The best screen recorders for Mac in 2026

Short answer:

• Polished demos for free: MotionShine. Auto zoom, smooth cursor, click effects, motion blur and a full editor, with no watermark.
• Free and open source, also on Windows and Linux: Cap or OpenScreen.
• A full timeline editor for one price: ScreenFlow, $199 once.
• Training videos and the deepest editor: Camtasia.
• Editing by changing the transcript: Descript.
• Quick video messages for a team: Loom.
• Screenshots and short clips in one app: CleanShot X.
• Live streaming: OBS Studio.
• One quick recording, nothing to install: the Mac's own recorder (Shift-Command-5).

How we checked these apps

We make MotionShine, so take our pick of it with that in mind. To keep the rest fair, every price and feature below comes from each maker's own website, pricing page, help docs or changelog, checked on 14 October 2026. When a maker's pages do not mention a feature, we do not claim it.

We did not run speed or quality tests on every app, and we say so instead of pretending. Prices are in US dollars before tax, and they change often, so check before you buy.

All 20 at a glance

A feature is listed only when the maker's own site or docs mention it. "Partly" means some of the four editor tools are there and others are not mentioned.

What each one costs over two years

Monthly prices look small and add up. This is the cheapest way to use each app for two years, for one person, for work, without a watermark, using the prices listed today.

What to look for in a Mac screen recorder

1. Polish without editing. Auto zoom on clicks, a smooth cursor, click effects and motion blur are what make a recording look edited. Without them, viewers squint at a tiny pointer on a big screen.
2. An editor you will not outgrow. Trimming is not enough once you want a title, a logo, music under your voice or a new take of one sentence.
3. Your Mac's sound. If you record a video, a meeting or an app with audio, the recorder has to capture system audio, ideally without installing a driver.
4. A fair price. Count two years, not one month. A subscription you forget about costs more than a licence you pay once.
5. Where the video goes. Some apps keep everything on your Mac. Others upload to their cloud for share links. Pick on purpose.

The best free screen recorders for Mac

For a closer look at the free polished options, see the free Screen Studio alternatives.

Which ones record your Mac's sound

Recording system audio used to need a separate driver on a Mac. Most current recorders do it on their own now:

• No extra install mentioned: MotionShine, Screen Studio, CursorClip, Cap, Screen Charm, Tella, FocuSee, Descript, Filmora, OpenScreen, Recordly.
• Say outright that no driver is needed: ScreenKite, CleanShot X, ScreenFlow (since 10.5).
• Depends on your setup: Snagit records it natively on macOS 13 and later. OBS needs OBS 30 and macOS 13. Loom does it in the desktop app, not the Chrome extension. Camtasia's support guide may ask you to install TechSmith's own audio component.
• Paid or limited: ScreenPal records it on paid plans only, after installing a capture filter. The Mac's own recorder has an "Include System Audio" option only on macOS 27 Golden Gate and later.

1. MotionShine

MotionShine is our app: a Mac screen recorder with a full editor. Every click becomes a zoom, so the editor opens with the zooms and a smooth cursor already in place, and you can add click effects and motion blur. Then you edit like you would in a video editor: text, pictures and logos on the video, music on as many lanes as you want, a voice over, and captions made on your Mac in more than 40 languages.

Price: free for good, with every feature and no watermark. Free exports go up to 720p at 30 fps. Pro unlocks 1080p, 1440p, 4K and 60 fps for $49 once during launch, then $79. Pro Forever, with lifetime updates on 3 Macs, is $99 once, then $149. Runs on: macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple silicon and Intel. Good at: polish and editing in one app, a cursor you design (any colour, gradient, glow, 3D or your own picture), and keeping recordings on your Mac. Falls short: Mac only, no cloud share links, and free exports stop at 720p. Best for: product demos, tutorials and launch videos, made on a Mac without a subscription.

