There are many times that you want to record a video. For example, to make a video tutorial for a better and more intuitive presentation, to record a video that cannot be downloaded, to record a real-time video so that you can share fun things with your friends on the social platform. All the work can be done with a best free screen recorder.
If you search the Internet, you will find that there are plenty of video capture software out there, but vary in functionalities. It's essential to choose the right free video recording software depending on what you intend to do with the footage you capture. Different video recorders provide a range of differing features. This post covers the top 11 best free video capture software, and just take a look to find the right software for the job.
Top 6 Best Free Video Recording Software for Windows 10
Movavi Screen Recorder for Mac will solve your problem. The program is so easy and intuitive that you don't spend any time learning how to use it. Movavi's video recording software for Mac is compatible with OS X 10.10 or higher, as well as with any MacBook model, including Air and Pro. This program has been labeled as one of the best free screen & video recorder for Mac, as it carries a lot of effective features with it. It not only serves you as a screen recording program, but also as a media player as well. Quicktime Player has one of the most user-friendly interfaces out there.
To record a video on your computer on Windows 10/8/7 for free, you need a free video capture software. Let's check out the 6 best free video recorders and find the one that fits your needs!
1. EaseUS RecExperts
If you are looking for a free video recording software for Windows 10, you cannot miss EaseUS RecExperts. This screen recorder is the best screen recording software available on the internet for you. It allows you to capture any area of your screen according to your needs, such as capture full screen, a selected area, or a specific window. With this software, you also can record streaming video, record audio from computer, or record webcam and gameplay easily and quickly. Besides, this screen recorder offers you access to upload your recording to social media platforms like YouTube, after recording.
Pros:
- Friendly to both beginners and professionals
- Record screen, audio, webcam, and gameplay with a few simple clicks
- Enable you to add texts, lines, arrows to the video while recording
- Allows you to record audio from YouTube or other video sites
- Offer many different output formats, like MP4, MOV, AVI, and more
Cons:
- Only support for Windows
Here we offer you the detailed tutorials to record video on Windows 10 with EaseUS RecExperts:
Step 1. Open the web page that contains the video that you want to capture. Then launch EaseUS RecExperts on your computer and click 'Record Screen'.
Step 2. Click 'Full' and choose the 'Select region' option to adjust the area of the screen that you want to record. After that, click 'Microphone' to select the 'System sound' option.
If you need to leave your computer for a while, you can use the capture timer and the program will stop grabbing the video at the designed time. Just click on the 'Task Scheduler(OFF)' button to set the start and stop time.
Step 3. Once done, click on the 'REC' button to start the recording. While recording the video, you can use the take screenshots, add texts, and highlight the important part of the video. If you like, you also can add arrows, numbering, and something else to your video.
Step 4. Once you have captured the video from the web page, click the 'Stop' button. The recorded video will be immediately saved to your computer. Then right-click on the recorded video on the Video list. You can choose to preview, compress, edit, or upload the video directly to sharing media sites like YouTube.
2. Windows 10 Game bar
Windows 10 has a pre-installed free video recorder named Game Bar for anyone who wants to capture their game clips and screenshots. The game bar can be used to record apps, especially for gaming capture. This software is a good choice if you want to record your wonderful moments of playing games or record a teaching video of playing games.
Pros
- User-friendly, convenient to use
- Record video with audio
- No time limit for recording video, ad-free
- Completely free video recording software without watermark
- Edit the video after recording, such as trim the beginning and end of videos
Cons
- Record apps only, not available for recording full screen or a specific region
- No pause function when recording the video
- Limited video editing features
3. Flashback Express
Flashback Express, released by Blueberry Software, is a free video capture software that can record screen, webcam, and sounds. It's packed with the same video recording features as the pro version. You can use this free video recorder to capture your whole screen, a window, a selected area, or a webcam. Once the recording finishes, you can trim and crop your video with a simple editor, then export it to YouTube, an FTP server, or your PC.
