7 Best Screen Recorders for Mac With System Audio and Microphone

The best Mac screen recorders with audio capture your system sound and your microphone in the same recording, without a virtual audio driver. Cap, CleanShot X (4.6 and later), OBS Studio (30 and later on macOS 13 and later) and CursorClip all state or implement driver-free system-audio capture as of 10 August 2026. Apple’s built-in Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player expose a microphone selection but no system-audio option, which is why “record with audio” so often means “narration only” on a stock Mac. Below, every capability cell carries the vendor page and capture date it came from.

Key takeaways

Quick picks by job (sources dated 10 August 2026):

• Fast, readable software tutorials on a Mac? CursorClip, for click-triggered automatic zoom and a one-time license.
• Maximum automatic visual polish? Screen Studio, which advertises motion blur, cursor smoothing, keyboard-shortcut overlays and subtitles.
• Open source, cross-platform, or self-hosted? Cap.
• Free, with total control over routing and scenes? OBS Studio.
• Screenshots matter as much as recordings? CleanShot X.
• Multi-track editing and closed captions in one app? ScreenFlow.
• Just narration over your screen, right now, for free? The built-in Screenshot toolbar (Shift-Command-5).

Mac screen recorders with audio compared

The three audio jobs this table separates are microphone capture (your narration), system audio capture (whatever the Mac itself is playing) and both in a single recording. Every cell below is a vendor statement from the page in the Source column, captured 10 August 2026, except the CursorClip row, which comes from a source-code audit of the app rather than from marketing copy.

The ScreenFlow caveat, stated plainly: Telestream’s help page saying computer audio requires the Telestream Audio driver is dated February 2012 and names no macOS or ScreenFlow version. Treat that driver requirement as historical guidance and confirm it against the current ScreenFlow installer before buying.

Capture and output differ as much as the audio behaviour does. This second table covers what else lands in the file.

Test system audio and mic on your own Mac before you trust any table, including this one.

System audio vs microphone audio on a Mac

System audio and microphone audio are two separate capture paths on macOS, and most “screen recorder with audio” pages blur them. Microphone audio is your narration. System audio is whatever the Mac is playing: a browser tab, a video, an app’s alert sounds. A tutorial that demonstrates an app with sound needs both, on separate paths, in the same file.

The built-in tools are where this trips people up. Apple’s macOS User Guide documents the Screenshot toolbar’s Options menu as containing save location, timer delay, microphone selection, floating thumbnail, remember last selection, capture format (HDR or SDR) and show mouse pointer. Microphone is called out explicitly. No system audio, computer sound or background audio entry appears (Apple Support, captured 10 August 2026). QuickTime Player’s screen-recording guide describes its Options control in terms of save location and pointer visibility, and does not mention system audio either.

That is an absence of a documented option in Apple’s own utilities, not a platform-wide restriction. Third-party vendors document system-audio capture: Cap states no virtual audio drivers are required, CleanShot X’s changelog for version 4.6 (5 September 2023) states computer audio no longer requires additional drivers, and TechSmith states Camtasia 2022.4.0 and later on macOS 13 do not require the System Audio extension.

macOS also gates all of this behind permissions. Apple documents a Screen & System Audio Recording pane plus separate Microphone and Camera panes under System Settings, Privacy & Security (Apple Support, captured 10 August 2026). One grant does not imply the others.

For step-by-step setup, including routing, use the companion guide: how to record system audio on a Mac. This page is about which tool to pick, not how to configure one.

What to look for in a Mac screen recorder with audio

Six criteria separate these tools once you accept that all of them record a screen.

1. Does it capture system audio at all? The first filter, and it removes Apple’s built-in tools immediately.
2. Does it capture system audio and microphone in the same recording? Some vendors state this explicitly (Cap), some list both features without using the word simultaneously (Screen Studio, CleanShot X).
3. Does it need a virtual audio driver? A driver means an extra install, a system audio-device switch, and one more thing to break after a macOS update.
4. Are the two sources kept separate afterwards? Cap states mic and system audio stay separate so levels can be mixed independently, and CursorClip keeps the two roles as distinct tracks for export. If a tool flattens them at capture, you cannot fix a loud app later.
5. How much polish is automatic? Automatic zoom (CursorClip, Screen Studio) does visual work that would otherwise be manual keyframing.
6. What does it cost over three years? A one-time license and a subscription look similar in month one and very different in year three.

