Clowd vs Cap.

Cap is an open-source recorder built around instant links. Clowd is free for everyone, with screenshots, recording and editing in one app.

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ClowdScreen capture, recording and editing

Price: FreeFree. No trial, no tiers, no watermark.
Status: Very active4.10.0 released Oct 19, 2026. In development since 2015.
Best for: Free commercial useScreenshots and OCRYour own storage, free

CapOpen-source screen recorder with cloud sharing

Price: Free personal · $29/yrFree for personal use. A $29/yr or $58 lifetime Desktop License covers commercial use. Cap Pro ($8.16 per user per month, billed annually) adds unlimited cloud, AI and custom storage.
Status: Very active0.6.0 redesigned the editor in September 2026.
Best for: Loom-style instant linksAuto zoom and cursor smoothingLinux and self-hosting

Feature by feature.

Every Cap verdict comes from its own documentation.

Clowd vs Cap: feature comparison
Feature	Clowd	Cap
Capture
Region capture	YesPress PrtScn and drag. Edges can be placed to the pixel while zoomed.	Yes
Scrolling capture	YesRewinds to the top first, and sticky headers appear once. Scrolls whole windows, not panes inside them. Needs Accessibility permission on macOS.	NoNot found in site, release notes or source.
Text recognition (OCR)	YesOn-device. The text lifts off the capture so you can check it, then copy, search or share it. OCR and the AI effects need Windows or a Mac with Apple Silicon. Latin, Greek, Chinese and Japanese kana. Cyrillic and Korean aren’t supported yet.	YesSelect-and-copy text overlay in the screenshot editor on macOS and Windows (since 0.5.0).
Annotate
Image editor	YesEvery capture opens in the image editor. Objects stay editable and sessions autosave.	YesScreenshot editor.
Step numbers	YesNumbered steps. Drag from a step to pull an arrow out of it.	NoScreenshot tools are select, draw, arrow, rectangle, mask, circle, text.
Record
Screen recording	YesRegion, window or screen, with a live frame-rate meter.	YesInstant Mode and Studio Mode, up to 4K60.
GIF	YesAny recording converts to a GIF in one click from Recents.	YesGIF export (MP4/GIF/MOV).
System audio	YesRecorded as its own track.	Yes
Microphone	YesRecorded as its own track, with a live level meter.	Yes
Webcam	YesRecorded as a separate track you place in the editor.	YesSeparate track, PiP and split-screen scenes.
Click effects	YesRipple, Pulse, Ring and Pressure effects, chosen after recording.	YesClick ripples, cursor styles.
Keystroke overlay	Yes3D keycaps with a Shortcuts-only filter.	YesKeyboard overlay track in the editor.
Edit
Trim and cut	YesTrim, split, ripple delete and Ctrl+K to split every track.	YesTrim, split, merge, reorder.
Multi-track timeline	YesVideo, audio, text, image, zoom, speed, cursor and keyboard rows on one timeline.	PartialStackable text/image/3D/style/keyboard/caption tracks over screen/camera/mic; not a free-form multi-clip NLE.
Zoom effects	Yes1× to 5× with eased ramps. Zoom rows stack. Zooms are placed by hand with a fixed focus. There is no auto-zoom or cursor-follow.	YesAuto zooms from clicks and manual zooms, plus 3D camera tracks.
Speed changes	Yes0.25× to 10× per segment, with pitch-corrected audio.	YesPer-clip speed via clip menu.
AI background removal	YesBackground blur or removal behind a person. OCR and the AI effects need Windows or a Mac with Apple Silicon. The part that runs text recognition and the AI effects is GPL-3.0.	PartialCamera background blur on all platforms (0.5.0); removal macOS only (0.6.0).
AI noise removal	YesSpeech Enhancer with a live strength dial. OCR and the AI effects need Windows or a Mac with Apple Silicon. The part that runs text recognition and the AI effects is GPL-3.0.	YesStudio Sound mic noise reduction (0.6.0).
Voice-over recording	YesCountdown, record against playback, takes land on their own Voice row.	PartialRecord into a project adds another recording to an open project (0.6.0); no dedicated voice-over tool.
Cursor smoothing	NoNo cursor path smoothing.	YesSmoothing, sizing, motion blur, cursor styles.
Backgrounds	Yes10 background styles, including animated ones.	YesGradients (incl. animated), wallpapers, images, padding, shadows, device/browser frames.
Present
Draw on screen	Yes9 tools, click-through on Esc, an eraser and one undo history across monitors.	No
Share a region	YesAny rectangle, in any meeting app that can share a window. Blur or black it out live. Viewer frame rate is limited by the meeting app.	No
Share
Instant link	YesThe link is copied automatically. With accelerated uploads, the moment the upload starts.	YesInstant Mode uploads while recording; link ready on stop.
Your own storage	YesAmazon S3 and S3-compatible, Azure Blob, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2 and more.	PaidCustom S3-compatible bucket or Google Drive on Pro; or self-host the platform.
Platform & price
Windows	YesWindows 10 and later, x64 and ARM64.	Yes
macOS	YesmacOS 13 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel. OCR and the AI effects need Windows or a Mac with Apple Silicon. Default hotkeys use PrtScn. Rebind them in Settings → Hotkeys on a Mac keyboard.	Yes
Linux	NoNot available yet.	YesNewer; deb/rpm/AppImage/Arch since 0.6.0.
Free	YesFree. No trial, no tiers, no watermark.	PartialFree for personal use only; commercial use needs $29/yr or $58 Desktop License.
Open source	YesMIT licensed. The part that runs text recognition and the AI effects is GPL-3.0.	YesAGPLv3 (some crates MIT).
Local-first	YesCaptures, OCR, AI effects and rendering run on your computer. Uploading is opt-in.	YesStudio Mode is local; cloud optional; telemetry opt-out toggle.

Sources9Checked Oct 19, 2026

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Where Cap wins.

If these matter most to you, Cap may be the better pick.

Instant links that upload while you record, with comments.
Automatic zoom, cursor smoothing and motion blur.
Captions and AI summaries.
Linux, self-hosting and a command-line tool.

Where Clowd goes further.

Capture Overlay

A deeper screenshot toolkit.

Both take screenshots and read text in them. Clowd adds a precise capture overlay, scrolling capture, a color picker and an editor with numbered steps and measuring.

More about the capture overlay

Video Editor

A free-form timeline.

Cap stacks overlay tracks on one recording. Clowd's timeline takes any mix of clips, with freeze frames, speed ramps and voice-over.

Background removal on Windows too.

Cap removes the camera background on macOS and blurs it elsewhere. Clowd blurs or removes it on Windows and on Apple Silicon Macs.

Your bucket, at no cost.

Cap's custom storage is part of Pro, or you self-host its platform. Clowd uploads to your own storage for free and copies the link the moment the upload starts.

More about uploads