A fair comparison
vidspawn vs Cap
Two open-source screen recorders, and respect where it is due: Cap helped make open source normal in this category. The difference is architecture: where the free tier ends, where shares live, and what an agent can drive.
 vidspawn | Cap | |
|---|---|---|
| Custody | ||
| Where shares live | Your own Cloudflare or Backblaze B2 | Cap's cloud by tier, or connected storage |
| Open source | AGPL-3.0, full source | Yes, on GitHub |
| Capabilities | ||
| Transcription and AI | On-device whisper, included free | Cap Pro, $12/user/mo |
| Search the library by what was said | Hybrid keyword + semantic, local | Not advertised |
| Agent surface | 35 MCP tools over local HTTP, 6 headless over stdio | None advertised |
| Platforms | macOS today | macOS, Windows, Linux, Chrome extension |
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | The complete individual product: no caps | 5-minute recording cap, personal use only |
| Commercial use without paying | Yes | Desktop License, $29/yr |
Cap facts fetched from cap.so on 2026-08-07. If anything here goes stale, open an issue on GitHub and we will fix it.
vidspawn holds the edge Cap holds the edge
When Cap is the better fit
You are on Windows or Linux today.You want hosted sharing without connecting your own cloud account.You want the larger, longer-established open-source community today.
Open source either way. Pick the architecture you want to own.
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