2. Screen Studio

Screen Studio is the best-known app of this kind. It zooms on clicks, smooths the cursor, adds click ripples and motion blur, and makes captions from your voice. It also has camera layouts, AI voice over from typed text, and share links that play in the browser.

Price: $29 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly ($108). One-time licences are no longer sold to new customers. There is no free plan: you can try every feature but not export. Runs on: macOS 13.1 or later. No Windows version is planned. Good at: the default look, with very little to adjust. Falls short: a subscription, and no text, pictures or logos on the video, with one background music track. Best for: people who want the look and are happy to pay every month. Compare it with free options in our Screen Studio alternatives guide.

3. CursorClip

CursorClip is a Mac-only recorder in the same style. Version 2.0 (September 2026) added click ripples and motion blur for the camera and cursor, on top of zooms on every click and cursor smoothing. It has camera layouts and a notes teleprompter, and recordings stay on your Mac.

Price: $9 a month, $29 a year, or $70 once, for up to 3 Macs. You can record and edit free, but exporting needs a licence. Runs on: macOS 13.5 or later. Falls short: no text, picture, music or caption tools are mentioned in its editor, and no share links. Best for: private, local clips with automatic polish.

4. Cap

Cap is open source and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. Studio Mode records locally with zooms from your clicks, cursor smoothing presets, motion blur and backgrounds. Its editor has text and music on their own lanes, and captions made on your computer (in beta). Instant Mode uploads as you record and copies a link, like Loom.

Price: free for personal use. For work you need a Desktop licence at $29 a year or $58 once. Cap Pro, with unlimited cloud sharing, is $12 per user a month. Runs on: macOS 13.1 or later, Windows 10 or later, Linux. Falls short: paid for commercial use, and picture or logo overlays are not mentioned. Best for: open source fans and people who need Windows or Linux as well.

5. ScreenKite

ScreenKite zooms in on every click and keystroke, smooths the cursor, and has click effects and motion blur. Its editor is one of the fuller ones here: text overlays, image and video overlays, word-level captions, and voice over, including AI voice with your own key.

Price: free, but exports carry a watermark. Pro is $79.99 once until 31 October 2026, then $99.99, for 3 Macs. Runs on: macOS 15 Sequoia or later, with a Windows beta. Falls short: needs a recent macOS, and the free version watermarks. Best for: a one-time price with a big editor, if you are on macOS 15.

6. Screen Charm

Screen Charm adds zooms, a smooth cursor, click ripples and motion blur automatically after you record. It has captions, background music, camera layouts including a vertical split for Shorts and Reels, and one-click share links.

Price: $19 a month, or $99 once for up to 3 devices. Runs on: Mac, with macOS 14 Sonoma recommended. Falls short: text and picture overlays are not mentioned, and free limits are not stated. Best for: quick demos and social clips with little editing.

7. CleanShot X

CleanShot X is best known for screenshots. Version 5.0 (September 2026) added a Studio Mode for recordings with zooms that follow your cursor, cursor clean-up, click highlights and motion blur, plus a camera bubble and vertical or square export.

Price: $35 once with a year of updates, then $19 a year if you want more. Pro, with more cloud space, is $10 per user a month billed yearly. No trial, but a 30-day refund. Runs on: macOS 13 or later. Falls short: its editor is about trimming. Text, pictures and captions are not mentioned. Best for: people who take lots of screenshots and want polished short clips in the same app.

8. Tella

Tella records on Mac, Windows and in Chrome, and hosts the result as a video page. On Mac recordings it adds auto zoom from your clicks, a smooth cursor, click effects and motion blur. You edit on a timeline or by changing the transcript, with text, logo overlays and captions.

Price: Pro is $13 per user a month billed yearly, or $26 month to month. A 7-day trial, no free plan. Removing Tella branding needs Premium. Runs on: macOS 13.1 or later, Windows, Chrome. Falls short: a cost per person every month. Best for: teams that send product walkthroughs as links and want viewing stats.

