Spotlight: AI chat, games like Retro, location changer, Roblox unblocked
Spotlight: AI chat, games like Retro, location changer, Roblox unblocked
A powerful screen recorder software can play a necessary role in our digital life. It can be a helpful assistant in our work, study, communication, and even entertainment. However, finding a comprehensive screen recorder may be a little difficult. This could involve multiple factors of consideration: will it leave a watermark on recorded videos? Can it record the webcam? Especially the common issue of Windows screen recorders: recording screen activities but no audio. Don’t worry, our team has done all of this for you. We selected the 8 best screen recorders for Windows and reviewed their features, pricing, pros, and cons. Meanwhile, we also researched the user comments and market feedback of each to conclude this review. We believe that you will find your favorite one after reading it.
| Steps | Description |
| 1. Testing Windows OS | We picked four PCs of Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7 to test all 8 screen recorders. |
| 2. Task Setting | Then, we launched five kinds of recordings to test each recorder software including an online meeting, online lecture, online video, audio-only recording, and webcam recording. Besides, the recording durations are 5 min, 30 min, and 1 hour each. |
| 3. Recording Process | During the recording process, we tested them from the start to the end by measuring recording easiness, recording stability, adding elements, and exporting result files. |
| 4. Result File Check-up | When receiving the recorded files, we compared them in final quality, picture clarity, information integrity, with or without audio, and watermarks. |
A good screen recorder should meet some criteria, like being easy to use, recording any region or full screen, capturing face-cam and microphone, and more. However, who needs a screen recorder, or what it can do?
1. Game players. A proper screen recorder can help game players to capture their gameplay for watching later or sharing on social media.
2. Teachers. Video material will make your face-to-face or online classes impressive. A screen recorder is able to record your screen and your voice at the same time.
3. App developers. The video tutorial is always the necessary part when developers release a new app. A screen recorder can capture every feature and operation.
4. Small business. SMB can use a screen recorder to capture the use of their products or service and share it to customers.
5. Vloggers. Almost every vlogger has a screen recorder, which can help them make tutorials, produce small video posts, and more.
6. Other people who need to record screens, webcams, online videos, etc.
Platform: Windows 11/10/8/7, Mac OS X 10.10 or above
Price: A comprehensive Windows screen recorder with audio. It offers a wide variety of elements-adding functions, editing tools, and output formats with up to 8K quality support.
Selling Point: $31.20 for one year per computer, $55.20 for lifetime for up to 3 computers
If you're looking for the quickest and easiest screen recorder to capture your PC screen and share the recording with someone else, this is it. Aiseesoft Screen Recorder lets you do the job with a single click. Therefore, even beginners and people without technical skills can master it in a few seconds. For advanced users, there are tons of custom options, such as hotkeys, video quality, output format and more, to simplify the job and create desired effects. While recording your screen along with audio, you can also add your face, reactions, and voice to the recording in real-time through webcam and microphone.
During the process, you can also find useful features on the toolbar, like take screenshot at important moment, add text, painting, and more to the image, or skip some footage. Briefly, as a flexible screen recorder for PC, it can meet everyone’s need for screen recording.
Platform: Windows 10/8.1/Windows Server 2016/2012 R2, macOS Big Sur (11), Catalina (10.15), or Mojave (10.14)
Price: $49.99 one-time fee for single license, $62.48 for Snagit + Maintenance $62.48
Selling Point: It provides a competent built-in editor to customize screenshots and recorded videos with various functions.
Snagit released by TechSmith is a screen recording application for you to produce short recordings. It can record your action on the desktop along with audio in MP4 files or turn the video into animated GIF images for sharing on social media.
When recording screen, you can switch between webcam and screen. However, it cannot capture your face and screen at the same time. Fortunately, it is able to capture both your voice and system audio. If you like all-in-one project, Snagit is a good choice since it provides a basic video editor too.
Platform: Windows 10/8.1/8, Mac OS X 10.13 or later, Linux/Unix
Price: Free
Selling Point: It’s a professional-grade screen recorder with some tech-knowledge requirements, which is best for live-streaming services.
OBS, also known as Open Broadcaster Software, is an open-source and free screen recorder for Windows. It offers both recording and streaming capacities in high definition, so many game players use it to stream gameplay to Twitch or YouTube directly.
Though it is free, you won’t be limited in any aspect. It won’t add watermark or time limit to your recordings. You do not need to view ads or sign up for the screen recorder. The full version is free to download on the OBS official website.
This free screen recorder for Windows uses scene and source to capture screen. It means that you can decide the recording sources. Of course, it offers several preset scene to capture full screen, a window, or webcam.
Platform: Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP, macOS, Linux
Price: Free Trial, ＄4.99 per month for 50 GB, and ＄49 per month for 200 GB
Selling Point: Its reasonable subscription plan is suitable for those with low budgets. Besides, it’s a simple screen recording solution for beginners.
ScreenRec is a versatile screen recording software that offers a range of features at an acceptable price point. It’s compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive controls, it's a valuable tool for both professionals and casual users alike. Generally, all your recorded screen activities are uploaded to the cloud space. Then, you can share these files through its auto-generated links.
As for the recording process, it supports recording in full screen or customized areas. But you don’t have any annotation tools to use. ScreenRec also has a screenshot feature. You can capture screen activities during or not in the recording process. It’s saved in the cloud storage too. If you want to download them, ScreenRec supports exporting screenshots in PNG.
