9 Best Screen Recorders For Linux

Brief: In this article, we’ll list the best screen recorders for Linux. This list also includes software that lets you record your Linux desktop as a gif.

Often we need to record our desktop screen for various purposes, like broadcasting gaming sessions online, making video tutorials, etc. Today, we’re going to present some screen recording applications for Linux.

In this list, you will find options to

• Record screen as a video
• Recording screen as gif as well

All the software mentioned here is free and open-source (FOSS). You could actually call it a list of free screen recorders, in fact.

Before we see the list of the best screen recorders, I would like to mention asciinema. It’s a desktop tool that lets you record your terminal session and upload it to its website. You can grab the URL and send it to friends. The best thing is that the commands in the recorded terminal session can be copied. That will help a lot if you used a lot of commands – there’s no need to enter them manually.

So, if you just wanted to record your terminal screen, asciinema should do a fine job.

Note: The list below is in no particular order of ranking. I’ve mostly mentioned installation instructions for Ubuntu but this doesn’t make it a list of Ubuntu screen recorders – most of the applications mentioned are available in the official repositories of other distributions.

Best Screen Recorders for Linux

1. Kazam

Kazam is a minimal and nifty tool for screencasting. It includes screenshot support too. Kazam is most suitable for beginners and for getting the task done quickly without getting too caught up in different options.

Main Features

• Simple and compact user interface
• Supports multiple video output formats
• Audio recording from a suitable source (microphone or speaker)
• Support for recording a single window or selected screen area
• Delay timer support

Installation on Ubuntu

Open a terminal window and enter the following command:

sudo apt install kazam

N.B. The latest version – which adds a bunch more features to Kazam – may not be available through the official PPA or Ubuntu Universal repositories. But you can install and use it quite easily. Read this article on how to use the latest version of Kazam.

2. Open Broadcaster Software Studio

OBS Studio is, without doubt, the most feature-rich and advanced screencasting application available for Linux.

Main Features

• Multiple scenes to switch between seamlessly via custom transitions
• Filters for video sources
• Audio mixer with filters
• Powerful and easy to use configuration options
• Streamlined settings panel for tweaking configurations
• Live streaming support

Installation on Ubuntu

OBS Studio is available for Ubuntu via its PPA. You can enter the following commands in the terminal to install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio
sudo apt update
sudo apt install obs-studio

You can also utilize the snap store to get the latest OBS studio version.

3. SimpleScreenRecorder

SimpleScreenRecorder – as the name implies – is a simple application for screen recording on Linux. Its interface is Qt-based.

You can read this tutorial to find out how to use SimpleScreenRecorder on Ubuntu.

Main Features

• Supports multiple video output formats
• Audio recording from a suitable source
• Support for recording selected screen area
• Provides statistics while recording
• Live preview while recording
• Optimized to work smoothly on slow machines
• Hotkey support

Installation on Ubuntu

SimpleScreenRecorder is available for Ubuntu. Run the following commands in a terminal:

sudo apt install simplescreenrecorder

4. recordMyDesktop

recordMyDesktop is mainly a command-line tool for screen recording written in C. It has two separate graphical user interfaces based on GTK and QT4.

It has been discontinued but you can still give it a try as an experiment.

Main Features

• Lightweight tool
• Support for recording a single window
• Video output tweaking options

Installation on Ubuntu

recordMyDesktop is available for installation from the official Ubuntu repository (doesn’t work on Ubuntu 20.04 at the time of updating this article). Just run the following command:

sudo apt install gtk-recordmydesktop

5. VokoscreenNG

The successor to the good-old VokoScreen has been reborn as VokoscreenNG (where NG stands for New Generation).

It does justify its new name as well. With a modern Qt-based user interface and a set of essential features, it has got your back.

Main Features

• Record the entire desktop
• Record a portion of the screen
• Add delay timer for recording
• Set a time limit for the recording
• Ability to record through the webcam
• Tweak the output format, control the framerates, and other necessary parameters.

Installation on Linux

You can easily get it installed on openSUSE and Fedora but you need to utilize the unofficial repository by Ubuntu Handbook for Ubuntu/Ubuntu-based distros. Here’s how you can install it:

For Fedora:

sudo dnf install vokoscreenNG

For openSUSE:

sudo zypper install vokoscreenNG

For Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based distros:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps
sudo apt update
sudo apt install vokoscreen-ng

6. ScreenStudio

ScreenStudio is a cross-platform screen recording application written in Java. Even though it’s no longer maintained since 2017, you can give it a try to see if it works for you.

Main Features

• Supports multiple video output formats
• Audio recording from a suitable source
• Stream support for various services like Hitbox, Twitch.tv, etc.
• Various advanced configuration options
• Webcam recording support
• Overlay layer support while recording (image and text layers)

Installation on Ubuntu

ScreenStudio can be installed on Ubuntu from its PPA. Enter the following commands in a terminal to install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:soylent-tv/screenstudio
sudo apt update
sudo apt install screenstudio

If you fail to install it on Ubuntu 17.10 or above, you can try downloading the older deb package from the launchpad to see if it works on the latest Linux distro that you have.

7. Green Recorder

Green Recorder has a simple interface and is easy to use. It was one of the earliest screen recording tools in Linux to provide support for Wayland. It’s built using GTK3, and like most of the other screen recorders here, it uses FFmpeg in the background. If you’re using Wayland, this would perhaps be the best choice for an Ubuntu screen recorder.

Unfortunately, the project has been archived on GitHub and no longer developed. But, it still works for most of the users.

Main Features

• Supports multiple video formats such as avi, mkv, mp4, webm etc
• Can also record the screen as a gif
• Default preferences can be saved
• Supports both Xorg and Wayland 

Installation on Ubuntu

You can install Green Recorder on Ubuntu using its official PPA. Just use the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fossproject/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install green-recorder

8. Peek

Peek is a simple tool for recording animated gifs from your desktop screen.

Main Features

• Framerate setting
• Delay timer support

Installation on Ubuntu

For installation, DEB packages are available on its GitHub project’s release page. You can also install it from its official PPA with the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:peek-developers/stable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install peek

9. Gifine

Gifine is another gif recording tool for Linux. You can use it for recording and stitching together short gifs or videos.

Main Features

• Supports both gif and mp4 video output
• Supports editing and trimming the output before saving

Installation on Ubuntu

Installing Gifine is a bit of a lengthy process. Open a terminal window and carefully enter the following commands for installing Gifine on Ubuntu:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/lolilolicon/xrectsel.git
cd xrectsel
./bootstrap && ./configure
sudo make install
sudo apt install gifsicle luarocks libgirepository1.0-dev
sudo luarocks install --server=http://luarocks.org/dev gifine

And you’re done. For running Gifine, enter the following command:

gifine

Your choice?

Did I miss your favorite Linux screen recorder application? Which desktop recorder do you use on Linux?

Do share your views. And please take a moment to share this article. It does help us :)