9. Camtasia

Camtasia is the long-standing tutorial tool. It has everything in this list: SmartFocus zooms, cursor smoothing, many click effects, cursor motion blur, a full multi-track editor, captions and voice over.

Price: Starter is $39 a year, but its editor watermarks. Essentials, with full editing, is $179.88 a year. Create is $249 and Pro $599 a year. No monthly option. Runs on: macOS 14 or later, and Windows. Falls short: a yearly bill, and many features to learn. Best for: training teams and course makers who need the deepest editor.

10. FocuSee

FocuSee zooms on your clicks and typing, adds click animations and motion blur, and has text, shapes, AI subtitles and camera layouts. It runs on Mac and Windows.

Price: Standard is $49.99 a year or $19.99 a month. Advanced is $79.99 a year, or $199.99 once for version 2 on up to 5 computers. The trial lets you export one video. Runs on: macOS 10.15 or later, and Windows. Falls short: a subscription for most plans, and the lifetime licence covers version 2 only. Best for: Screen Studio style zooms on a Windows PC as well as a Mac.

11. ScreenFlow

ScreenFlow is a Mac recorder with a real timeline editor: text, pictures, several audio tracks, captions and voice over. It has cursor smoothing, click effects and motion blur, but you add zooms by hand. Since version 10.5 it records your Mac's sound with no driver.

Price: $199 once. A trial exports with a watermark. Runs on: Mac. Its tech specs list macOS 26 Tahoe and 15 Sequoia. Falls short: no automatic zoom, and a high price up front. Best for: people who want to own a full editor and do the zooms themselves.

12. Descript

Descript lets you edit a video by editing its transcript: delete a sentence in the text and it is gone from the video. It has a full editor with up to 14 tracks, captions, voice over and AI voices, plus a screen recorder. Zooms are manual.

Price: free with a watermark and 720p export. Hobbyist is $16 a month billed yearly ($24 month to month). Runs on: macOS 14 or later, Windows 11, and the web. Falls short: no automatic zoom, and the free plan watermarks. Best for: talking videos, podcasts and walkthroughs where the words matter most.

13. Filmora

Filmora is a general video editor with a screen recorder inside. You get titles, images, several audio tracks, captions, voice over and webcam frames. Zoom is done by hand with pan and zoom.

Price: free with a watermark. $49.99 a year, or $79.99 once for Filmora 16. The site often shows promo prices. Runs on: macOS 10.15 or later, and Windows. Falls short: no automatic polish for screen recordings. Best for: people who want one editor for all kinds of video.

14. ScreenPal

ScreenPal is cheap and aimed at teachers. It records, edits with text, images, music and voice over, and hosts the result.

Price: free, with a 15-minute limit. Deluxe is $4 a month and Max $10 a month, billed yearly. Runs on: macOS 10.13 or later, Windows, Chromebook and phones. Falls short: your Mac's sound is a paid feature that needs an extra install, and there is no automatic zoom. Best for: classrooms and quick explainers on a small budget.

15. Loom

Loom is for quick video messages: record, stop, and a link is ready to paste. It has a camera bubble, transcripts, captions and, on paid plans, click highlights, trimming and text.

Price: free for 25 videos of up to 5 minutes at 720p. Business is $18 per user a month, or $180 a year. Runs on: macOS 12.3 or later, Windows, Chrome and phones. Falls short: not built for polished exported videos. Best for: async updates inside a team.

16. Snagit

Snagit, now sold with Camtasia, is a screenshot tool that also records short videos with a camera and click animations, then shares them as a link.

Price: $39 a year, or included in any Camtasia plan. A 15-day trial. Runs on: macOS 15 or later, and Windows. Falls short: basic video editing, and TechSmith warns that recordings over an hour can cause problems. Best for: screenshots first, short clips second.