Pros
- Well designed interface
- Free video recording software without watermark on the output videos
- No time limit on recording
- Record full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone
- Record audio while capturing video
Cons
- The free version doesn't include any video editing features
- Limited video output formats: MP4, AVI, WMV
4. CamStudio
CamStudio is one of the best free video capture tools to record screen objects and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files. You can choose to use custom cursors, to record the entire screen or just a part of it. CamStudio can also add high-quality, anti-aliased (non-aliased) screen descriptions to your video recordings quickly. After recording, you can have 'best quality' ones for burning onto CD/DVD.
Pros
- Easy-to-use, can be learned in a matter of minutes with a built-in helpfile
- Provides unique video annotation feature
- Enables to record audio activity with video
- Completely 100% free for your personal and commercial projects
Cons
- No editing feature in this application
- Not available for macOS devices
5. ShareX
ShareX is a free open source screen recorder for capturing still screen grabs and recording videos. It can record an entire scrolling webpage, identify text via OCR, and even capture your screen according to a schedule. You can also use this free video recorder to save your screenshot as a GIF instead of a video file, which is very useful for sharing on forums and social media. After video recording, ShareX allows you to send your captured grabs and videos straight to a file-sharing or social media site.
Pros
- Easy-to-use with a user-friendly interface
- Enables to record as a video file or GIF
- Support exporting videos in various formats
- Free video recording software without watermark
Cons
- No video editing options
- Doesn't support recordings from games running in full-screen mode
6. Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is a browser-based free video recording software on both Windows and macOS. It offers a good number of features ranging from screen recording, video editing, video hosting, and sharing. You can use this free video recorder to capture full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone, and computer sound. Besides, multiple video editing features are available while recording, such as zoom, trim your recorded clips, add captions, save them to your desktop, YouTube, or the cloud, or share a video link.
Pros
- many options for recording a video: full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone, or computer sound
- Provide many video editing features, such as trim, cut, change speed, annotations, etc.
- Publish videos directly to YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms
- Available for multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, ChromeOS (in browser)
Cons
- Time-limited, recordings are limited to 15 minutes in length
- Watermark added on the recorded video
- The free version offers limited functionality
Top 5 Best Free Video Recording Software for Mac
It's becoming popular to create video recordings or screen captures for personal and commercial use. Mac users are no exception. What is the best free video recording software for Mac? We've covered the top 5 best free video capture software for MAC OS X and macOS in the content below. Choose the one you'd like to invest most after get well know of their advantages and disadvantages.
1. OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a popular open-source and free video recording software tool that works well for live streaming games on Twitch and recording other information as well. It has high performance in real-time video/audio capturing and mixing, creates scenes made up of multiple sources, including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards, and more.
You can immediately start recording from multiple sources at once, with a fairly nice amount of customization in terms of the options you have. What's more, the application streams with various platforms like Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Hitbox, Twitch, and more.
Pros
- Free and professional video recording and editing tool for advanced users
- Intuitive audio mixer with per-source filters
- Easy to use configuration option on streamlined Settings panel
- Multiple platforms supported: Windows, Mac, or Linux
- Entirely free, with no limitations
Cons
- No pause function for recording
- Not easy for beginners to use
- Not much training material included in OBS Studio
2. QuickTime Player
QuickTime Player is the default Mac video player, but it's more than a video player. You could also use QuickTime Player to do video recording for free. It even has some limited editing capabilities after video captures, such as cut, copies, and pastes, adds a new soundtrack, adds annotations, rotates your video, and more. This free video recording software uses onscreen controls, which are similar to a CD or DVD player.