How these tools were compared

This comparison is built from first-party vendor documentation captured on 10 August 2026, plus a static source-code audit of the CursorClip application read the same day. No hands-on test of any application has been run for this page, so nothing here is a test result and every competitor capability is reported as “the vendor states”.

Two consequences are visible in the tables. Where a vendor page does not state something, the cell says so rather than inventing a value. CursorClip’s rows describe the audited implementation, not a promise that every Mac and permission setup will behave identically, so run a short system-audio and microphone test before an important recording.

The seven Mac screen recorders with audio

Every entry below uses the same template: summary, audio setup, strengths, limitations, pricing as of 10 August 2026, and when to choose it.

1. CursorClip

CursorClip is a native macOS recorder built around click-triggered automatic zoom, for software tutorials and demos that must stay readable at small playback sizes. Recording and editing are free; a paid license is required to export.

• Audio setup: System audio and microphone are independent toggles, captured through ScreenCaptureKit rather than a bundled driver. On macOS 15 and later the mic becomes a second track in the same file; on 13.5 and 14 it is a sidecar merged at export.
• Strengths: Both audio sources record together and stay separate for export. Zooms are generated from where you clicked, the frame follows the cursor inside each zoom, and every zoom point can be retimed or removed afterwards. Recordings never leave your Mac, because no upload path for media exists.
• Limitations: It edits only its own recordings, with no import of an external video file. No transcription, subtitles, motion blur, shortcut overlays, noise removal or multi-track timeline. GIF export is limited to recordings under 10 minutes. With both audio sources on at a large capture the code drops to 30fps, so 60fps at 4K or 5K is not generally achievable.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): $59 one-time, $20 per year, or $7 per month, each with a 14-day money-back guarantee. See CursorClip plans and pricing. Requires macOS 13.5 or later.
• Choose it when: you make Mac tutorials or demos and want narration over app sound with automatic zoom. See the system audio and microphone features page and the auto-zoom explainer.

2. Screen Studio

Screen Studio is a macOS recorder for polished product videos, and it advertises the deepest automatic-polish feature set here. Its homepage states webcam, microphone and system audio capture.

• Audio setup: The vendor states it records system audio from all your apps or just selected ones, the only per-app audio claim in this set. Whether a virtual audio driver is involved is not addressed on the homepage.
• Strengths: Vendor states automatic zoom, motion blur, cursor smoothing, trim and cut, timeline zoom dragging, keyboard-shortcut overlays, and a transcript that can be added as subtitles. Export is stated as up to 4K 60fps or optimised GIFs.
• Limitations: macOS only, with Ventura 13.1 or later recommended, so mixed-platform teams are out. Subscription only, with no free tier stated. Local-versus-cloud handling and driver requirements are both unstated, and the vendor’s /pricing URL returned a 404 at capture.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): $20 per month billed monthly, or $9 per month billed yearly. The vendor did not display a total annual charge or a public refund window, so confirm both at checkout. The trial restriction is an export lock rather than a watermark: the download page states that an active plan is required to export. Screen Studio also publishes a 40% educational discount for eligible students and educators. Our Screen Studio pricing breakdown covers the model change.
• Choose it when: you want motion blur, shortcut overlays or subtitles generated for you, and a subscription is acceptable.

Screen Studio holds 4.9/5 from 180 reviews on Product Hunt (checked 10 August 2026). Its Trustpilot profile is empty and invites the first review.

3. Cap

Cap is the open-source, cross-platform option, with macOS, Windows and Linux builds. It makes the most explicit audio claims of any vendor here.

