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How Prequel compares
The recorders people weigh Prequel against, on one grid, feature by feature. Scroll across for each one. The name at the top opens the full comparison.
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| Feature |  Prequel |  Screen Studio |  Loom |  Camtasia |  ScreenFlow |  Descript |  Tella |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic zoom on clicks | Included | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Zoom on what you type | Included | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Cursor smoothing and resizing | Included | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Camera overlay, shaped and placed after | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Picture in picture | Included |
| Backgrounds, padding and shadow | Included | Included | Blur and simple backgrounds | Included | Included | Green screen removal | Included |
| Layouts for the screen and camera | Fourteen, per clip | Camera over the screen, or full screen | Screen and camera, screen only, camera only | Rev templates | Templates you build | Split-screen and scene layouts | Included |
| Camera cut out of its background | Included | Not included | Virtual background inside the bubble | Included | Included | Included | Blur, a colour or an image |
| Perspective tilt and focus falloff on zooms | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Captions transcribed on your Mac | Included | Included | After upload to Loom | After upload to TechSmith | Typed in a caption editor | In the cloud | After upload to Tella |
| Timeline editing | Included | Included | Trim and transcript-based edits | A full multi-track editor | A full multi-track editor | Transcript-based, plus multi-track | Included |
| Separate audio tracks | Included | Included | Not included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| System audio without a virtual driver | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Reframe to vertical without cropping | Included | Included | Not included | Change the canvas and re-position by hand | Change the canvas and re-position by hand | Included | Included |
| Records and exports without uploading | Included | Records locally; shareable links upload | No — recordings upload to Loom | Included | Included | No — projects and media are stored on their servers | No — recordings are hosted by Tella |
| Shareable links | Included | Yes, 30-minute cap, branded page | Included | Via Screencast Pro | Not included | Included | Included |
| Team workspace | Included | Not included | Included | Included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Records an iPhone or iPad | Not included | Included | Not included | Not included | Over USB | Not included | Not included |
| Maximum export | 4K, 120 fps | 4K, 60 fps | 4K on paid plans | 4K | 4K | 4K on Creator and above | 4K; 60 fps on Premium only |
| Download size | 102 MB | 366 MB | 228 MB | 435 MB | 89 MB | 255 MB | 25 MB, editor in the browser |
| Platforms | macOS 14+, Apple Silicon | macOS | macOS, Windows, web, Chrome | macOS 14+, Windows | macOS 15 or macOS 26 | macOS, Windows, web | macOS, Windows, web, Chrome |
| Licence | $9/month or $29 once, 7-day trial | Subscription only | Per-seat subscription | Subscription only, annual | One-off, paid major upgrades | Per-seat subscription | Per-seat subscription, no free plan |
- Screen Studio: checked on 22 August 2026 against Screen Studio, screen.studio pricing, Dynamic camera layouts, Screen Studio 3.7.5 installer.
- Loom: checked on 21 August 2026 against Loom pricing, Loom's recent product investments, Loom capture modes, Loom virtual backgrounds, Loom 0.374.2 installer.
- Camtasia: checked on 22 August 2026 against TechSmith Screencast, TechSmith — transition to subscription pricing, Difference between Camtasia Pro, Create and Essentials, Camtasia features, Camtasia transcription, Camtasia 2026.2.2 installer.
- ScreenFlow: checked on 21 August 2026 against ScreenFlow version history, ScreenFlow 10 on the Mac App Store, ScreenFlow features, ScreenFlow background removal, ScreenFlow captions, ScreenFlow 10.5.2 installer.
- Descript: checked on 21 August 2026 against Descript pricing, Descript security, Descript tools, Descript 114.0.4 installer.
- Tella: checked on 21 August 2026 against Tella pricing, Tella plans, Tella features, Tella camera background, Tella 2.33 installer.
FAQ
Before you pick one
- What is the best screen recorder for Mac?
- Prequel, if the recording has to look produced without an afternoon of editing. It records the screen, your camera and both audio tracks, then opens an editor with the zooms already placed on your clicks and typing, your camera framed and a background behind it. Export is 4K at 120 fps, on your Mac, with nothing uploaded. Seven days free, then $9 a month or $29 once.
- Which Mac screen recorder has automatic zoom?
- Prequel, Screen Studio and Tella place zooms on their own. Prequel also zooms on the field you are typing into, and adds a perspective tilt on the push-in with focus falling away from the subject, which none of the others on the grid do. Every generated zoom is editable afterwards.
- What is the best Screen Studio alternative?
- Prequel is the closest to it: the same automatic zooms and cursor smoothing, plus the perspective tilt, the focus falloff, fourteen layouts and export at 4K 120 where Screen Studio stops at 4K 60. It is $9 a month, the same as Screen Studio's yearly rate and a third of its monthly one, and there is a $29 lifetime licence, which Screen Studio withdrew in 2025.
- Which screen recorder does not upload my recordings?
- Prequel records, edits, transcribes and exports on your Mac. Nothing leaves it unless you press Share. Loom, Descript and Tella upload the recording to work on it; Screen Studio records locally but uploads for a share link. On the grid, the only two that transcribe captions on the machine are Prequel and Screen Studio.
- Which screen recorder exports 4K at 120 fps?
- Prequel. Screen Studio exports 4K at 60 fps, and the rest top out at 4K on a paid plan or at 60. The export is rendered on your Mac's own media engine, with no upload and no cloud render.
- Which screen recorder can remove the camera background?
- Prequel cuts you out of the camera picture while you record, so it is you standing on the wallpaper with no card, shape or shadow around you. Camtasia, ScreenFlow and Descript remove a background inside a video editor; Loom and Tella swap or blur it inside the camera bubble.
- Which is the smallest screen recorder to download?
- Prequel is 102 MB, with the recorder and the whole editor in it. Screen Studio is 366 MB, Camtasia 435 MB, Descript 255 MB and Loom 228 MB. ScreenFlow is 89 MB. Tella's 25 MB app is only the recorder, and its editor is a web page.
- Is there a free screen recorder with automatic zoom for Mac?
- Prequel is free for seven days with the whole app in it, no card needed, and then $9 a month or $29 once. Screen Studio and Tella are paid too. The free recorders in this category capture faithfully and leave the zooms, the framing and the background to you.
- Which screen recorder is cheapest?
- Prequel is $9 a month or $29 once, for everything. Screen Studio is $29 a month or $9 a month billed yearly; Loom Business is $18 a seat; Tella is $13 a seat; Descript's paid plans start at $16; Camtasia is an annual subscription and ScreenFlow is $199.99 once. Prices as checked on the dates under the grid.