Everything you need to know about Beam.

Beam is a free, open-source screen recorder and video editor for creating polished product demos on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Yes. Beam is released under the MIT License with no subscription required. Its public GitHub repository lets the community inspect the code, report bugs, request features, and contribute improvements.

Yes. Beam ships for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its Rust capture engine owns platform-specific screen, cursor, audio, timing, and encoding backends instead of relying on one generic browser recorder for every operating system.

Beam can record a full display, an application window, or a custom region, with optional webcam, microphone, and system-audio tracks.

No. Beam generates captions locally with Whisper, without cloud uploads, API keys, or an additional subscription.

Beam includes editable zooms, cursor smoothing and styling, local captions, canvas backgrounds, blur, audio controls, and a multi-track timeline built for product demos and tutorials.

Beam exports recordings to MP4 or WebM at resolutions up to 4K.

Screen Studio is a polished commercial recorder designed for macOS. Beam is the better fit when you want a free and open-source Screen Studio alternative for Windows, macOS, or Linux, with native capture, editable zooms, cursor effects, local captions, and a full timeline without a subscription.

Tella focuses on hosted recording, sharing, embedding, and team workflows through paid plans. Beam is a free local desktop recorder and editor: projects stay on your computer, captions run locally, and the source code is open to the community. Choose Tella for managed cloud sharing; choose Beam for local control and subscription-free editing.

Both Beam and OpenScreen target polished recordings without a subscription. Beam differentiates itself with an actively developed community project, a Rust capture engine with platform-specific backends, local Whisper captions, and an integrated multi-track editor. The original OpenScreen repository announced its final release and was archived in June 2026.

OBS Studio is a powerful free and open-source tool for live streaming, real-time scene mixing, capture cards, and configurable broadcast workflows. Beam is more focused on recording and polishing product demos with automatic presentation tools such as editable zooms, cursor motion, captions, backgrounds, and a video timeline. Choose OBS for streaming and complex live scenes; choose Beam for a focused record-edit-export workflow.

Loom is designed around quickly recording, hosting, sharing, and collaborating on cloud video messages, with plan limits and paid collaboration or AI features. Beam is a free, open-source desktop recorder and editor for locally controlled files and polished exports. Choose Loom for hosted asynchronous team communication; choose Beam when local ownership and detailed editing matter most.

You can inspect the source, report issues, propose features, contribute code through GitHub, and join the Beam Discord community for help and project updates.