• Audio setup: The vendor states Cap records your microphone and system audio at the same time in a single recording, and that no BlackHole, no Loopback and no virtual audio drivers are required. Mic and system audio are stated to stay separate so levels can be mixed in the editor.
• Strengths: Instant Mode uploads as you record; Studio Mode records at highest quality to the device with separate screen and webcam tracks. Vendor states motion blur, cursor effects, auto transcription and smart chapters, plus 4K and 60fps capture. Open source, with free self-hosting.
• Limitations: The free tier is licensed for personal use only, with a 5-minute recording limit, so commercial users need a paid license. The export format list is unstated beyond “any format”, and no minimum macOS version is published.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): Free for personal use; Desktop License $29 per licence billed yearly, described by Cap as a commercial licence for the desktop app; Cap Pro $12 per user per month billed monthly, or $8.16 per user per month billed annually. Cap publishes no hard minimum macOS version, only a recommendation of macOS 13.1 or newer. Its public pricing copy does not clearly reconcile the annual Desktop price with its separate Lifetime label, so confirm the term and refund policy at checkout.
• Choose it when: you need Windows or Linux alongside Mac, you want the source code, or you want to self-host.

Cap holds 3.9/5 from 8 reviews on Product Hunt (checked 10 August 2026). Eight reviews is a very thin base, which is why the count is quoted with the score. Cap has no Trustpilot profile.

4. OBS Studio

OBS Studio is free and open-source capture and streaming software, and it is the tool that most often carries stale advice about needing a virtual audio device on Mac. Its own knowledge base says otherwise for current versions.

• Audio setup: Per the OBS knowledge base captured 10 August 2026, native macOS desktop audio capture is available on macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher with OBS Studio 30 and later, using the macOS Audio Capture Source. For OBS 28 and 29 the document points to the macOS Screen Capture Source instead. Virtual audio software is recommended only for previous versions of macOS, where the document names VB-CABLE, Loopback and Sound Siphon. BlackHole is not named anywhere in it.
• Strengths: Free and open source with no recording limits. An audio mixer with per-source filters (noise gate, noise suppression, gain) and VST plugin support, the deepest audio control here. Scene composition across windows, browser sources, webcams and capture cards, plus live streaming.
• Limitations: The vendor claims no post-production editing at all, so it is not a one-stop polish tool. OBS supports macOS 12.0 or newer, but native desktop audio needs macOS 13+ with OBS 30+, so macOS 12 users still need a virtual audio device. Export formats and resolution ceilings are unpublished.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): Free and open source. Current version stated as 32.2.1.
• Choose it when: your budget is zero, you need multiple simultaneous sources or scene switching, or streaming is part of the workflow.

OBS Studio holds 4.7/5 from 1,075 reviews on Capterra and 4.6/5 from 137 reviews on G2, both checked 10 August 2026.

5. CleanShot X

CleanShot X is a macOS capture utility where screenshots and annotation matter as much as recording, with a trimming tool rather than an editor.

• Audio setup: The homepage states “Record microphone & macOS audio”, and the features page lists Record Computer Audio and Record Microphone as separate options. A changelog entry for version 4.6 (5 September 2023) states computer audio no longer requires additional drivers, which also means earlier versions did.
• Strengths: Vendor states MP4/H.264 and GIF output, a built-in trimming tool, quality, FPS and resolution controls, click and keystroke highlighting, automatic notification hiding, and camera recording with position and shape controls. A Cloud account is stated not to be required.
• Limitations: macOS only. No captions, motion blur or timeline editor are claimed; it is a capture utility with trimming. Maximum resolution and frame rate are unpublished. The vendor’s FAQ says Cloud is only used for screenshot uploading while the features page describes uploading recordings too, and those statements do not fully agree.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): $29 one-time for the app plus Cloud Basic, including one year of updates, with optional update renewal at $19 per year; or Cloud Pro at $8 per user per month billed annually, or $10 per month billed monthly. No trial; a 30-day money-back guarantee instead. Requires macOS 10.15 or newer.
• Choose it when: most of your output is screenshots and short clips, and click or keystroke overlays matter more than zoom.

CleanShot X holds 4.9/5 from 55 reviews on Product Hunt, where the product is listed as CleanShot, and 99% positive from 14,199 ratings on Setapp, which reports a percent-positive score rather than a score out of 5. Both checked 10 August 2026.

6. ScreenFlow

ScreenFlow is Telestream’s Mac-only recorder and multi-track editor, and it is the only tool here that a vendor page still describes as installing its own audio driver.

