Cap screen recorder
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 6 screen recorders by recommenders
Free, open-source screen recorder that people recommend as an alternative to other recorders. Critics report failed renders and lost recordings, especially when the camera is in use.
Free, open-source screen recorder that people recommend as an alternative to other recorders. Critics report failed renders and lost recordings, especially when the camera is in use.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free, open-source alternative to other recorders
“get the same features from cap then why are you telling me”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: I built a Mac screen recorder Recap.Studio” “there is another one that is nice and open source”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2026)” “or use an open source one”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: I built a Mac screen recorder Recap.Studio” Happier than before for screencasts
“Much happier with Cap for screencast recording”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “OBS Studio 33” “there is another one that is nice and open source”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2026)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Recording and rendering failures, lost footage
“Cap routinely fails to render videos properly.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “OBS Studio 33” “when you use the camera, the recording breaks”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Open-source Loom / Screen Studio with editing and auto-zoom” “Cap completely ate several recordings for me”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “OBS Studio 33”
Other screen recorders people recommend
The four most recommended other screen recorders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loom | 44 | 7 | 86% | 12 | — | Approved |
| OpenScreen | 24 | 4 | 86% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Cap screen recorderThis page | 10 | 4 | 71% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Screen Studio | 8 | 14 | 36% | 3 | 1 yr3 owners | — |
| Screenpipe | 7 | 9 | 44% | 4 | 2 mo3 owners | — |
What people said
10 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Cap routinely fails to render videos properly.”
“Cap completely ate several recordings for me”
“Much happier with Cap for screencast recording”
“if you don't use Wordpress and develop your page on your own, Cap may be a good choice.”
“After experiencing many bugs and UX oddities with both of those”
“when you use the camera, the recording breaks”
“there is another one that is nice and open source”
“get the same features from cap then why are you telling me”
“or use an open source one”
“This is very useful for limiting memory usage of a process before it becomes a system-wide problem”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.