Whether you're an influencer, a content creator, a gamer, an educator, or someone who just wants to create elaborate desktop tutorials, dedicated screen capture software is vital for creating high-quality videos for your audience.
Fortunately, 4K screen recorders are standard today and can help you with such content, allowing you to make sharp, professional-looking, high-definition videos of your screen.
Today, we'll delve into paid and free 4K screen capture software, showing you desktop programs for Windows and macOS screen recording, cross-platform online tools for all operating systems, and dedicated mobile apps for Android and iOS.
In this article
How We Picked the Best 4K Screen Recorders?
To create this list of the best 4K screen recorders, we looked into numerous aspects of each app, including the following ones:
- Compatibility – Depending on your screen recording needs, you might want a dedicated desktop or mobile app or a cross-platform tool compatible with most operating systems and devices.
- Supported Resolution – As 4K resolution is slowly becoming the norm for online content, mobile device screens, monitors, and TVs, the software you pick should be capable of 4K screen capture.
- Recording Capabilities – While most 4K screen recorders can easily capture your screen, others might offer advanced features like webcam recording, multiple audio inputs, picture-in-picture mode, etc.,
- Post-Recording Editing Features – A screen capture tool with built-in editing features like trimming, video effects, and other recording enhancements can save you the trouble of finding and using additional video editing software.
- Ease of Use – Every high-quality 4K screen recorder should have a well-designed and intuitive user interface that's easy to navigate, regardless of whether you're a beginner or a professional.
After looking into these five aspects, we singled out seven 4K screen recorders, and you can learn more about them below.
A Quick Overview of the Best 4K Screen Recorders
4k Screen Recorders | Compatibility | Free Trial Duration |
Wondershare Filmora | Windows, MacOS | No screen recording duration limits. |
QuickTime Player | macOS only (formerly available for Windows, too, but no longer supported) | Free tool |
VLC | Windows, MacOS, Linux | Free |
Tella TV | Browser-based web app (Windows and macOS versions are also available) | 7-day free trial, even the paid version can only export videos to 60 FPS for 5 minutes. |
Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder | Online tool (all platforms) | Free |
4K Screen Recorder | Android only | Free |
4K HDR Screen Recorder | iOS only | – Free Version: 30 seconds – Formal Version: $2.99 one time |
Best 4K Screen Recorders for Windows and Mac
We'll kick things off with paid and free 4K screen recorders for PC and Mac, and for this category, we've chosen three fantastic tools. Let's dive right in so you can learn more about them.
1. Wondershare Filmora
Despite teaming with advanced features, Wondershare Filmora is a screen recording and editing utility designed with beginners in mind, as seen in its intuitive, user-friendly interface. This 4K screen recorder offers dozens of customization options in an easy-to-use format, allowing users to record every aspect of their device with minimal effort. With Wondershare Filmora, you can export the screen recordings up to 4K.
Your recordings can also be customized with the remarkably potent AI-powered video editor, one of Filmora's strong sides. It can help make your screen recordings unique and exciting, preparing them for sharing in a matter of minutes.
Key Features:
- Customize the screen recording area according to your needs.
- Record webcam, screen, and audio at the same time.
- Schedule screen recording time and use hotkeys to start or stop recording easily.
- Show mouse clicks and turn on the play sound.
- Choose the recording quality from low to high.
- It supports exporting recordings up to 60 FPS.
- Various video editing features such as enhancing voice recordings with the AI voice enhancer, removing background noise with audio denoiser, and adding dynamic texts easily and automatically.
Supported OS:
- Windows 7 – Windows 11;
- MacOS 10.15 Catalina – MacOS 15 Sequoia;
- Android 7.0 and up; iOS/iPadOS 12.0 or later. (Video editing features for mobile)
Pricing:
- It offers the free trial version and the price plan starts at $9.99 and may differ with the price strategy.
2. QuickTime Player
Developed by Apple, QuickTime Player is a simple video player with much more to offer than just simple media playback. Besides being a free, pre-installed Mac app supporting almost all media file formats, QuickTime Player can also serve as a 4k screen recorder.