• Audio setup: Telestream states that to capture computer audio, ScreenFlow must install the Telestream Audio driver, described as a loop-back HAL driver that inserts itself as a virtual audio device. Setup guidance shows the microphone and Record Computer Audio enabled together. The page carrying that statement is dated February 2012 and names no macOS or ScreenFlow version, so confirm it against the current installer.
• Strengths: Vendor states simultaneous screen, camera and microphone recording in sync, a full editor with transitions, text and video animations, freehand annotations and multi-channel audio, closed caption support, ProRes and MP4 export, and iPhone or iPad capture in the same tool.
• Limitations: The stated driver requirement is an extra install and a system audio-device switch that newer tools claim to avoid. It is the highest up-front price here, and the Stock Media Library is a separate annual subscription. Maximum resolution and a local-versus-cloud statement are unpublished.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): $199 one-time. Super Pak shown at $275 (from $298) and Super Pak Plus at $325 (from $357), both promotional at capture. Stock Media Library $99 per year standalone. The trial is unlimited in time but watermarks exports. Tech specs list macOS Tahoe 26 and Sequoia 15.
• Choose it when: you need a multi-track timeline, closed captions or ProRes delivery for longer-form screencasts.

ScreenFlow holds 4.8/5 from 24 reviews on Capterra (checked 10 August 2026), a thin base worth reading with its count. Its Mac App Store listing carries no aggregate rating at all, because Apple states the app “hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview”.

7. Apple Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player

Apple’s built-in tools are the free baseline on every Mac, and they are microphone-only for screen recording as Apple documents them.

• Audio setup: Apple states that under Microphone you select the microphone you want so a checkmark appears next to it, or select None to turn it off. No system audio, computer sound or background audio option appears in the documented Options menu, and QuickTime Player’s screen-recording guide does not mention system audio either.
• Strengths: Zero cost, zero install, already present. The save location is chosen in Options, and recording is entirely local. Fine whenever the deliverable is a raw screen recording with voiceover.
• Limitations: No documented system-audio option, so any recording that must include app or browser sound needs a different tool. No captions, no timeline, no zoom or motion polish, and a webcam overlay on screen recordings is undocumented. Output format, maximum resolution and frame rate are not stated in the guides captured.
• Pricing (as of 10 August 2026): Included with macOS.
• Choose it when: you need narration over your screen once, today, and nothing the Mac plays needs to be audible in the file.

QuickTime, BlackHole, and why the old advice is mostly stale

QuickTime Player and the Screenshot toolbar record microphone audio, and Apple documents no supported way to add system audio to either. The workaround that grew up around that gap was a virtual audio device: install one, route the Mac’s output through it, and point the recorder at it as an input.

That advice is now conditional rather than universal. OBS Studio’s knowledge base states native macOS desktop audio capture on macOS 13 and higher with OBS 30 and later, and recommends third-party virtual audio software only for previous versions of macOS. A virtual audio device is therefore a fallback for a specific population: people on macOS 12 or earlier, people pinned to OBS 29 or earlier, and people using a tool that still routes audio through a driver. Note also that the OBS document names VB-CABLE, Loopback and Sound Siphon rather than BlackHole. BlackHole itself is still available and still moving: its maintainers describe it as “a modern macOS virtual audio loopback driver that allows applications to pass audio to other applications with zero additional latency”, state compatibility with “macOS 10.10 Yosemite and newer”, and state that “No kernel extensions or modifications to system security necessary”, which is the part that makes it a low-friction fallback. It is GPL-3.0 licensed, builds 2, 16, 64, 128 and 256-channel versions, and its latest release is v0.7.1, published 3 July 2026 (BlackHole on GitHub, checked 10 August 2026). Note that the release dates are GitHub metadata we read, not a support commitment: the project publishes no maintenance-status statement, and its own product page is out of date relative to that README.

The routing setup itself belongs in the setup guide, not here: how to record system audio on a Mac. The broader capture workflow is in the complete 2026 Mac screen recording guide, and a wider list of Mac recorders judged on more than audio is in the 14-tool Mac screen recorder roundup.

Three-year cost of each option

Prices below are list prices as displayed on 10 August 2026, for one seat, before tax, and assuming no price changes. Subscription totals are the stated rate multiplied out; where a vendor did not display an annual total, that is noted rather than guessed.