Download macos sierra 10.12.5 update for 2011 macbook pro 15. Pros
- Small and intuitive interface
- Convert recorded video to a variety of media formats
- Record audio with video simultaneously
- Record Skype videos in full screen
- Ability to save videos from the web
- Provide video editing features to create beautiful video and share it via email
Cons
- Limited recording and editing functionality
- System audio recording is not possible
3. Monosnap
Monosnap is one of the best free video recording software for Mac. You can use this program not only to record your screen but also to take a screenshot in case you need to use it as a powerful screen recording software. It offers the option of turning on your webcam, mic, and system's audio all before the recording. After video recording, you can connect the cloud drives such as Dropbox, CloudApp, Yandex. Disk, Box.com, Google Drive, or FTPs to upload recorded videos to share with other PCs and smartphones.
Pros
Free Screen Recorder Mac With Sound
- Totally free without feature limitation
- Record video as well as system sound
- Record in 60fps to ensure an ultra-smooth playback
- Ideal for students and professionals with its integration with the cloud
- Highlight important details with pen, text, arrow, and shape
Cons
- Video editing is not possible
- Mobile devices cannot be recorded
4. Jing
Free Screen Recorder Mac With Audio
Jing is another video recording software for Mac, released by Techsmith. Different from all other screen-capture software, The captured video can be saved in SWF format or stored in the screencast. Aside from screen video recording, you can use this tool to take screenshots and edit it right after capturing.
Pros
- Very simple and easy to use
- Crosshair capture on the focus area is a must to record screen
- A good option for narrating the steps to solve a problem
- Allows you to suspend while recording
- Comes with a movable sun icon that enables you to easily utilize its function
Cons
- Only record up to 5 minutes
5. VLC
VLC is a free video recording software available for cross-platform, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It's great music and video player of any format, including WMA, AAC, AIF, MP3, and much more on your computer. What's more, it's also good at video recording. You can use it as a free video capture software with the built-in screen recording features.
Pros
- Simple and clean user interface
- Completely free and open source
- Stream media over the network or internet
- Offer various alluring customized skins
Cons
- No audio recording options
- Only capture video playing on VLC
To Sum Up
That's it. The 11 video recording software for both Windows and Mac mentioned in this article are 100% free with powerful video recording features. They have their disadvantages and advantages, so pick the best one according to your needs.
For those free video capture software mentioned above, we highly recommend EaseUS RecExperts. This software not only can help you record screen but capture webcam, gameplay, and audio from your system or microphone. After recording, you can choose to compress, edit simply, or upload it to the social media website. If you want to edit the recording video more professionally, you can try a power video editor - EaseUS Video Editor. It never disappoints you!
FAQs About Free Video Recording Software
Step 1. Open the web page that contains the video that you want to capture. Then launch EaseUS RecExperts on your computer and click 'Record Screen'.
Step 2. Click 'Full' and choose the 'Select region' option to adjust the area of the screen that you want to record. After that, click 'Microphone' to select the 'System sound' option.
If you need to leave your computer for a while, you can use the capture timer and the program will stop grabbing the video at the designed time. Just click on the 'Task Scheduler(OFF)' button to set the start and stop time.
Step 3. Once done, click on the 'REC' button to start the recording. While recording the video, you can use the take screenshots, add texts, and highlight the important part of the video. If you like, you also can add arrows, numbering, and something else to your video.
Step 4. Once you have captured the video from the web page, click the 'Stop' button. The recorded video will be immediately saved to your computer. Then right-click on the recorded video on the Video list. You can choose to preview, compress, edit, or upload the video directly to sharing media sites like YouTube.
2. Windows 10 Game bar
Windows 10 has a pre-installed free video recorder named Game Bar for anyone who wants to capture their game clips and screenshots. The game bar can be used to record apps, especially for gaming capture. This software is a good choice if you want to record your wonderful moments of playing games or record a teaching video of playing games.
Pros
- User-friendly, convenient to use
- Record video with audio
- No time limit for recording video, ad-free
- Completely free video recording software without watermark
- Edit the video after recording, such as trim the beginning and end of videos
Cons
- Record apps only, not available for recording full screen or a specific region
- No pause function when recording the video
- Limited video editing features
3. Flashback Express
Flashback Express, released by Blueberry Software, is a free video capture software that can record screen, webcam, and sounds. It's packed with the same video recording features as the pro version. You can use this free video recorder to capture your whole screen, a window, a selected area, or a webcam. Once the recording finishes, you can trim and crop your video with a simple editor, then export it to YouTube, an FTP server, or your PC.
