Bandicam vs ScreenPal Comparison 2026
Both cover screen recording. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
At a glance
- ScreenPal starts cheaper, at $4.
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
Bandicam | ScreenPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $33.26 | From $4 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | Not stated |
| Runs on (they differ) | macOS, Windows | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Bandicam
A recorder sold as a licence
Bandicam records the screen, a game at high frame rates or an external capture device, and it is one of the few recorders still sold outright rather than rented. The free download records with a watermark and a time limit on each clip. A licence removes both, and the perpetual one keeps working on the version it was bought for.
Our note
OBS Studio does most of this for nothing and is the better default. Bandicam earns its money on the game-capture path, and for anybody who would rather buy software once than subscribe to it.
ScreenPal
Screen recording and hosting at four dollars
ScreenPal records the screen, edits what it recorded and hosts the result on a page you can send to somebody, which is three products most tools split up. The editor handles the things a tutorial actually needs, captions and callouts and cutting the dead air, without turning into a timeline that has to be learned. It was Screencast-O-Matic for years and the price has stayed in the same place. Anybody wanting cinema-grade output is in the wrong shop.
Our note
This was Screencast-O-Matic and it kept the pricing it built its reputation on, which is why it keeps beating tools that do less for more. Start on the free tier and only move up when the recording length or the editing limits actually stop you.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.