
Kap
Free open-source Mac screen recorder that exports GIF, MP4, WebM and APNG.
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- 3 of 3
- Alternatives ranked
- 4
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About Kap
Kap is a small open-source screen recorder for macOS built with web technologies by the Wulkano team. It sits in the menu bar, lets you drag out a region or pick a window, and records with optional audio, click highlighting and cursor display. After recording you can trim and export to GIF, MP4, WebM or APNG, adjusting frame rate and size, which makes it popular with developers and designers posting short clips in pull requests, issues and docs. Plugins add share targets such as cloud services and GIF hosts. It is free under the MIT licence. Development has slowed, with updates now infrequent, and it has no webcam overlay, editing timeline or cloud hosting of its own, so it is best viewed as a quick, lightweight tool for short silent clips rather than a full recorder. It requires a reasonably recent version of macOS.
Best for: Mac developers and designers making short GIFs and clips for docs and issues.
Pros and cons
What works
- Free and open source under MIT
- Exports straight to GIF, MP4, WebM or APNG
- Lightweight menu bar app
Why people leave
- Mac only
- Updates have become infrequent
- No webcam overlay or real editor
Top Kap alternatives
See all 4- 1
CleanShot X66.5Paid but far more capable Mac capture, with cloud links and annotation.
- 2
OBS Studio62.6Free open-source recorder with webcam, scenes and audio mixing.
- 3
Cap59.6Actively developed open-source Mac recorder with share links.
- 4
Screen Studio57.2Polished demo videos with automatic zooms on Mac.
Why people left Kap
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Kap: common questions
Is Kap free?
Yes. Kap is free, open-source software.
Is Kap open source?
Yes. The source code is on GitHub at wulkano/Kap.
What platforms does Kap run on?
Kap is available for macOS.
What are the best alternatives to Kap?
The highest-ranked Kap alternatives right now are CleanShot X, OBS Studio and Cap. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.