The 5 best screen recorders for Mac (2026)
Five Mac screen recorders compared for product demos, tutorials and quick video messages, from free and open source to polished auto-zoom editors.
The best screen recorders for Mac in 2026 are CleanShot X (best all-in-one screenshot and recording tool), Screen Studio (best for polished auto-zoom demos with cloud sharing), Reelcast (best one-time purchase for polished demos that stay on your Mac), Loom (best for sharing quick video messages by link) and OBS Studio (best free option, and the one to pick for live streaming). If you only need a plain recording of your screen with no editing, macOS’s built-in Screenshot toolbar (Shift-Command-5) is enough.
Disclosure: We make Reelcast, one of the apps on this list. We’ve tried to place it where it genuinely fits and to describe every app fairly, using each developer’s own site. Prices and features checked 28 October 2026.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Price model | Runs locally? | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CleanShot X | Screenshots and recordings in one tool | One-time (Basic) or subscription (Pro) | Yes; optional cloud upload | macOS 13+ |
| Screen Studio | Polished product demos, captions and share links | Subscription | Yes; sharing and some AI features use the cloud | macOS 13.1+ recommended |
| Reelcast | Auto-zoom demos without a subscription or uploads | One-time purchase | Yes | macOS 14+ |
| Loom | Async video messages for teams | Free plan; per-user subscription | Records locally, uploads to Loom | See Loom’s compatibility page |
| OBS Studio | Free recording and live streaming | Free and open source | Yes | macOS 13+ |
Prices and features checked 28 October 2026 on each developer’s website. Check the official site before you buy.
1. CleanShot X: best all-in-one screenshot and recording tool
CleanShot X is a menu-bar capture tool that does screenshots, scrolling captures, text recognition and screen recording in one place. For many Mac users it replaces both the built-in screenshot tool and a separate recorder.
Standout features
- Record a window, the full screen or a custom area, as MP4 (H.264) or GIF, with control over quality, frame rate and resolution.
- Records your microphone and your Mac’s system audio, with an optional webcam overlay.
- Click highlighting and an on-screen keystroke display, both customizable, plus options to hide desktop clutter and turn on Do Not Disturb while recording.
- A video editor with smart zooms that follow the cursor, smoothed cursor movement, custom backgrounds and landscape, square or vertical exports.
- One-click upload to CleanShot Cloud for a shareable link.
Limits
- The $35 Basic license covers one year of updates; after that you keep your version or pay to renew.
- Basic includes 1 GB of cloud storage. Unlimited storage, custom domains and team features are part of the Pro subscription.
- It isn’t built for live streaming.
Who it’s for: anyone who wants one tidy app for every kind of screen capture, with recording that is good enough for most tutorials and bug reports.
2. Screen Studio: best for polished auto-zoom demos with sharing
Screen Studio is the app that made the auto-zoom demo look popular. It records the screen and the cursor separately, so after you stop recording it can smooth the pointer, zoom in on your clicks and frame everything on a background.
Standout features
- Automatic zooms on clicks, plus manual zooms on the timeline in classic or loupe styles.
- Cursor smoothing, motion blur, click effects, cursor style changes after recording, and an idle cursor that hides itself.
- Transcript-based editing, filler-word and pause removal, noise reduction and captions.
- Backgrounds, iPhone and iPad device frames, and masks.
- Exports MP4 at 720p, 1080p or 4K up to 60 fps, GIF up to 1080p, and a matching .srt subtitle file.
- Optional share links that play in the browser at 1080p, with time-stamped viewer comments.
Limits
- New buyers can only subscribe; the one-time license has been retired.
- Its site notes that some features depend on your Mac and macOS version.
- Share links and AI voiceover mean uploading content, though the app asks first.
Who it’s for: product, marketing and developer-relations teams who ship demo videos every week and value captions, transcript editing and hosted links enough to pay monthly.
3. Reelcast: best one-time purchase for polished demos that stay on your Mac
Reelcast is our screen recorder for people who want the edited-demo look without a subscription. Press ⌥⌘R, pick a display, a window or an area, and click through your product. Reelcast logs where the pointer goes and where you click, and when you stop it opens an editor with zooms already placed as a storyboard of shots.
Standout features
- Zooms from your clicks: nearby clicks become one zoom that eases in, follows the pointer and eases out. Move, change or delete any shot.
- A calmer pointer: the real cursor is left out of the capture and redrawn from its logged path, smoothed, resized and with a click ripple, or hidden.
- Backdrops of gradients, solid colors or your blurred wallpaper, with padding, rounded corners and a shadow, on 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3 or the source shape.
- Microphone recording and an optional camera bubble; trim, cut out stumbles, or speed up a section from 1.5× to 8×.
- H.264 MP4 at 720p, 1080p or 4K at 30 or 60 fps, or a looping GIF, with presets for square, vertical (a 1080×1920 frame that follows the pointer) and YouTube.
- Import Video lets you add backdrops, manual zooms and trims to recordings from other apps.
What it doesn’t do
- No system audio: it records your microphone, not sound playing on the Mac.
- No share links, comments or cloud hosting; you share the exported file.
- No captions, transcripts or text-based editing.
- No live streaming, and exports are MP4 or GIF only.
- The smooth pointer and click-based zooms need Reelcast’s own pointer data, so imported videos get manual zooms only.
- Mac only, and macOS 14 or later.
Who it’s for: indie developers, founders and support teams who record demos for a website, a README or a launch post, want them to look edited, and would rather pay once and keep every recording on their own Mac.
