How to record your screen for free

Use OBS Studio. It is free, open source and records your screen on Windows, macOS and Linux. Pay for Camtasia only if you want recording and video editing in one app.

The quick answer

OBS Studio does the recording at no cost. It does not edit video. Camtasia records and edits, but it costs money to export without a watermark. Your choice comes down to whether you need an editor.

OBS Studio: free recording and live streaming

OBS Studio describes itself as free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. It captures and mixes video and audio in real time. You build scenes from sources such as window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams and capture cards.

It costs nothing, and the download page shows no price. The project is distributed under the GNU General Public License v2 or any later version.

Here is what it offers:

• Unlimited scenes, so you can switch between layouts.
• A per-source audio mixer, so you can balance each input.
• Studio Mode.
• A plugin API with native plugins and Lua or Python scripts.

Builds are available for Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13.0 or newer (Intel and Apple Silicon), and Linux. On Linux there is a Flatpak on Flathub, plus a PPA for Ubuntu 24.04 and newer. The latest version listed is 32.2.2.

The trade-offs are plain. OBS Studio records and streams only. It is not a video editor, so trimming, zooms and captions need another tool. Scene and source setup also takes time to learn,.

Camtasia: recording and editing together

Camtasia is a screen recorder and video editor from TechSmith for Windows and macOS. It records screen, camera, system audio and microphone as separate layers. You edit with drag-and-drop zooms and callouts, captions, themes and templates. Higher plans add AI text-based editing, voiceover and avatars.

You can download the full Camtasia Editor for free, but exported videos carry a watermark until you move to a paid plan. A 14-day money-back guarantee applies.

TechSmith's store page lists individual plans per year, billed yearly:

• Starter, $39.00. It includes Snagit and a watermarked Camtasia Editor.
• Essentials, $179.88. This is the cheapest plan listed without the Camtasia watermark.
• Create, $249.00.
• Pro, $599.00.

Teams and Business pricing is not shown on the page. It points you to contact sales. Individual plans cannot be transferred to another person.

Check your computer first

Platform support may decide this for you. Camtasia runs on Windows and macOS only, with the same features on both. OBS Studio also runs on Linux, so Linux users have only one choice here. On a Mac, OBS Studio needs macOS 13.0 or newer.

Camtasia also records the screen, camera, system audio and microphone as separate layers. That helps when you want to adjust one of them after recording. OBS Studio gives you a per-source audio mixer while you record instead.

When paying is worth it

Camtasia is worth paying for if you regularly make tutorials, training or demo videos. In that case, recording and editing in one app saves you from juggling tools. It suits people who want to add zooms, callouts and captions without learning a separate editor.

It is not worth paying for if you only need to capture your screen. The cheapest plan without the watermark is $179.88 a year, and OBS Studio does the recording for nothing.

Our pick

For most people, OBS Studio is the right choice. It is free, it runs on all three major desktop systems, and it handles screen, webcam and audio. If you also need to cut or polish the video, pair it with a free editor you already like, or try Camtasia's free editor download to see whether its workflow suits you before you pay.

Choose Camtasia when editing is half the job. Choose OBS Studio when recording is the whole job.