Screen­cast software: 6 programs for Windows, Mac, and Linux

The screen­cast software Screenrec is known for offering a simple and safe way to share screen re­cord­ings. The app saves your videos in the cloud after you’re done recording and generates a link that you can use to access the screen­cast. If your recording contains sensitive data, you can set a password. Screenrec also allows you to restrict access to certain IP addresses or geo­loca­tions.

You’re offline and want to make a screen­cast? That’s possible as well, since Screenrec auto­mat­ic­ally syncs your local drive with the cloud as soon as you’re connected to the Internet again. In the meantime, you can save your videos locally as an MP4.

Camtasia is a classic among screen­cast­ing apps. However, with a price tag of £194, it’s also the most expensive app on our list. Camtasia is known for its wide range of user-friendly features, making it a pro­fes­sion­al-level tool that’s also suited for beginners. In addition, there are also tutorials and in­struc­tions available to help you with the more complex features.

As a less expensive al­tern­at­ive, the software producer TechSmith offers a pared down al­tern­at­ive: With Snagit you can make pro­fes­sion­al screen re­cord­ings with layout templates for just £40.

The apps are available for Windows and Mac.

Screen­Flow presents Mac users with a more af­ford­able al­tern­at­ive to Camtasia, at a price of £99. You can find out if the program suits your needs with a free test version, which allows you to explore the app’s full range of features. (However, all videos made in the test version will bear a watermark.)

After you’ve made your screen recording, you’ll have access to all of the features that typically come with video editing software - for example, inserting text, visu­al­ising mouse clicks and keyboard input, trans­itions, and an­im­a­tions. After you’ve upgraded to the paid version, you’ll also gain access to a library of over 500,000 media files that you can use in your videos.

This screen­cast software is a good choice for anyone who wants to create a screen recording as quickly as possible and doesn’t need a wide range of options for editing. You can use FlashBack Express to record your screen, webcam, and audio content. Af­ter­wards, you can cut the video material to make in­di­vidu­al clips.

Even in the free version, there’s no limit on the length of your re­cord­ings. Export formats are limited to MP4, AVI, and MWV, which should be suf­fi­cient for the most common use cases. Further export formats are available in the pro version, which costs around £40. This version also offers more options for post-pro­duc­tion, including inserting text, images, sounds, and video effects.

OBS Studio is open-source software that’s com­pat­ible with all operating systems. The app is mainly used for broad­cast­ing live streams. Its use as a screen­cast software is mostly in­ter­est­ing for pro­fes­sion­als and plugin de­velopers. The video editing features are extensive and complex, ranging from trans­itions, colour cor­rec­tion, and chroma keying to a pro­fes­sion­al audio mixer.

Screen­cas­ti­fy is a free extension for the Chrome browser that’s perfect for quickly making screen re­cord­ings. The downside: Videos have a maximum length of five minutes, though the number of videos you can record is unlimited. With an upgrade to the paid version for roughly £40 a year, you’ll be able to record without any limits.