Pros
- Well designed interface
- Free video recording software without watermark on the output videos
- No time limit on recording
- Record full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone
- Record audio while capturing video
Cons
- The free version doesn't include any video editing features
- Limited video output formats: MP4, AVI, WMV
4. CamStudio
CamStudio is one of the best free video capture tools to record screen objects and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files. You can choose to use custom cursors, to record the entire screen or just a part of it. CamStudio can also add high-quality, anti-aliased (non-aliased) screen descriptions to your video recordings quickly. After recording, you can have 'best quality' ones for burning onto CD/DVD.
Pros
- Easy-to-use, can be learned in a matter of minutes with a built-in helpfile
- Provides unique video annotation feature
- Enables to record audio activity with video
- Completely 100% free for your personal and commercial projects
Cons
- No editing feature in this application
- Not available for macOS devices
5. ShareX
ShareX is a free open source screen recorder for capturing still screen grabs and recording videos. It can record an entire scrolling webpage, identify text via OCR, and even capture your screen according to a schedule. You can also use this free video recorder to save your screenshot as a GIF instead of a video file, which is very useful for sharing on forums and social media. After video recording, ShareX allows you to send your captured grabs and videos straight to a file-sharing or social media site.
Pros
- Easy-to-use with a user-friendly interface
- Enables to record as a video file or GIF
- Support exporting videos in various formats
- Free video recording software without watermark
Cons
- No video editing options
- Doesn't support recordings from games running in full-screen mode
6. Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is a browser-based free video recording software on both Windows and macOS. It offers a good number of features ranging from screen recording, video editing, video hosting, and sharing. You can use this free video recorder to capture full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone, and computer sound. Besides, multiple video editing features are available while recording, such as zoom, trim your recorded clips, add captions, save them to your desktop, YouTube, or the cloud, or share a video link.
Pros
- many options for recording a video: full screen, window, region, webcam, microphone, or computer sound
- Provide many video editing features, such as trim, cut, change speed, annotations, etc.
- Publish videos directly to YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms
- Available for multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, ChromeOS (in browser)
Cons
- Time-limited, recordings are limited to 15 minutes in length
- Watermark added on the recorded video
- The free version offers limited functionality
Top 5 Best Free Video Recording Software for Mac
It's becoming popular to create video recordings or screen captures for personal and commercial use. Mac users are no exception. What is the best free video recording software for Mac? We've covered the top 5 best free video capture software for MAC OS X and macOS in the content below. Choose the one you'd like to invest most after get well know of their advantages and disadvantages.
1. OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a popular open-source and free video recording software tool that works well for live streaming games on Twitch and recording other information as well. It has high performance in real-time video/audio capturing and mixing, creates scenes made up of multiple sources, including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards, and more.
You can immediately start recording from multiple sources at once, with a fairly nice amount of customization in terms of the options you have. What's more, the application streams with various platforms like Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Hitbox, Twitch, and more.
Pros
- Free and professional video recording and editing tool for advanced users
- Intuitive audio mixer with per-source filters
- Easy to use configuration option on streamlined Settings panel
- Multiple platforms supported: Windows, Mac, or Linux
- Entirely free, with no limitations
Cons
- No pause function for recording
- Not easy for beginners to use
- Not much training material included in OBS Studio
2. QuickTime Player
QuickTime Player is the default Mac video player, but it's more than a video player. You could also use QuickTime Player to do video recording for free. It even has some limited editing capabilities after video captures, such as cut, copies, and pastes, adds a new soundtrack, adds annotations, rotates your video, and more. This free video recording software uses onscreen controls, which are similar to a CD or DVD player.
