Record any area or window
Drag a box around part of the screen or grab a whole window. The Kap screen recorder captures just that region at the size you set.
menu bar capture
Free & Open Source — v3.6.0
Record Your Mac Screenin Seconds
Kap is a free, open-source screen recorder for Mac. Grab any part of your screen, then export a crisp GIF, MP4 or WebM. Light, fast and made for macOS.
$0
Free forever
19.3K
GitHub stars
MIT
Open license
Universal
Apple Silicon + Intel
A screen recorder that stays out of the way
Kap lives in your menu bar and captures exactly what you point it at, then hands you a clean file to share.
Export GIF, MP4, WebM and APNG
Pick the format the moment you stop. Need a quick Kap GIF for a bug report or a crisp MP4 for a demo? Both come out in a couple of clicks.
GIF · MP4 · WebMSmooth capture engine
The custom Aperture engine records at high frame rates without dropping frames. Fast scrolls and animations stay sharp in the final file.
high fpsShow clicks and cursor
Turn on click highlights so viewers see every tap. Keep the cursor visible through the whole clip and your walkthrough is easy to follow.
click highlightsPlugins for sharing
Send a clip straight to GIPHY, save your own presets or add a community plugin. Kap bends to the workflow you already use.
plugin systemFree, open source, native
Kap is MIT licensed and runs natively on Apple Silicon. No account, no watermark, no paywall. Read the whole codebase on GitHub.
MIT · no watermarkInstall Kap on Mac in one command
Prefer Homebrew? Drop Kap onto your Mac with a single line in the Terminal.
$ brew install --cask kap
01
Open Terminal on Mac
Press ⌘+Space, type Terminal, then hit Return. A fresh window opens ready for the command above.
02
Run the install command
Copy the line, paste it, then press Return. Homebrew downloads Kap and drops it straight into your Applications folder.
No Homebrew? Grab the .dmg direct from the releases page, or from getkap.co.
Download .dmgFrom screen to shareable clip in three steps
Kap keeps recording simple, so you spend time on the content, not the tool.
1
Click the menu bar icon
Kap sits at the top of your screen. Click it to bring up the recorder and the selection frame appears over your desktop.
2
Frame it and set options
Drag the box over what you want, pick your frame rate and choose whether to record audio. Everything is right on the toolbar.
3
Record, stop, export
Hit record, do your thing, then click the icon to stop. Kap opens the editor where you trim and export a GIF or video.
Point, frame, record
The Kap selection frame and toolbar sit right over your screen, so setting up a clip takes a second.
1280 × 800
trim in the editor
audio + mic
GIF · MP4 · WebM
macOS native
Loved by Mac users everywhere
Notes from people who record their screen with Kap every day.
★★★★★
Kap on Mac replaced three tools for me. Quick region select, record, export a GIF, drop it in a ticket. My whole bug-report flow got faster.
Marcus T.
★★★★★
The Kap GIF export is the cleanest I have used. Small file, sharp frames, no watermark. I share product clips in Slack all day now.
Priya N.
★★★★★
Runs native on my M2 and never stutters, even at 60 fps. This mac screen recorder feels lighter than anything else I tried.
Daniel R.
★★★★★
Click highlights make my tutorials so much clearer. Viewers actually follow the cursor now. Kap made my walkthroughs look professional.
Aisha K.
★★★★★
Wish it recorded the webcam too, but for screen capture it is spot on. The editor trim step alone saves me a trip to another app.
Tom H.
★★★★★
Installed the Kap Mac download in seconds with Homebrew. No sign-up, no nag screens. Free and open source the way it should be.
Kenji S.
★★★★★
The plugin that pushes straight to GIPHY is brilliant. Record, share, done. Kap fits my workflow better than the paid apps I paid for.
Elena V.
★★★★★
Open source, MIT licensed and no watermark on a free tool. I read the repo before installing. Clean project, easy to trust.
Owen B.
★★★★★
I make short demos for clients and Kap nails the export every time. Pick MP4 for the deck or a GIF for email. Both look great.
Grace L.
Kap for Mac: your questions answered
Everything worth knowing before you download Kap.
What is Kap? +
Kap is a free, open-source screen recorder for Mac. It captures any part of your screen and exports the result as a GIF, MP4, WebM or APNG. The app is built with web technology and runs from the menu bar.
Is Kap free? +
Yes. Kap is completely free and open source under the MIT license. There is no paid tier, no account and no watermark on your recordings. You can read or build the code yourself on GitHub.
How do I download Kap on Mac? +
Download Kap for Mac from the GitHub releases page or getkap.co, then drag it to Applications. You can also install it with Homebrew using
brew install --cask kap. Both give you the same app.How do I record my screen with Kap? +
Click the Kap icon in the menu bar, drag a box over the area you want, then hit the record button. Click the menu bar icon again to stop. Kap opens the editor so you can trim and export.
Can Kap export GIFs? +
Yes. A Kap GIF is one of the core exports, alongside MP4, WebM and APNG. Pick GIF when you stop recording and Kap renders a small, sharp file ready to drop into chat, docs or a bug report.
Does Kap work on Apple Silicon Macs? +
Yes. Kap runs natively on Apple Silicon, so M1, M2, M3 and M4 Macs get full speed with no Rosetta translation. Intel Macs are supported through the same universal build.
Can Kap record audio and my microphone? +
Yes. Turn on the microphone from the recording toolbar to capture your voice over the clip. Grant Kap the microphone permission the first time and macOS remembers it after that.
How do I install Kap with Homebrew? +
Open Terminal and run
brew install --cask kap. Homebrew fetches the latest build and installs Kap to your Applications folder. Launch it once and the menu bar icon appears.Is Kap safe to use? +
Yes. Kap is open source, so anyone can read the code on GitHub, and there is no tracking baked in. Recordings stay on your Mac until you choose to export or share them.
Kap vs QuickTime for screen recording? +
QuickTime records the screen but only exports video. Kap adds GIF, WebM and APNG export, click highlights, frame rate control, an editor and a plugin system. For quick shareable clips, Kap is the more flexible pick.
Record your screen the easy way
Download Kap for Mac free and turn any part of your screen into a GIF or video in seconds.