BetterCapture

The macOS screen recorder for the rest of us - always free and open source with a native look and feel 📺

Website · Installation · Features · Contributing

Sponsored by

If you're looking for a hosted desktop recording API, consider checking out Recall.ai,
an API that records Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, in-person meetings, and more.

Features

• Native macOS integration: Built with SwiftUI and ScreenCaptureKit, lives in your menu bar
• Professional encoding: ProRes 422/4444, HEVC (H.265), and H.264 codecs with support for alpha channel and HDR
• Flexible audio capture: Record system audio and microphone simultaneously
• Content filtering: Exclude specific content from recordings
• Privacy-focused: No tracking, no analytics, all recordings stored locally
• MIT licensed: Free and open source

Installation

Homebrew

brew install bettercapture

Direct Download

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases and open BetterCapture.dmg.

Requirements: macOS 15.2 (Sequoia) or later

Automation

BetterCapture supports a custom URL scheme for external tools (Raycast, Shortcuts, Alfred):

URL	Action
bettercapture://toggle	Stop recording if active; otherwise open content selection (Pick Content or Select Area) before recording
bettercapture://toggle-copy	Same as toggle, but copies the saved recording to the clipboard when stopping
bettercapture://open-recordings	Open the output folder in Finder

Example:

open "bettercapture://toggle"

Contributing

We welcome contributions of all kinds! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for more details on how to get involved.

Note: Any issues or pull requests for feature requests submitted without prior discussion will be closed immediately.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to these projects for their excellent work and inspiration:

• QuickRecorder
• Azayaka
• Ghostty

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.