{"id":80,"date":"2026-07-05T08:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T08:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/best-free-screen-recording-software-2025\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T08:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T08:50:16","slug":"best-free-screen-recording-software-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/best-free-screen-recording-software-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Free Screen Recording Software in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Screen recording is essential for tutorials, demos, game streaming, and online courses. The free options in 2025 are genuinely excellent \u2014 there’s no reason to pay for screen recording software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Quick Comparison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Software<\/th>Best for<\/th>Platform<\/th>Watermark<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
OBS Studio<\/strong><\/td>Professional, tutorials, streaming<\/td>Win, Mac, Linux<\/td>None<\/td><\/tr>
ShareX<\/strong><\/td>Windows power users<\/td>Windows only<\/td>None<\/td><\/tr>
QuickTime<\/strong><\/td>Mac quick recordings<\/td>Mac only<\/td>None<\/td><\/tr>
Xbox Game Bar<\/strong><\/td>Windows gaming clips<\/td>Windows 10\/11<\/td>None<\/td><\/tr>
Loom (free)<\/strong><\/td>Screen + webcam, team sharing<\/td>Win, Mac, browser<\/td>None<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

1. OBS Studio \u2014 Best Overall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unlimited recording, no watermark, multiple scene switching, multi-source audio mixing. Download: obsproject.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick OBS setup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Install OBS \u2192 Sources \u2192 + \u2192 Display Capture<\/strong> (whole screen) or Window Capture<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. + \u2192 Audio Input Capture<\/strong> for microphone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Settings \u2192 Output \u2192 Recording: Format MP4<\/strong>, CRF 23.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Click Start Recording<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    2. QuickTime \u2014 Best for Mac (Zero Setup)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Pre-installed on every Mac. File \u2192 New Screen Recording<\/strong> \u2192 select microphone \u2192 click Record. Saves as MOV \u2014 convert to MP4 for sharing using AllMediaTools Video Converter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    3. Xbox Game Bar \u2014 Windows Built-In<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Win + G<\/strong> to open Game Bar, Win + Alt + R<\/strong> to start\/stop recording. Records only the active application window. Files save to Videos\/Captures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Recommended Settings by Use Case<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Use case<\/th>Resolution<\/th>FPS<\/th>Bitrate<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    YouTube tutorial<\/td>1920\u00d71080<\/td>30<\/td>8,000 Kbps<\/td><\/tr>
    Online course<\/td>1920\u00d71080<\/td>30<\/td>5,000 Kbps<\/td><\/tr>
    Game streaming<\/td>1920\u00d71080<\/td>60<\/td>8,000\u201312,000 Kbps<\/td><\/tr>
    Quick team clip<\/td>1280\u00d7720<\/td>30<\/td>3,000 Kbps<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Managing Large Recording Files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A 1-hour 1080p recording can be 5\u201320GB. Compress for sharing: AllMediaTools Video Compressor<\/a> \u2014 target 2,000\u20134,000 Kbps for tutorial videos. To extract audio only: AllMediaTools MP4 to MP3<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Does OBS have a time limit?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    No \u2014 OBS has no recording time limit and no watermark. Record for hours with no restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why is my OBS recording choppy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Switch from x264 (CPU) to NVENC (NVIDIA GPU) encoding in Settings \u2192 Output. Also reduce bitrate or resolution if dropping frames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What format should I save recordings in?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    MP4 (H.264) for universal compatibility. In OBS, recording in MKV first is safer \u2014 a failed recording is still recoverable. Convert to MP4 afterward for sharing. See our video editing guide<\/a> for post-recording workflows.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Screen recording is essential for tutorials, demos, game streaming, and online courses. The free options in 2025 are genuinely excellent \u2014 there’s no reason to pay for screen recording software. Quick Comparison Software Best for Platform Watermark OBS Studio Professional, tutorials, streaming Win, Mac, Linux None ShareX Windows power users Windows only None QuickTime Mac … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":81,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39],"tags":[171,170,173,172,174],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video-tools","tag-best-screen-recorder-free","tag-free-screen-recording-software","tag-obs-studio-free","tag-screen-capture-software","tag-screen-recorder-2025"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/seo-publish-best-free-screen-recording-software-2025.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}