You can use it to create exciting screen videos on your Mac, allowing you to capture a specific window, the entire screen, or just a portion. Also, the QuickTime Player on your Mac can record your iPhone or iPad's screen after you connect these mobile devices to your computer. In addition, it even supports basic recording editing features, serving as a fully-fledged video editor for someone who needs basic edits like trimming, splitting, cropping, rotating, and playback speed adjustments.
Supported OS:
- Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra – macOS 15 Sequoia;
- Windows (It was discontinued in 2016 and required older versions of QuickTime).
Pricing:
QuickTime is an entirely free-to-use tool.
3. VLC
VLC is primarily a free, open-source, cross-platform multimedia player created by passionate volunteers. While that's its primary purpose, VLC is capable of so much more than that.
As a 4k screen recorder, VLC can also record your screen, webcam feed, or videos from a disc, and all you need to do is open its capture device, select what to record, and hit play. In addition to that, it can record from multiple sources such as network streams and desktops.
However, VLC's screen recording feature is only available in desktop versions of the app, meaning you can record your screen on Windows PCs, Macs, and Linux devices but not on your Android or iPhone.
Learn how to record screens with VLC.
Supported OS:
- Windows XP SP3 – Windows 11;
- Mac OS X 10.7.5 – macOS 15 Sequoia;
- Linux (Ubuntu 16.04 and newer, Fedora 22 and later, CentOS 6 and up);
Pricing:
VLC is entirely free to use.
Best Online 4K Screen Recorder
Suppose you'd prefer to avoid downloading or installing software on your device. In that case, 4K screen recorders are also available in online variants, with the following two tools being the best choices for 4K screen recording:
1. Tella TV
Tella TV promotes itself as a screen recorder that edits videos for you. This online 4K screen recorder captures your videos in small, easily manageable chunks, which you can later rearrange and edit much more effortlessly than you would one large video.
The recordings you create can be hosted on the cloud, exported in 4K, or embedded on the web, ensuring multiple ways to save or share your videos instantly. Aside from that, it also offers a built-in video editor that offers basic layouts, transitions, effects, and different backgrounds.
Supported OS:
It's a browser-based web app.
Pricing:
- Pro – $19/month or $15/month with a yearly subscription;
- Premium – $49/month or $39/month with an annual subscription;
- Team – custom pricing.
2. Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder
Apowersoft's Free Online Screen Recorder is a simple yet powerful 4K screen recorder that doesn't require downloads or installations. It can simultaneously record your desktop screen, webcam, system sounds, and microphone.
The web app's numerous customization options include auto stop, task scheduler, and exclusion of windows, while your recordings can be uploaded to the cloud or saved locally as WebM videos.
Supported OS:
It's a web-based app.
Pricing:
It's a free tool.
Learn a detailed review of the Apowersoft screen recorder.
Best 4K Screen Recorder for Mobile
If you're looking for a high-quality 4K screen recorder for a smartphone or a tablet, the following two options are the best apps for Android and iOS, respectively:
1. 4K Screen Recorder
There isn't much to be said about 4K Screen Recorder, an app that does what its name suggests. This free Android screen recorder is focused on simplicity, offering a simple interface with only a few options and buttons.
It can record in three different resolutions such as 720p, 1080p, and 4K, capture microphone audio, and automatically remove the recording's first or last few seconds to avoid showing itself in your videos. However, it can't record system sounds.
Supported OS:
Android 7.0 and up.
Pricing:
It's an entirely free Android app.
2. 4K HDR Video Recorder
What 4K Screen Recorder is for Android users, 4K HDR Video Recorder is for iPhone and iPad enthusiasts. You can get this app as a free 4K screen recorder, but the free version limits you to 30-second screen recordings, making it almost unusable. This app allows you to switch between multiple cameras and microphones during recording.
Purchasing the full app for $2.99 removes this unnecessary limitation, allowing users to capture unlimited-length screen recordings and create high-quality 4K videos with HDR support.
Supported OS:
- iOS 13.0 or later;
- iPadOS 13.0 or later.
Pricing:
- Free Version – $0;
- Formal Version – $2.99 (one time).
Conclusion
In this article, we've discussed the best 4k screen recorders for any device, whether you want to record 4K windows on Windows, Mac, or Mobile, you can choose one of the recommendations from our list.
If you not only want to record videos but also make extensive edits on recordings, you can go for Wondershare Filmora as it is a powerful video editor in the market!