The best Mac screen recorder with [audio]

Every screen recorder can capture your microphone. The hard part on a Mac is capturing internal audio, the sound coming out of your own speakers during a call, a demo, a game, or a video. That single detail is what separates a recorder that sounds finished from one that is silent where it matters.

There are two separate audio sources in any screen recording, and they are not the same problem. The microphone is your voice, captured through the built-in mic or a headset. System audio, sometimes called internal audio, is everything your Mac plays back through its own output: the other person on a call, the music in a demo, the alert sounds in an app you are showing.

macOS captures the microphone freely. It does not, by design, route internal system audio into a recording. Apple never shipped a built-in loopback that lets a recorder listen to the Mac's own output, so the stock tools cannot grab it. This is a privacy and platform decision, not a bug, and it is the reason so many Mac recordings end up with a talking head and total silence where the app audio should be.

That leaves three ways to actually get system sound into a file. You can add a virtual audio device such as BlackHole and route your output through it so a recorder can hear it. You can use a heavier tool like OBS Studio, which still leans on a virtual device or a capture source for internal audio. Or you can use a native app that captures the system audio stream directly, with nothing to install and nothing to route. The rest of this page ranks those paths honestly.

Ranked for the job most people actually have: record the screen, capture both the mic and the system sound, and end up with a clean file, without spending an afternoon on setup. Prices are stated only where they are fixed and public.

1. Kapshot, the top pick for most people

Kapshot is a native macOS app that captures system audio and the microphone in one click, mixed straight into a single file. There is no virtual device to install and no routing to configure. It also follows your cursor with automatic zoom, so the recording eases into whatever you are pointing at without any editing, and there is never a watermark. It is pay once at $19 during launch, then $29, with no subscription and no account, and it runs on macOS 26 and later. The same app also beautifies still screenshots with backgrounds, window frames, and real shadows, so the two things you capture most live in one place.

2. Built-in Shift-Command-5 and QuickTime, best for a quick mic recording

The tools already on your Mac are genuinely good for the simple case. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar, choose to record the whole screen or a selected portion, open Options to pick a microphone and a save location, then record. QuickTime Player offers the same New Screen Recording with a mic source. Both are free, instant, and clean. The catch is the one from the section above: they capture the microphone only, so any system audio in your recording will be missing unless you add a virtual device.

3. OBS Studio, best free tool for power users

OBS Studio is free, open source, and remarkably powerful. It handles scenes, multiple sources, overlays, and streaming, and plenty of people record their Mac with it every day. For system audio it still relies on a virtual audio device or an application-audio capture source, and the interface asks for real setup before your first recording. If you want deep control and do not mind the learning curve, it is an excellent free choice. For a quick screen-and-sound capture it is more machinery than the task needs.

4. The BlackHole virtual-device route, the free DIY path

BlackHole is a free, open-source virtual audio driver that gives any recorder a way to hear your Mac's output. You install it, open Audio MIDI Setup, build a Multi-Output or Aggregate Device so your sound plays through both your speakers and BlackHole, then point QuickTime or another recorder at BlackHole as its audio input. It works reliably once it is wired up. The friction is the setup and the habit of switching your output back afterward so you can hear your speakers again. It is the classic free workaround, just not a one-click one.

The same four paths side by side, on the things that decide a recording with audio. Kapshot is the first column.

Free is the honest headline for three of these, and if you only ever need your voice, the built-in toolbar is all you require. The moment system audio matters, though, the free paths ask for a virtual device and some patience. That is the gap Kapshot closes: both audio sources in one click, plus auto-zoom and a clean, unwatermarked file, for a single payment.

• You want the least friction and a finished-looking result: Kapshot captures both audio streams and follows your cursor, so there is nothing to set up and nothing to edit.
• You only ever record your voice over the screen: the built-in Shift-Command-5 toolbar is free and already there.
• You stream, run scenes, or want total control and do not mind configuration: OBS Studio is the strongest free power tool.
• You want system audio for free and are happy to wire it up once: the BlackHole virtual-device route pairs with the built-in recorder.

Most people are in the first group. They want to show something on screen, be heard clearly, capture whatever the app is playing, and end up with a clip they can send as-is. That is the case Kapshot is built for, and it is why it sits at the top of this list for the majority of Mac users.