Download macos sierra 10.12.5 update for 2011 macbook pro 15. Pros
- Small and intuitive interface
- Convert recorded video to a variety of media formats
- Record audio with video simultaneously
- Record Skype videos in full screen
- Ability to save videos from the web
- Provide video editing features to create beautiful video and share it via email
Cons
- Limited recording and editing functionality
- System audio recording is not possible
3. Monosnap
Monosnap is one of the best free video recording software for Mac. You can use this program not only to record your screen but also to take a screenshot in case you need to use it as a powerful screen recording software. It offers the option of turning on your webcam, mic, and system's audio all before the recording. After video recording, you can connect the cloud drives such as Dropbox, CloudApp, Yandex. Disk, Box.com, Google Drive, or FTPs to upload recorded videos to share with other PCs and smartphones.
Pros
Free Screen Recorder Mac With Sound
- Totally free without feature limitation
- Record video as well as system sound
- Record in 60fps to ensure an ultra-smooth playback
- Ideal for students and professionals with its integration with the cloud
- Highlight important details with pen, text, arrow, and shape
Cons
- Video editing is not possible
- Mobile devices cannot be recorded
4. Jing
Free Screen Recorder Mac With Audio
Jing is another video recording software for Mac, released by Techsmith. Different from all other screen-capture software, The captured video can be saved in SWF format or stored in the screencast. Aside from screen video recording, you can use this tool to take screenshots and edit it right after capturing.
Pros
- Very simple and easy to use
- Crosshair capture on the focus area is a must to record screen
- A good option for narrating the steps to solve a problem
- Allows you to suspend while recording
- Comes with a movable sun icon that enables you to easily utilize its function
Cons
- Only record up to 5 minutes
5. VLC
VLC is a free video recording software available for cross-platform, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It's great music and video player of any format, including WMA, AAC, AIF, MP3, and much more on your computer. What's more, it's also good at video recording. You can use it as a free video capture software with the built-in screen recording features.
Pros
- Simple and clean user interface
- Completely free and open source
- Stream media over the network or internet
- Offer various alluring customized skins
Cons
- No audio recording options
- Only capture video playing on VLC
To Sum Up
That's it. The 11 video recording software for both Windows and Mac mentioned in this article are 100% free with powerful video recording features. They have their disadvantages and advantages, so pick the best one according to your needs.
For those free video capture software mentioned above, we highly recommend EaseUS RecExperts. This software not only can help you record screen but capture webcam, gameplay, and audio from your system or microphone. After recording, you can choose to compress, edit simply, or upload it to the social media website. If you want to edit the recording video more professionally, you can try a power video editor - EaseUS Video Editor. It never disappoints you!
FAQs About Free Video Recording Software
1. What is the best free video recording software?
When it comes to free video recording software, I strongly recommend EaseUS RecExperts. This screen recorder has an intuitive workflow that is best for both beginners and professionals. It enables you to record your screen, audio, webcam, and even gameplay with a few simple clicks. Moreover, it has a built-in video editor, and you can directly edit your recorded footage without downloading other software. For more free video recording software, the options above in the post will tell you more.
2. How do I record a video on my computer for free?
If you are using a Windows 10 computer, you can record a video from your computer for free with the built-in screen recorder. If you are a Mac user, you can rely on QuickTime Player. These tools have basic screen recording features. If you need more recording features, you can try some video recording software like EaseUS RecExperts, OBS Studio, ShareX, and many more.
3. How do I record a video on Windows 10 for free?
To record a video on Windows 10 for free, you can use the built-in screen recorder called Game Bar.
Step 1. Press Win + G to open it.
Step 2. When you are ready, you can click the Start recording button to begin your recording. Once done, click Stop recording to save the recordings on your computer.
4. What is the easiest recording software?
Here is some recording software for you to choose from:
- EaseUS RecExperts
- Free Cam
- OBS Studio
- ShareX
- CamStudio
