Skip to main content

A free, open-source screen recorder for Mac

OpenScreen is a free, MIT-licensed screen recorder for Mac, with builds for Apple Silicon and Intel on macOS 13 or later. It records a display or one window through ScreenCaptureKit, then opens the take in an editor for automatic zooms, cursor styling, backgrounds and on-device captions, and exports MP4 or GIF with no watermark. If you share by hosted link or record an iPhone or iPad, another app fits better.

This page is published by the OpenScreen project. The details about Screen Studio, Loom and Cap come from their own sites and were checked in September 2026. The sources are listed at the end.

At a glance​

PriceFree, including commercial use. MIT license, no account
macOS versionmacOS 13 Ventura or later
MacsApple Silicon and Intel, one .dmg for each
SigningSigned with a Developer ID and notarized since version 1.9.0
What it recordsA display or one window, at 60 fps, up to 4K. Crop afterward in the editor
CaptureScreenCaptureKit, written as H.264 in a fragmented MP4
AudioSystem audio. Microphone on macOS 15 and later
WebcamRecorded to a separate file, then placed in the editor
CursorRecorded as data and editable after the take. Shape and clicks need the Accessibility permission
CaptionsOn-device Whisper, on Metal with Apple Silicon and on the CPU with Intel. Burned into the video
ExportMP4 (H.264 or H.265) through VideoToolbox, or GIF. Up to 60 fps, no watermark

How OpenScreen records on a Mac​

Screen capture goes through a native helper written in Swift on top of ScreenCaptureKit, Apple's capture framework.

  • A display or one window. Pick the source in the recorder. It captures at 60 fps, up to 3840×2160. Crop the frame afterward in the editor.
  • A file that survives a crash. The helper encodes H.264 with AVAssetWriter into a fragmented MP4, one fragment per second. If the recorder is killed partway through, the file still plays up to the last complete fragment.
  • System audio. ScreenCaptureKit captures what the Mac plays, and OpenScreen's own sounds are left out. On macOS 14.2 and later, the system asks you to allow audio capture.
  • Microphone. Pick the device and watch a five-bar level meter in the recording controls.
  • An editable cursor. By default the system pointer is left out of the pixels and recorded as data. After the take you can change its size, smoothing and theme, and add a click bounce. A toggle switches to the system cursor, burned into the image.
  • Webcam. The camera is recorded into its own file during the take. The editor places it as picture-in-picture, a vertical stack or a dual frame, and can remove, blur or replace its background without a green screen. The app opts in to Continuity Camera, Apple's feature for using an iPhone as a webcam.
  • Notes and a teleprompter. A notes window keeps your script next to the capture. Its teleprompter mode scrolls the text at a set speed and can mirror it.
  • Take controls. Pause and resume, restart, cancel or stop. A 3-2-1 countdown starts each take.

Editing and export on Apple Silicon and Intel​

The editor is the same on macOS, Windows and Linux. What changes on a Mac is the hardware it uses.

  • Rendering on Metal. The live preview and the MP4 export share one native compositor, which runs on Metal on macOS.
  • Encoding with VideoToolbox. H.264 and H.265 exports go to Apple's VideoToolbox encoder. For H.264 it tries a zero-copy path first, where the composed frame never goes back to the CPU. A software encoder takes over if VideoToolbox is unavailable. MP4 exports run at 24, 30 or 60 fps, from 720p up to the source size. GIF export is also there. See Export.
  • Captions on the Mac's own chip. Transcription runs whisper.cpp with one Whisper Small model of about 264 MB, downloaded once. It uses Metal on Apple Silicon and the CPU on Intel Macs. Captions are burned into the video. More on captions.
  • The rest of the editor. Automatic zooms placed from the recorded cursor, backgrounds, a multi-clip timeline, text and arrow annotations, blur regions, and voice-over and music tracks. See Editing & timeline.
  • Optional chat editing. Connect a provider with your own key and describe cuts, zooms or speed changes in plain language. It is off until you connect a provider, and each change lands as an ordinary undoable edit. See AI editing.
  • A command-line interface. The CLI records, exports, captions and packs projects, with JSON output. On a Mac, it runs from /Applications/Openscreen.app/Contents/MacOS/Openscreen.

How OpenScreen's export speed was measured against other tools is in An export benchmark built to be hard to fake.

When OpenScreen is not the right tool​

  • You share by link. Loom, Cap and Screen Studio can each turn a recording into a hosted link that plays in a browser (as of September 2026). OpenScreen gives you a file to upload wherever you share.
  • You record an iPhone or iPad. Screen Studio records them over a USB cable and adds a device frame. OpenScreen records the Mac's own displays and windows.
  • Your Mac runs macOS 12 or earlier. OpenScreen needs macOS 13 or later. Loom's desktop app supports macOS 12.3 and later (as of September 2026).

Getting started​

  1. Download the Apple Silicon or Intel .dmg from the download page, about 210 MB, and drag OpenScreen into Applications. The build is signed and notarized, so no terminal step is needed.
  2. In System Settings → Privacy & Security, grant Screen Recording and Accessibility to OpenScreen. The installation guide explains both.
  3. Make a first recording with the quick start, then run Auto-enhance → Automatic zooms on it. Screen recording covers the recorder's options.

On another system? See OpenScreen for Windows and Linux. Weighing other Mac recorders? Read the Screen Studio alternative, OpenScreen vs Cap and the Loom alternative pages. Licensing, network use and signing are covered in the FAQ, and the OpenScreen home page has the full tour.

Sources​

Third-party facts, checked September 2026:

OpenScreen facts describe version 1.11.0 and link to its documentation above.

Apple, Mac, macOS, Screen Studio, Loom and Cap are trademarks of their respective owners. OpenScreen is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

Last updated on