Side by side

LICEcap vs SimpleScreenRecorder

Both stand on screen recording software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

LICEcap

Free plan MacWindows

Choose LICEcap if you want a free, GPL-licensed way to capture a desktop area as an animated GIF or LCF file, with movable framing and pause controls. Look elsewhere if you need a listed download for a platform other than Windows or macOS.

Visit LICEcap

SimpleScreenRecorder

Free plan Linux

SimpleScreenRecorder provides broad Linux capture options through a graphical interface and free license. Its distribution-specific installation requirements and experimental streaming should be considered before use.

Visit SimpleScreenRecorder

The facts

	LICEcap	SimpleScreenRecorder
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Mac, Windows	Linux
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	LICEcap	Not published
Website	cockos.com	github.com
On screen recording software	#91 of 131	#95 of 131

LICEcap: what it does well

Captures a selected desktop area as GIF or LCF.
Move the capture frame while recording.
Pause and resume with Shift+Space.
LCF supports more than 256 colors per frame.
GPL license and source code included with downloads.

What to know first

Downloads are listed only for Windows and macOS.
Older Windows versions may have reduced functionality.
LCF encoding recommendations include a reasonably fast CPU and at least 1GB RAM.

SimpleScreenRecorder: what it does well

Captures full screen, regions, or OpenGL applications
Records system audio and microphone input
Pause and resume with button or hotkey
Supports many codecs and file formats
Free under GNU GPL version 3

What to know first

Linux only
No webcam recording
Live streaming is experimental
Some distributions require compiling from source

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