8 Best Screen Recording Software for PC: Free/Affordable [2024]

By Charlotte | Follow | Updated on January 21, 2024

Introduction:

A video conveys information more accurately and clearly than words and pictures. Are you searching for software to record screen for video making on your computer? Screen recording software records the screen activities, sound and your selfie. The best screen recording software for PC can save you time and even cost, contributing a lot to your work and life.

So many options on the market may confuse you and be overwhelming to choose from. A tight budget can also cause you troubles. If you don’t have time to test each, take minutes to read this AWZware article and explore the 8 best screen recording software for PC, either free of charge or economical.

You can also simply go through the comparison chart at the end.

What Is the Best Screen Recording Software: How We Review

Based on the core recording needs, software performance and affordability, dozens of software have been tested for weeks. Not every of them can get the job done with satisfactory results. Finally, the 8 good screen recording apps for PC meet most of the key criteria below we reviewed.

• Full-featured recording: The best screen recording software for PC first should allow users to record any portion of the screen, full screen, speaking voice, system audio and webcam.
• Small footprint: A lightweight application without taking up much space.
• New user friendly workflow: Novice users can quickly get started without spending more energy to learn how to use the best screen capture software.
• A variety of output formats: Users can choose different video or audio format for a recording to meet different requirements.
• Basic video and audio editing features: Mostly you will need to cut off the beginning or end of a recorded video, or compress the video to make it more concise and clear.
• Competitive pricing: The best free screen recording software for PC or inexpensive ones are suitable for the majority of individuals and small businesses.

Now learn about what these programs are good at and their advantages and drawbacks in detail.

The 8 Best Screen Recording Software for PC in 2024

The list of best screen recording software for PC include three with free versions, three free ones, and two with free trials. Check out how they simplify your tasks.

1. AWZ Screen Recorder

AWZ Screen Recorder is tiny, powerful and comprehensive best software for screen recording in PCs. It provides a free version allowing you to record a selected area or a full screen for free. Audio and webcam overlay recording are excellent to use. The best screen recording software for PC video games, video streaming and any other movements support multiple exported formats. From MP4, MKV, WMV, FLV to MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG, etc.

The free software for screen recording on PCs allows you to trim a video for free and compress videos to smaller sizes. So you can polish your recording to make it perfect to upload or send. Moreover, the app has a scheduled recording feature with which auto recording start and stop at future specified time can be completed.

The best screen recording software for PC is available for free download on Windows and Mac. Get it to ease your recording!

Download AWZ Best Screen Recording Software for Mac

Compatibility: Windows, Mac

Pros:

• Easy to use and understand.
• High-quality video, audio and webcam recording.
• All the widely used output formats.
• Video editing and annotating tools.
• Small in size.

Cons:

• No advanced editing feature like adding effects or filters.

Pricing: Free version. Lifetime license at $29.9, yearly plan at $59.9.

2. ApowerREC

ApowerREC is among the best screen recording software for PC thanks to its simple UI and rich features. It allows moving the recording box and showing or hiding mouse cursors during a recording. You can take screenshots on HP or other computers using it. The program to record screen and audio enables you to set shortcuts to begin and end. Compared with other competitors, it’s integrated with a professional video editor.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Pros:

• No skill required to use.
• A suite of video editing tools.
• All the recording modes users want to record everything on a screen.

Cons:

• Only 1-minute recording in the free version.

Pricing: Free version. Lifetime license at $69.95, annual plan at $49.95.

3. Bandicam

Bandicam is one of the best screen recording software for PC gaming and creating video tutorials. This handy application is equipped with real-time drawing functions for you to highlight the certain areas in recordings. It allows you to do mouse animations and record HDMI video sources. The good screen recording software for PC only can only save videos as AVI and MP4 but supports customizing the video size.

Compatibility: Windows

Pros:

• Various annotation options beneficial for teachers and business people. 
• Record screen to videos in different resolutions.
• Record sound and audio purely and clearly.