17. OpenScreen

OpenScreen is a free, open source (MIT) recorder in the Screen Studio style, for Mac, Windows and Linux. It has zoom that follows your cursor, cursor smoothing, click effects, motion blur, text, image annotations and captions made on your computer. The original project was archived in June 2026; development continues at getopenscreen, which released version 2.0 in October 2026.

Price: free for personal and commercial use. Runs on: macOS 13 or later, Windows, Linux. Falls short: no share links, and a young project. Best for: a free, open source option on any computer.

18. Recordly

Recordly started as a fork of OpenScreen and is free under the AGPL-3.0 licence. It suggests zooms from your cursor for you to accept, smooths the cursor, adds a click bounce and motion blur, and supports text, images and extra audio on the timeline, with community extensions.

Price: free. Runs on: macOS 14 or later, Windows, Linux. Falls short: no share links or captions mentioned. Best for: open source fans who like extensions.

19. OBS Studio

OBS Studio is free, open source and the standard tool for live streaming. It records scenes with your screen, camera, text and images, mixed live.

Price: free. Runs on: macOS 13 or later, Windows, Linux. Falls short: no automatic zoom, no cursor effects and no editor after recording. OBS itself points to other apps for editing. Best for: streaming, gaming and long recordings.

20. The Mac's built-in recorder

Press Shift-Command-5, choose the whole screen, a window or an area, and click Record. QuickTime Player can trim and split the result. Stop with the button in the menu bar or Command-Control-Esc.

Price: free, already on your Mac. Falls short: no zoom or cursor polish (only a "Show Mouse Clicks" circle), and recording your Mac's sound needs macOS 27 Golden Gate or later. Best for: one quick recording when looks do not matter.

Also considered

• Kap: free and open source, good for quick GIFs and with click highlights, but its last release was in October 2022.

How to choose

• You want it to look good and pay nothing: MotionShine. Add Pro later only if you need 4K.
• You also use Windows or Linux: Cap, OpenScreen or Recordly for free; FocuSee or Tella paid.
• You want to own a full editor: ScreenFlow, or ScreenKite if you are on macOS 15.
• You make training or courses: Camtasia.
• You edit talk more than visuals: Descript.
• You send updates to a team: Loom or Tella.
• You stream: OBS Studio.

For a feature table of MotionShine against Screen Studio, Camtasia, Filmora and OBS, see the full comparison.

Questions

What is the best screen recorder for Mac?

For polished demos and tutorials, MotionShine gives you auto zoom, a smooth cursor, click effects, motion blur and a full editor for free. If you need Windows too, Cap. If you want to own a full editor and zoom by hand, ScreenFlow.

What is the best free screen recorder for Mac with no watermark?

MotionShine, Cap (personal use), OpenScreen, Recordly and OBS Studio all export without a watermark for free. Of those, MotionShine has the fullest editor, and OBS is best for streaming.

Is the Mac's built-in screen recorder good enough?

For a quick recording, yes. It has no zoom or cursor polish, only basic trimming, and it records your Mac's sound only on macOS 27 Golden Gate or later.

Which Mac screen recorder records system audio?

Almost all of the apps above do on current macOS. ScreenKite, CleanShot X and ScreenFlow say no driver is needed. ScreenPal makes it a paid feature with an extra install.

Is there a screen recorder for Mac that you pay for once?

Yes: MotionShine (free, or $49 once for Pro during launch), CleanShot X ($35), Cap ($58 for work), CursorClip ($70), ScreenKite ($79.99), Filmora ($79.99), Screen Charm ($99), FocuSee ($199.99) and ScreenFlow ($199).

How much does a good Mac screen recorder cost?

Anywhere from nothing to $599 a year. Over two years, the polished options run from $0 (MotionShine free) to $216 (Screen Studio) and $360 or more for team and training tools. See the two-year table above.

What is the best screen recorder for a MacBook Air?

Any app here that supports your macOS version works on a MacBook Air. Check the minimum version in the table: ScreenKite needs macOS 15, Descript and Recordly need macOS 14, and most others need macOS 13.