The Screen Studio rows are arithmetic on the vendor’s stated $9 and $20 monthly rates, because the vendor did not display an annual total. The CleanShot X row assumes the optional $19 per year update renewal in years two and three; without it the three-year total stays $29 and the app keeps working, it just stops receiving updates. None of these totals include ScreenFlow’s $99 per year Stock Media Library or Cap Pro’s annual-billing discount.

See what a lifetime license costs against three years of a subscription.

How to choose

Answer four questions in order and the list collapses quickly.

1. Do you need system audio at all?

• No, narration only: Apple’s Screenshot toolbar, free, already installed.
• Yes: keep going. Apple’s built-in tools are out.

2. What is your budget shape?

• Zero: OBS Studio.
• Pay once: CursorClip ($59), CleanShot X ($29), or ScreenFlow ($199).
• Subscription is fine: Screen Studio or Cap Pro.

3. What is the deliverable?

• A readable software tutorial or product demo: CursorClip, or Screen Studio if you want motion blur, shortcut overlays and subtitles.
• A screenshot-heavy support or documentation workflow: CleanShot X.
• A long-form course with captions and multi-track edits: ScreenFlow.
• A stream or a multi-source scene: OBS Studio.

4. Are you Mac-only?

• Yes: any of the above.
• No: Cap or OBS Studio, which are the only cross-platform options here.

Use-case cheat sheet

Frequently asked questions

Cluster 1: how Mac audio capture works

Can QuickTime record system audio?

No. Apple’s documentation for QuickTime Player’s screen recording and for the Shift-Command-5 Screenshot toolbar lists a microphone selection but no system-audio option, as of 10 August 2026. That is an absence of any documented option in Apple’s own built-in tools, not a platform-wide block. Third-party recorders using current macOS capture APIs do capture system audio, and several of their vendors state they need no virtual audio driver to do it.

Can a Mac record system audio and microphone together?

Yes, with a third-party recorder. Cap states it records your microphone and system audio at the same time in a single recording, CleanShot X advertises ‘Record microphone & macOS audio’, and CursorClip’s source code passes independent system-audio and microphone flags into the same recording session. Apple’s built-in Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player expose only a microphone selection, so there is no documented built-in path to both at once. All vendor statements captured 10 August 2026.

Cluster 2: drivers and app-level audio

Do I need BlackHole to record internal audio on a Mac?

Usually not in 2026. Per OBS Studio’s own knowledge base captured 10 August 2026, native macOS desktop audio capture works on macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher with OBS Studio 30 and later, and third-party virtual audio software is recommended only for previous versions of macOS. A virtual audio device such as BlackHole remains a fallback if you are on macOS 12 or earlier, pinned to OBS 29 or earlier, or using a tool that still routes audio through a driver. Note that the OBS document names VB-CABLE, Loopback and Sound Siphon, not BlackHole.

Can these tools record a single app’s audio?

Only Screen Studio states per-app audio selection, describing recording of system audio ‘from all your apps or just selected ones’ on its homepage captured 10 August 2026. CursorClip captures the machine’s output audio through ScreenCaptureKit and has no per-application audio picker. The captured pages for Cap, CleanShot X, ScreenFlow and Apple’s built-in tools make no per-app selection claim, while OBS Studio documents a multi-source audio mixer rather than a per-app picker.

Cluster 3: cost and free options

Which Mac screen recorder with audio is free?

OBS Studio is the only fully free and open-source recorder in this comparison, and Apple’s Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player are included with macOS but capture microphone audio only. Cap has a free tier that is licensed for personal use only, with a 5-minute recording limit as of 10 August 2026. CursorClip lets you record and edit for free, but exporting requires a paid license.

Record a 10-second audio test before you buy

Whichever tool you shortlist, the honest test takes a minute: record ten seconds with app sound playing and your microphone live, then open the exported file and listen for both. That single check settles more than any capability table can, including this one.

Related reading

• Setting it up rather than choosing it: the step-by-step guide to recording a MacBook screen with audio covers permissions, the Screenshot toolbar, and the driver route in detail. This page deliberately does not repeat those steps.
• The wider tool list: every Mac screen recorder compared, judged on more than the audio axis.
• If the recording is a tutorial: how to make tutorial videos on Mac covers the workflow around the recording, from planning to export.
• If the file comes out too large: the free Mac video compressor runs offline, and the bitrate calculator estimates a file size before you export.