ShottieShort answer: Screen Studio still has the smoothest auto-zoom and the most polish of any Mac recorder, but it dropped one-time pricing for new customers in 2025 and is subscription-only now. If you want to own your recorder outright, Cap has a real free tier and a $58 one-time desktop license, CleanShot X's Basic license is $35 once, and Shottie is $29 once for two Macs.
This page is published by Shottie, one of the apps below, so read our entry with that in mind. It's a desk comparison, not a lab test: every price and feature comes from each app's own website, checked on September 26, 2026. "Not listed" means the app's site doesn't mention it, not that it's impossible.
At a glance
| App | Price | Automatic zoom | Webcam bubble | Captions | Export | One-time option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Studio | $9/mo billed yearly ($108/yr), or $29/mo | Yes, the category benchmark | Yes | Yes, from a transcript | MP4 to 4K/60fps, GIF, vertical or horizontal | No, discontinued for new customers in 2025 |
| FocuSee | $49.99/yr or $24.99/mo (1 Mac); $199.99 once for 5 devices | Yes, plus cursor spotlight | Yes | Yes, 9 languages free, 55+ with AI credits | MP4 to 4K/60fps | Yes, $199.99 (5 devices) |
| Cap | Free (personal use); $58 once or $29/yr (Desktop); $12/user/mo (cloud) | Yes, from clicks, open source | Yes | Yes, on-device, 19 languages | MP4 to 4K/60fps | Yes, $58 (single user) |
| Tella | $13/mo billed annually, or $19/mo for 60fps export | Yes | Yes | Yes, 106 languages | 4K; 60fps on the higher plan | No |
| CleanShot X | $35 once (1 year of updates, then $19/yr), or $10/user/mo billed yearly | Yes, Smart Zooms | Yes | Not listed | MP4 or GIF | Yes, $35 |
| Shottie | $29 once for 2 Macs | Yes, spring-smoothed from clicks, editable on a timeline | Yes | Yes, needs macOS 26 | 60fps MP4, 9:16 vertical | Yes, $29 |
Reasons to stay on Screen Studio
Screen Studio is still the reference point every auto-zoom recorder gets compared to, this page included. It records iOS devices as well as your Mac, exports GIF alongside MP4 in both vertical and horizontal, and gives you more manual control over cursor size, smoothing and auto-hide than anything else here. If you already pay for it and use those, the subscription is buying real things the apps below don't all have. What changed is the pricing: in 2025 it dropped the $229 lifetime license for new customers, so it's now $9/month billed yearly or $29/month, with no one-time option. Existing lifetime owners keep their license.
FocuSee: the most zoom and cursor controls, with a lifetime tier
FocuSee runs on Mac and Windows and adds a teleprompter, portrait beautification for your webcam feed, and AI narration cleanup on top of auto-zoom and cursor spotlighting. Its cheapest plan is $24.99/month or $49.99/year for one device, but the Advanced Lifetime tier is a one-time $199.99 covering five devices. Choose it if you want the deepest cursor and zoom styling controls and don't mind paying more upfront for a license that never expires.
Cap: open source, with a real free tier
Cap is open source and self-hostable. Its free plan does unlimited local recording and editing for personal use; the $58 one-time Desktop License adds commercial rights and works fully offline for a single user; Cap Pro at $12/user/month adds cloud storage and team sharing. Auto-zoom generates from your recorded clicks, and captions transcribe on-device in 19 languages. Choose it if you want to start free, see the source, or self-host your shares.
Tella: built for teams sharing recordings
Tella is subscription-only, starting at $13/month billed annually, with a $19/month tier that adds 60 fps export, a custom domain and removing Tella branding. It records screen and webcam together natively on Mac, with auto-zoom and captions in 106 languages. Choose it if you're already paying monthly for a team tool and want custom domains and review workflows alongside the recorder.
CleanShot X: one-time pricing, plus screenshots
CleanShot X's Studio Mode adds Smart Zooms, automatically generated from your recording, plus a webcam bubble, and its Basic license is a one-time $35 with a year of updates. It exports MP4 or GIF; captions aren't listed. It's also a full screenshot app, which is the bigger reason people buy it. Choose it if you want one license for screenshots and recording, and see our CleanShot X alternatives page for the screenshot side.
Shottie: auto-zoom recording, $29 once
Shottie is a menu bar app: ⌘⇧8 records the screen, and every click becomes a zoom that eases in on a critically damped spring and follows your cursor after, editable on a timeline before you export a 60 fps MP4 with microphone and system audio. It adds a webcam bubble, on-device captions (macOS 26 or later), and a 9:16 vertical export that reframes instead of letterboxing. ⌘⇧2 does the same for screenshots, on a backdrop with markup. It doesn't do GIF export, cloud links, iOS device recording or team seats. It's $29 once for two Macs. Choose it if you make short product videos on a Mac and want zooms without keyframing, without a subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Is Screen Studio still a one-time purchase?
No, checked September 26, 2026. New customers pay $9/month billed yearly ($108/year) or $29/month. Screen Studio removed its $229 lifetime license for new customers in 2025; people who bought it earlier keep it.
What's the cheapest one-time alternative to Screen Studio for Mac?
Shottie is $29 once for two Macs. Cap's Desktop License is $58 once for a single user, with local recording only (no cloud links). CleanShot X's Basic license is $35 once and covers screenshots too (checked September 26, 2026).
Which Screen Studio alternative has captions?
Cap generates them on-device in 19 languages, FocuSee in up to 55+ with AI credits, and Tella in 106. Shottie generates captions on-device too, using macOS 26's Speech framework, so it needs that OS version.
Can I try auto-zoom without installing anything?
Not really. Auto-zoom needs to know where you clicked while the screen was recording, so a browser tool can't add it after the fact the way it can crop or blur an image. The apps above all record and zoom in one step.