4. Loom: best for quick video messages shared by link
Loom, now part of Atlassian, is less a recorder than a video messaging service. You record your screen and camera, and the result becomes a link your team can watch straight away, without a file to send around.
Standout features
- Record and share in one step: the link is the deliverable.
- Workspaces for teams, with up to 50 members even on the free plan.
- Business removes the 5-minute and 25-video limits, records up to 4K, removes Loom branding and adds video upload and download.
- Business + AI adds automatic titles, summaries and meeting notes.
Limits
- The free plan caps screen recordings at 5 minutes and 720p, and 25 videos per person.
- Pricing is per user, so costs grow with the team.
- Your recordings live in Loom’s cloud, which may not suit confidential material or offline work.
Who it’s for: teams that explain things on video every day, such as code reviews, design feedback and customer support replies, and care more about instant sharing than a polished edit.
5. OBS Studio: best free screen recorder, and best for streaming
OBS Studio is the free, open-source workhorse used by streamers, teachers and podcasters on Windows, Mac and Linux. Instead of a single capture button, you build scenes from sources and switch between them while you record or stream.
Standout features
- Unlimited scenes with custom transitions between them.
- Sources include window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams and capture cards.
- An audio mixer with per-source filters, plus hotkeys for almost everything.
- Studio Mode lets you preview a scene before it goes live.
- Live streaming built in, and a plugin API for extending it.
Limits
- It records and streams; it has no editing timeline, so trims, zooms and cursor effects happen in another app.
- The scenes-and-sources model takes some setup before your first recording.
Who it’s for: anyone who needs a free recorder with full control, and everyone who streams. If you want an edited-looking demo, pair it with a video editor or choose one of the apps above.
The built-in option: the Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player
Every Mac can record its screen with no extra software. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar, then choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion and click Record. The Options menu sets where the file is saved, a countdown timer, the microphone, and Show Mouse Clicks. To stop, click the Stop button in the menu bar or press Command-Control-Esc. In QuickTime Player, File › New Screen Recording opens the same toolbar, and Edit › Trim trims the result.
The same recorder is available in Terminal through screencapture. Its manual lists -v to record video, -V to record for a set number of seconds, -g to capture audio from the default input and -k to show clicks:
screencapture -V 30 -g -k ~/Desktop/demo.movWhat you don’t get: system audio, zooms, cursor smoothing, backgrounds, GIF export or any editing beyond a trim. For a bug report or a quick clip, the built-in tools are enough. For a demo people will watch on your website, one of the apps above will save you an afternoon in a video editor.
How we picked
- Output quality for demos: zooms, cursor handling, framing and export options, because polished product demos are the hardest job on this list.
- Price model: free, one-time or subscription, using the price on each developer’s own site.
- Privacy: whether recordings stay on your Mac or are uploaded, and whether an account is required.
- Still maintained and sold for current macOS, with the minimum version taken from the developer.
- Range: we chose one app for each common need instead of five near-identical tools. We also looked at Camtasia from TechSmith, a full video editor with screen recording sold by subscription; it is excellent for long training videos but more editor than recorder.
We make Reelcast. We placed it third because its strength is a narrow one, polished demos for a one-time price with nothing uploaded, and the apps above it cover more ground.
FAQ
What is the best screen recorder for Mac?
For most people, CleanShot X is the best all-round choice because it combines screenshots and recording with system audio, a webcam overlay and a simple editor. For polished product demos with automatic zooms, choose Screen Studio if you want captions and share links, or Reelcast if you prefer a one-time purchase that keeps everything on your Mac.
Is there a free screen recorder for Mac?
Yes. macOS includes one: press Shift-Command-5 or use File › New Screen Recording in QuickTime Player. OBS Studio is free and open source and adds scenes, multiple sources and live streaming. Loom also has a free plan, limited to 25 videos per person and 5-minute screen recordings at up to 720p.
How do I record my screen with audio on a Mac?
The built-in Screenshot toolbar can record your microphone: press Shift-Command-5, open Options and choose a microphone. It cannot record the sound your Mac is playing. For system audio, use an app that supports it, such as CleanShot X, OBS Studio or Camtasia.
What is the best screen recorder for product demos on Mac?
Look for automatic zooms on clicks, a smoothed cursor and backgrounds, so the recording looks edited without a video editor. Screen Studio, Reelcast and CleanShot X all do this. Screen Studio is subscription-based with captions and share links; Reelcast is a one-time purchase that works fully offline; CleanShot X adds the feature to a broader capture tool.
Is there a screen recorder for Mac without a subscription?
Yes. OBS Studio is free, CleanShot X Basic is a one-time purchase that includes a year of updates, and Reelcast is a one-time purchase with free updates. Screen Studio no longer sells one-time licenses to new buyers, and Loom’s paid plans are billed per user.
Do Mac screen recorders upload my videos?
Not necessarily. The built-in tools, OBS Studio and Reelcast save recordings only to your Mac. CleanShot X and Screen Studio record locally and upload only when you choose to share a link. Loom uploads recordings to its cloud by design so you can share them.
Key takeaways
- CleanShot X is the best all-round pick if you also take a lot of screenshots.
- For polished demos with auto zoom, choose Screen Studio for captions and share links, or Reelcast for a one-time price and no uploads.
- Loom is the fastest way to send a video as a link, but recordings live in its cloud.
- OBS Studio is free and the right tool for live streaming, but it has no editor.
- Shift-Command-5 is enough for quick clips; it can’t record system audio or add zooms.