Best Screen Recording Apps: Free & Paid Tools That Offer Modern Business Solutions

Screen recording has been around for a very long time. For much of that history, it hasn’t been simple or easy to accomplish. Today, that’s not the case.

Modern technology makes it possible to capture almost anything on your screen, along with the required audio. You can overlay screen captures with images, text, animations, and more to create compelling content that you can then use in training, product demonstrations, team collaborations and planning, onboarding, employee training, and so much more.

The importance of screen recording 

Why should you invest in a screen recording app? There areplenty of reasons that screen recording should be part of your everyday business processes. Here are some surprising facts from UnfoldLabs:

• Humans retain up to 95% of the information absorbed from videos but only about 10% from text.

• Almost half of all sales teams say that video content shortens deal timelines.

• Up to 90% of employees involved in team meetings report daydreaming and say that having access to screen recordings helps them recall important information they would have otherwise forgotten.

Of course, knowing the importance of capturing information on the screen and doing so are two different things. Many organizations struggle to put screen recording into action. Let’s talk about a few tips that can help improve your success.

Important considerations when choosing screen recording apps

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will be ideal for all businesses, most organizations need to make similar considerations when choosing between screen recording apps. Some of the most common include the following:

• Ease of use and sharing

• Ability to record your face and the desktop orjust the desktop

• Ease of integrating audio

• Video and audio output quality (options forresolution and fidelity)

• Integration with your other apps

• Cost and licensing

• Features and functionality

• Scalability over time

Critical tips for better screen recording success

While our list of the best screen recording apps will help you find the right tool for your needs and budget, you’ll still need some practical knowledge to get the most out of them. Use these tips to do that.

1. Clean up your desktop

One thing many people forget is that everything on your desktop is visible in a screen recording unless you go full screen with the app. That may not be possible depending on what you’re doing. So, take a moment and tidy up. Make your desktop presentable.

2. Strategy is everything

Without a strategy, your screen recording is going to be pretty chaotic. Take some time beforehand to plan out what you want to share, how you’ll talk about it, and the most important bits of information.

3. Length is critical 

Keep your audience’s time and patience in mind. Be respectful of their schedule. Don’t ramble on for 20 minutes when you could condense your screen recording into just 10 minutes. This will ensure that your audience absorbs the information you want to share and boost their engagement.

4. Pay attention to audio clarity

Unless you’ll be accompanying the entire screen recording with text (not recommended), you need to narrate it. Audio quality and clarity are paramount considerations. Make sure you have a good mic and take whatever steps are necessary to reduce ambient noise in your environment.

5. Pacing, pacing, pacing 

Finally, decide on the pace you want to hit. You need a cadence that’s natural but engaging to keep your audience moving forward without feeling impatient.

These are just a few tips to get you started. The more you do it, the better you’ll get. Now, let’s get back to talking about the apps you can use and what you should be looking for there. Then, we’ll cover the best apps that should be on your list when you’re in the market for a screen recording tool. 

Roundup: the best apps

Now that you know what to look for and how you can put these apps to use, let’s take a look at the best screen recording apps on the market today. In the list below, you’ll find a host of free and paid tools to help with screen recording, with some dedicated to gaming or other uses, while others offer a general-purpose design. They all have something to offer, so check them out for yourself and see what you can find. 

Loom: best all-around

Chances are good that you’ve at least seen a Loom video before. It’s one of the most popular screen-sharing apps out there, hands down. That ranking is for good reason. Loom is super easy to use and it’s incredibly scalable, meaning that it’s a great solution for solopreneurs hoping to produce how-to content and walkthroughs, but also for enterprise-level organizations and remote teams.

You’ll find plenty of other benefits with Loom, too. For instance, it works with a wide range of file types, including MOV, MV, MP4, AVI, and WEBM. It’s also usable on the desktop and your smartphone, opening up all new worlds of possibilities. There’s a free version that lets you test the waters or use the app without paying for the full version if you only need limited screen recording capabilities. Finally, it’s sharing-focused, which means you don’t have to jump through any hoops to get those screen recordings out to your audience, no matter who they might be.

• Free option? Yes

• Price: $12.50 per user per month

• Premium screen recording

• No watermarks with the paid version

• Unlimited videos with paid version

• Unlimited video length with the paid version

• Discounts available for more computers or users

• Premium audio and video editing

ShareX: best for sharing online 

If you’re not into gaming, you can count on ShareX to be the best choice for screen recording when you’re looking to share your recordings in the online environment. You will have dozens of different options for exporting and you can capture video files and GIFs, and even use the tool for static screenshots. ShareX doesn’t have watermarks or time limits, and it comes with handy keyboard shortcuts to make recording a breeze. 

