically upload to various destinations. It supports full-screen capture, active window, custom regions, scrolling capture, and GIF recording using FFmpeg.

What you get:

• Screen recording to video or GIF
• Built-in image editor for annotations, text, shapes, and blurring sensitive info
• OCR (text capture from images)
• Customizable workflow automation with hotkeys
• Upload directly to 80+ image and file hosting services
• No watermarks, no time limits

Downsides: The interface is powerful but complex—it's "overkill for most users" according to The Guardian. It's also Windows-only, so Mac and Linux users are out of luck.

Best for: Power users on Windows who take lots of screenshots and screen recordings and want maximum customization.

Best Built-In Options (No Download Required)

Xbox Game Bar (Windows 10/11)

For Windows users, the most accessible screen recording tool is already built into your system. Xbox Game Bar is designed for capturing gameplay but works just as well for recording app windows and creating quick tutorials.

Start and stop recordings instantly with the Win+Alt+R hotkey. It saves recordings as standard MP4 files in your Videos folder. Because it's native, it's incredibly lightweight and won't bog down system resources.

Limitations: Not as feature-rich as dedicated software, and you can't record your desktop—only apps and games.

QuickTime Player (Mac)

Mac users can use QuickTime Player for basic screen recording without downloading anything. File > New Screen Recording gets you started.

It's simple and reliable for basic captures, but lacks advanced features like webcam overlay or annotation tools.

Best Freemium Options Worth Trying

ScreenPal (Formerly Screencast-O-Matic)

ScreenPal offers a genuinely useful free tier with no account required and no watermark added. You can capture any area of your screen, include microphone audio, and add webcam video.

The free plan lets you record up to 15 minutes at a time with unlimited videos. You can download recordings as MP4 files or upload directly to YouTube.

The free online screen recorder works on Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox with no strict time limit—only memory-based limits.

Paid upgrades: Premium features include system audio capture, virtual backgrounds, and integrated video editing.

Descript

Descript is an all-in-one audio/video editing tool that includes screen recording. Their free plan lets you test the waters before committing.

Free plan includes:

• 1 hour of transcription and remote recording per month
• Screen recording (up to 4 hours per session)
• Basic editing features
• One watermark-free export per month

Limitations: Video export resolution capped at 720p, and only 5GB of cloud storage. You're limited to 5 lifetime uses of AI features like filler word removal on the free plan.

Paid plans: Hobbyist is $19/month for 10 transcription hours and 1080p exports. Creator is $35/month for 30 hours and 4K exports.

Best for: Podcasters and content creators who want editing built into their recording workflow. Not ideal if you just need simple screen capture.

Read our full Descript pricing breakdown for more details.

Bandicam

Bandicam is a solid Windows screen recorder with real-time drawing, webcam overlay, and scheduled recording. It's easy to use with an intuitive interface.

Free version limit: Recording capped at 10 minutes per video. For longer recordings, you need the paid version starting at $35 for a perpetual license.

NVIDIA ShadowPlay (Free for NVIDIA GPU Users)

If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, ShadowPlay is already included with your drivers. It leverages the GPU's dedicated encoding hardware for smooth, low-impact recording up to 4K at 60 FPS.

The standout "Instant Replay" feature continuously records in the background and lets you save the last several minutes with a keypress—perfect for capturing unexpected moments.

Limitation: Hardware-dependent—you need an NVIDIA GPU to use it.

Quick Comparison Table

*Descript has a 4-hour session limit but counts against 1 hour/month media allowance on free plan

Which Free Screen Recorder Should You Choose?

For professional-quality recordings without limits: OBS Studio. Yes, it takes time to learn, but nothing else comes close for a completely free, no-compromises solution.

For quick team videos: Loom if you can live with 5-minute limits and 25 video cap. Otherwise, ScreenPal gives you 15 minutes free.

For Windows power users: ShareX offers more features than most paid tools.

For casual use on Windows: Xbox Game Bar is already installed and works fine for basic needs.

For Mac users who want simple: QuickTime gets the job done for basic captures.

When to Pay for Screen Recording

The free options above handle most use cases. But consider paying if you need:

• HD/4K quality with Loom's sharing features (Business plan)
• Integrated AI editing and transcription (Descript Creator/Pro)
• Team collaboration and analytics (Loom Business)
• Advanced effects like smooth zoom and motion graphics (paid editors)

For most B2B use cases—internal training, customer demos, bug reports—the free tiers are more than sufficient. Don't pay until you actually hit the limits.

Looking for more polished video production? Check out our best screen recording software guide that covers premium options like Screen Studio and Descript for professional results.