Platform: Windows 10/8/7/Vista, Windows Server 2016/2008
Price: $39 for one PC and $59 for two machines
Selling Point: For gamers, Bandicam is a good solution for game recording. Besides, it plays well in recording external devices.
Bandicam is a professional screen recorder for Windows users to capture gameplay, screen and videos on desktop. It includes three modes:
Screen record mode. You can capture entire screen, an activated window or a certain area, and save it as a video file. The screen recorder enables you to save the recording as screenshot images or animated videos.
Game record mode. Bandicam is popular among game players partly because it provides a specific game mode. When switching to this mode, you can record your video game up to 60FPS and overlay your reactions to gameplay. It supports many 2D/3D games including Minecraft, Roblox, World of Warcraft, etc.
HDMI record mode. Sometimes, you just want to record high quality videos from external devices on computer, like iPhone, Xbox, Play Station, and more. Bandicam can meet your needs too.
Platform: Windows 10(64bit)/8.1/7 SP1
Price: $249.99 for single license, $299.74 for Camtasia + Maintenance
Selling Point: There will be a professional video editor tied to the Camtasia screen recorder download. You can do various editing on your recorded files.
Camtasia is a one-stop screen recorder and video editor for Windows. Therefore, you can edit your video on the timeline after recording. Many small business use it to create video tutorial for products and video stories for marketing.
For screen recording, it is able to capture mouse movements, clicks, add webcam, and more. It supports multiple recording inputs, including screen, webcam, microphone and system audio.
When recording is done, the video will be put on the timeline in the video editor directly. Here you can apply annotations with a variety of tools. The video editor also provides tons of effects related to video, audio, mouse, transition, and animation to make the recording professional.
Platform: Windows 10/8/8.1/7/Vista, Mac OS X 10.9 to 10.14
Price: $1.65 per user per month
Selling Point: Screen-O-Matic is convenient because it has an automatic backup system for all your recorded files. Meanwhile, its built-in editor is suitable for complete scripting.
Screencast-O-Matic offers both a free online app and a desktop program with full features. The web app lets you record screen or/and webcam for up to 15 minutes, and save the clip in MP4 format. If you want to produce longer screen recording without watermark, you need to subscribe to the desktop software.
Compared to Camtasia, this screen recorder for Windows is more cost-effective. It makes you easy to create video tutorials, training materials, and more. After screen recording, you can add animations, annotations and effects to drive your content more appealing and easier to follow within the same program. Another useful feature is the companion apps for Android and iOS. With it, you can sync your recordings between mobile and computer.
Platform: Web-based
Price: Free
Selling Point: FlexClip is also good for comprehensive video editing but more special with various AI features like subtitles generating.
FlexClip Free Online Screen Recorder is a free online screen recording web application that enables you to capture the content of your screen. It is fully compatible with all browsers and lets you record the entire screen, window, and Chrome tab with one click. Once the recording is over, it will be downloaded to your computer automatically and saved in WebM file format.
| Supported Windows OS | Record video along audio | Face-cam record | Record your voice | Take screenshots while recording | Video Analytics | Video Editing Tools | Preview recordings | Record time | Take schedules | Output formats |
| Windows 11/10/8/7 | Trim recording, add text, Graffiti, comment and more | Unlimited | GIF, MP4, WMV, MOV, AVI, TS, F4V, M4V, MP3, WMA, AAC, M4A, FLAC, Ogg, Opus, PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF | |||||||
| Windows 10/8.1/Windows Server 2016/2012 R2 | Yes, but cannot record screen and face-cam at the same time | Trim video clips | Unlimited | GIF, MP4 | ||||||
| Windows 10/8.1/8 | Unlimited | FLV, MP4 | ||||||||
| Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP | Unlimited | AVI, Flash | ||||||||
| Windows 10/8/7/Vista | Unlimited | AVI, MP4 | ||||||||
| Windows 10(64bit)/8.1/7 SP1 | Unlimited | AVI, WMV, MPEG-1, MP3, WAV, WMA, M4A, BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF, PPT, PPTX | ||||||||
| Windows 10/8/8.1/7/Vista | Only available in paid version | Only available in paid version | Up to 15 minutes for free and unlimited for paid version | AVI, FLV, MP4 | ||||||
| Web-based | Only available in paid version | Unlimited | WebM |
How do I record my screen on Windows?
On Windows OS, you can press the hotkey combination of Windows key + Alt + R to launch the recording panel on your desktop. The recorded file will be saved in the Gallery.
How to screen record on Chrome?
Hold Shift + Ctrl + Show windows together and wait for the menu to appear at the bottom of the window. Then, select Screen Record. It supports recording the full screen.
Why does Windows Alt + R not work?
This could be caused by many reasons. For example, one of the most common reasons is that the application you’re using doesn’t support this shortcut combination.
Conclusion
Now, you should learn top 8 best screen recording applications for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP or earlier. Some of them are free to use the full features, like OBS and Camstudio. Some offers a free version with some limit, like Screencast-O-Matic. Others are professional screen recording software. You can pick the most appropriate recoding software to capture your screen. If you have better suggestions, please write down below the review.
Did you find this helpful?
136 Votes
YESThanks for letting us know!
NoThanks for letting us know! 
Full Review of Aiseesoft Screen Recorder [2024 Updated]
Screenshot
Unbiased Review of TechSmith Snagit: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives
Screenshot
A Detailed Review of OBS Studio: Features, Pros and Cons
Video Recorder
Latest Convertio Review – Is Convertio Safe and Good to Use
Video Converter