Cons:

• Add watermarks to the recorded videos and time limit in the free version.
• Fewer format options.

Pricing: Free version. Lifetime license at $44.96, annual plan at $33.26.

4. OBS Studio

For the best screen recording software for PC that doesn’t charge anything, you can’t go past OBS Studio. This program application made by sponsors and backers is completely free and open-source. It’s also popular for video streaming from YouTube, Instagram and other platforms. The software for recording screen on PC enables plugins and scripts to extend functionality specific to your needs.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS, Linux

Pros:

• Easily switch between multiple scenes you’ve created.
• Customization lets you set your automation with your timelines.
• Best free screen recorder with no registration, limits or watermarks. 

Cons:

• Take more time to learn how to screen record with it effectively.
• Difficult to set up.

Pricing: Free.

5. VSDC Free Screen Recorder

Speaking of the best screen recording software for PC, VSDC Free Screen Recorder is worth mentioning. If you don’t require any video editing options, it fits you well. The offline program allows you to capture your PC screen to MP4 video files. It can connect webcams, microphones, video capture cards and other internal or external devices. It has a low system requirements and thus one of the best free screen recording software for low-end PC.

Compatibility: Windows

Pros:

• 32-bit and 64-bit versions available, no lag, and not slow your low-end computer.
• No training needed.
• Record the region around the mouse cursor.

Cons:

• Only 1 output format.
• No inbuilt video editing feature.

Pricing: Free.

6. ShareX

ShareX is the best free screen and sound recording software for PC, which allows you to share files to over 50 apps, including YouTube, Google Drive, and Dropbox. It is an open-source program that exports recordings to AVI, MP4 or GIF formats. The best screen recording software for PC is designed with full-screen, window, selected region, and scrolling recording modes. You can do quicker navigation using various shortcut keys.

Compatibility: Windows

Pros:

• The software for PC screen recording has a low usage of system resources.
• A set of productivity tools like image annotator and video thumbnailer.
• Customize hotkeys to facilitate screen capture process.
• Integrated with lots of cloud services, social media and image hosting platforms for content sharing.

Cons:

• It takes tech savvy to get doing for first-time users due to outdated GUI and many settings.

Pricing: Free.

7. Snagit

One of the best screen recording and editing software for PC that’s worth a shot is Snagit. This is commercial software with a 15-day free trial for users to try the paid version. It has a complete set of screen image capture and video recording options. The best screen recording software for PC is built with an editor to polish and produce reliable quality videos and audio. It can generate a link to a recording for instantly uploading to Twitter, Email, OneDrive, etc.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

Pros:

• Record your full screen, fixed size, a specified area or scrolling area with or without webcam, microphone and system audio.
• Instantly sync to all the commonly used apps like Microsoft Office.
• The settings are effortless to find.

Cons:

• The complaint from users about the software is every upgrade requires a purchase.

Pricing: Free trial, then perpetual license at $62.99.

8. ScreenToVideo

ScreenToVideo boasts the customizable best screen recording software for PC and a robust video editor. It devotes to helping schools and companies create impressive tutorials and presentations. With it, you can create videos with voice-over narration and add texts, zoom effects, sounds, and animations to them.  The best screencast software will export the videos to WMV, MP4, or GIF format.

Compatibility: Windows

Pros:

• One-stop software to record, edit, and share your video, audio and images.
• How-to videos to assist users to get started.
• Easy to add effects to videos. 

Cons:

• Missing the gain control from audio.

Pricing: 15-day free trial, then one-time fee at $119 for individuals and businesses, and $79 for students and teachers.

A Quick Glance and Comparison of the 8 Best Screen Recorders

Here is a general comparison chart of the 8 best screen recording software for PC for you to evaluate and better make a decision.

Final Thoughts

Whether you are a vlogger, gamer or any other professionals who need to create game walkthroughs or reaction videos, having the best screen recording software for PC is an absolute must. We suggest you to employ the most cost-effective ones but not the best cheap one. Give AWZ Screen Recorder a try.