Screen Recording vs. Cap
Cap offers recording on Mac and Windows, with shareable links and an option to run your own hosting. Screen Recording keeps recording, captions, and editing on your Mac and shares MP4 files.
Cap figures are from Cap's pricing page as of September 2026.
| What matters | Screen Recording | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free for personal use; desktop license $29/yr or $58 once; Pro $12/user/mo |
| Free option | Every feature, for any use | Personal use, no time limit on local recordings, shareable links up to 5 min |
| Works on | macOS | macOS, Windows |
| Edit video by editing transcript | Yes | No |
| How you share | Send an MP4 file | Hosted links or your own video hosting |
| Works offline | Yes, after the speech model downloads | Recording yes; AI features no |
Recording and export details
| What matters | Screen Recording | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Recording length | No limit | No limit on local recordings |
| Commercial use | Free | Requires a desktop license or Pro |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Transcription, titles, summaries, chapters | On your Mac, free | Cap Pro, runs in Cap's cloud |
| Sign-in | Not required | For cloud features |
Transcription and captions
Cap’s transcription, titles, summaries, and chapters need Cap Pro and run on Cap’s servers. Screen Recording runs these on your Mac for free, along with captions, filler-word removal, and transcript editing. They work offline.
Sharing a file or a link
Cap can host videos for shareable links. You can use Cap’s service or set up your own S3 storage and hosting.
Screen Recording shares a file. Its Share button opens the Mac share menu for AirDrop, Messages, Mail, or another service. It has no hosted links or server setup.
Other differences
Cap supports Windows, offers open-source software, and provides shareable links or your own video hosting. Its free plan covers personal recording without a time limit. A commercial desktop license is $29 a year or $58 once, as of September 2026.
Choose Screen Recording if you want transcript editing and AI features on your Mac, for free. See pricing.