You can use this free tool to share on social media and forums, and it even captures scrolling webpages and can capture and identify text with the help of OCR. Screen recording can be done on a schedule, and you can even send videos and screen grabs right to social media sites or file-sharing sites like Dropbox. 

While it offers features that could handle most games, it doesn’t have the availability to record games in full-screen mode, so it’s a better choice for those looking for something for tutorials, training materials, and the like. 

• Free option? Yes 

• Price: Free, open-source platform

• File compression

• Video converter studio

• GIF maker

• Mobile tools

• PDF editing tools

• Background Eraser feature

OBS Studio: best for software and gaming

OBS Studio is one of the most popular screen recording apps used for gaming today. While there are several FRAPS out there that allow recording for 30 seconds at a time, OSB is an open-source platform that allows unlimited recording without any restrictions. You will find that it works with HD streaming and recording features and has premium video and audio editing options geared at gaming. 

OBS also supports Twitch and YouTube gaming, encoding and exporting, and direct recording from the graphics card to help capture games that are running in full screen. There is also the option to use multi-core CPUs for premium performance and recording can be done at 60 frames per second or better. 

Setup takes a little while and you might have to invest sometime tweaking the details, but all in all, this platform offers some of the best features for the money (free) and gives you the chance to make the most of your gaming. OBS is a hot choice, and its open-source nature makes it a popular choice for all kinds of users. 

• Free option? Yes

• Price: Free open-source tool

• Designed for gaming

• Impressive frame rates

• HD streaming

• YouTube and Twitch Support

• For Windows, Linux, Mac, and more

Camtasia: best for editing video content

While many teams and organizations might be fine with basic screen recording features, what if you need to edit content? That’s where Camtasia enters the picture. It’s designed for both Windows and Mac (sorry, no smartphones), and it’s easy to use. Just choose your capture area, decide whether to use both the camera and the mic and start recording.

You get quite a few other features with Camtasia, too. One of those is the extensive list of editing options. Click-and-drag functionality makes manipulating video elements a breeze, and there’s even a selection of stock media that you can integrate if necessary. When you select an element from the timeline, your customization options and property details show up to the right, so you always know what’s what.

For those concerned about both text and audio, Camtasia is one of the few screen recording tools that can loop audio while you add the text to create closed captions. It will automatically play a four-second loop until you finish typing. Then you simply load the next loop by hitting the tab button.

• Free option? No

• Price: Starts at $179.88 for an annual individual subscription

• The most powerful editing capabilities out there

• Easy-to-use interface

• Audio looping while creating text subtitles

• One-touch recording

Apowersoft Unlimited: best for mobile capture

Apowersoft Unlimited is available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, and is rated as the best screen recorder for mobile capture. Any modern iPhone or Android device has its own built-in screen recorder and basic tools for editing. However, those are basic and sometimes, people need more. With Apowersoft Unlimited, there are 17 different apps in total that people can use, including an impressive eight apps dedicated to screen recording or editing. 

Apowersoft Unlimited also has bit-rate throttling, resolution control, framerate selection, and more. You can cast wirelessly from a device to a computer screen and even use the desktop recording tool to capture webcams, PC audio, and your mobile device at the same time. 

This tool is handy for showing people how to use tools that are available on mobile and desktop, and it also makes it easy for influencers, webinar hosts, and gamers to screencast and record from anywhere, no matter what they are trying to create. Although it’s not free, the suite is impressive and gives you a lot for your money. You can buy the apps separately, as well. 

• Free option? No, but there is a free trial

• Price: $59.95 per year

• Mobile recording features

• Impressive editing tools

• Framerate selection for mobile gaming

• Wireless sharing

• Cross-device recording and sharing

• Suite of apps dedicated to recording and editing

When you want the best tools, it’s time to give Smith.ai a call

The right screen recording apps can transform your processes. They can boost productivity for employees and remote teams, and even accelerate the sales cycle. When that happens, make sure you have a trusted partner to handle the influx of calls. Smith.ai can be your 24/7 answering service, ensuring that every single call you receive is answered by a human being. Our virtual receptionists can answer questions, provide guidance, screen leads, bookappointments, collect payments, and more, allowing your people to do what they do best.

If you’re ready to learn more about Smith.ai and our virtual receptionist services, get in touch. You can reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 709-2987.