A free, open-source Screen Studio alternative
Reelbird is a free, open-source Screen Studio alternative for Mac. Like Screen Studio, it plans zooms from your clicks, redraws the cursor so it glides, and frames the recording with a background, padding and shadow. Unlike Screen Studio, it costs nothing (Screen Studio is $29 a month, or $9 billed yearly), it's MIT licensed, and it copies a share link the moment you stop, before you've edited anything. Polish later and the same link plays the new version.
Updated . Screen Studio facts from screen.studio.
Reelbird vs Screen Studio, side by side
| Fact | Reelbird | Screen Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, MIT licensed | $29 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly. No one-time licence for new buyers |
| Share links | Copied the moment you stop, then updated in place after editing. Hosted in your own bucket | After export. 1080p60, up to 30 minutes, with timestamped comments |
| Auto-zoom | Planned from clicks and typing. One intensity slider. Every zoom editable on the timeline | From clicks and activity, plus manual zooms |
| Cursor | Redrawn from the event log: smooth, resizable, can be hidden | Smoothed paths, motion blur, click effects |
| Camera | A bubble on its own track: change its size, shape and corner later | Layouts, background removal, face tracking |
| Audio | Auto level to −16 LUFS, voice enhance and ducking, on your Mac | Noise reduction, background music |
| Keep the file | Every take is MP4s on your Mac. Export MP4, HEVC, ProRes or GIF | MP4 up to 4K, or GIF |
| Licence | MIT, open source | Proprietary |
| Platforms | macOS 15 or later | macOS (13.1 or later recommended) |
| Install | Download (approve once) or build from source | Signed download |
Reelbird vs Screen Studio in one line: Screen Studio is the more mature editor; Reelbird gives you the link first and the polish later, for free, with the code open.
Who should pick which
Pick Screen Studio if
- You want the most mature editor: camera layouts and background removal, iPhone and iPad recording, transcript editing and more presets.
- You want share links with timestamped comments and view counts, hosted for you.
- You want a signed download with updates. Reelbird is build-from-source for now.
- You need editor features Reelbird doesn't have yet, such as annotations.
Pick Reelbird if
- You want click-driven auto-zoom without a subscription.
- You want a link the moment you stop, before you've polished anything, and the same link after you have.
- You care about the sound: auto level to −16 LUFS, voice enhance and ducking, all on your Mac.
- You want an open project format, plus a command line and MCP server your tools and agents can drive.
An auto-zoom export, as it comes out
Screen Studio and Reelbird: questions
Is Screen Studio free?
No. As of 12 October 2026 Screen Studio costs $29 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly, with 40% off for students and educators. Reelbird is free and MIT licensed.
Can I still buy a one-time Screen Studio licence?
No. Screen Studio says one-time licences are no longer available for new purchases; licences bought earlier stay valid. New buyers subscribe monthly or yearly.
Is there a free, open-source Screen Studio alternative?
Yes. Reelbird is free, MIT licensed and native to the Mac, with auto-zoom and a share link the moment you stop. OpenScreen is free and MIT too, runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and is built on Electron, with no share links. Cap's Studio mode also has auto-zoom; its code is mostly AGPLv3 and commercial use needs a paid licence. See the comparison.
Does Screen Studio have share links?
Yes, after you export: Screen Studio links play at 1080p and 60 fps for videos up to 30 minutes, with timestamped comments. Reelbird's link exists the moment you stop recording, before any editing, and Update link swaps in the polished version at the same URL.
Does Reelbird add a watermark?
No. There's no watermark, paid tier or export limit.
Can I change the automatic zooms?
Yes. One slider sets how strong they are, from subtle to punchy. On the timeline you can add, move, resize or delete any zoom, and set its depth and focus.
Do zooms follow typing as well as clicks?
Yes, when Record keystrokes is on: a burst of typing gets its own zoom, framed around where you clicked to type. Zooms that track the focused text field as it moves are on the roadmap.
What can Reelbird export?
MP4 (H.264), HEVC, ProRes and GIF, with hardware encoding, at your recording's resolution or a height you pick. Landscape, square, vertical or 4:3.
Try it on your own screen.
Clone, make install, record. If it isn't for you, delete the app; nothing else was installed.