Recordly

Recordly is a free, open-source desktop app for recording your screen and turning the footage into a polished video without sending it to a separate editor. It is aimed at people making product demos, walkthroughs, and tutorial videos. The README's main pitch is that the kinds of touches you would normally pay a motion designer for, such as zoom-ins, smooth cursor movement, and an attractive background frame, are built into the app and handled for you.

It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. The README notes that each platform uses a different recording method under the hood, and that on Linux the app cannot currently hide the mouse cursor. You record either a whole display or a single application window, capture microphone and system audio, and then jump straight into the editor when you stop.

The editor works as a timeline, similar to simple video editing software, where you drag pieces around. You can trim out unwanted parts, add zoom regions either by hand or from automatic suggestions based on where the cursor was active, speed sections up or slow them down, and add text or image annotations. You can also add a webcam bubble that shows your face in a corner, with control over its size, position, and shape. The background frame can be styled with wallpapers, solid colors, gradients, blur, padding, rounded corners, and shadows. Finished projects can be saved as files and reopened later, and the final video can be exported as an MP4 or an animated GIF.

Recordly also has a community extension system and a marketplace, so other people can build add-ons such as click sounds, device frames, and extra wallpapers.

You can install Recordly by downloading a prebuilt release, using the Arch Linux package, or building it yourself from the source code, which requires developer tools described in the README. The project is released under the AGPL 3.0 license and welcomes contributions.