Vidlark Free

Record your face, voice and screen. Free.

An app for making videos, on a Mac or a Windows PC. One button records your camera, your mic and your screen as separate files that stay in sync. Share your screen and, when you stop, it makes the finished video.

Get it on GitHub How to use it
  • Free
  • No account
  • No watermark
  • No time limit
  • Open source

For Macs with Apple silicon on macOS 15 or later, and PCs with Windows 11 (beta).

  • video.mp4
  • camera.mov
  • screen.mov
  • words.json
  • chapters.txt

One take. Every file you need.

Press record once. When you stop, the take's folder has every part of it, lined up by sound, and the finished video if you shared your screen.

  • video.mp4

    The finished video, made when you share your screen.

  • camera.mov

    Your camera, with your voice.

  • screen.mov

    Your screen, with your voice and, if you want it, the Mac's sound.

  • camera-2.mov

    Each extra camera or phone, in its own file.

  • mic-2.m4a

    Each extra microphone, in its own file.

  • words.json

    The transcript, with the time of every word.

  • chapters.txt

    YouTube chapters, ready to paste into a description.

  • retakes.json

    Every time you said "retake", with its time.

Demo video

One take in 91 seconds.

Switch between you and your screen in one click.

Every take starts on your face. Share your screen when you are ready: the whole screen or one window. Click Me and your camera grows out of the face circle to fill the screen. Click Screen and it shrinks back.

  • The finished video records exactly that, so there is nothing to cut afterwards.
  • Your face sits in the video as a circle, square, oval or wide shape.
  • The recording box and the app's other windows never appear in the video.
Circle Square Oval Wide
The recording box: Back to the recorder, Me and Screen, Mac sound, the time, the mic level and the stop button

The box you control a take from. It never shows in the video.

Turn any phone into a camera.

Scan a QR code with an iPhone or an Android phone and it films over your Wi-Fi. No app to install and no cable, at up to 1080p and 30 frames a second.

  • Up to four phones at once, each saved as its own file.
  • Wide 16:9 for YouTube or tall 9:16 for Shorts and Reels.
  • Every angle is lined up by sound, so you pick the angle while editing.
The Connect a phone window: a QR code, three steps, and Connected, Wide 16:9, 1080p, 30 frames a second

Use any microphone. Or several.

A USB mic, a wireless mic, AirPods, or a phone's mic over Wi-Fi. Every mic records its own file, and you choose which one the video uses.

  • A spare phone becomes a wireless mic: scan, tap Start microphone, and keep it near you.
  • Mute a phone's mic from the phone or from the Mac. Both show who did it.
  • While watching a take, play any mic under any camera to hear which is best.
The app's Sources list with a camera, a phone, and four microphones, each with its own level meter

Lined up by sound, automatically.

Every camera and mic hears the same voice. After you stop, it uses that sound to line up every file, then writes the transcript, the YouTube chapters and a list of your retakes.

  • Say "retake" and repeat the line. The list shows where every retake is.
  • Chapters come out ready to paste into a YouTube description.
  • Lining up, the transcript and the chapters all run on your Mac.
Cameracamera.mov
Phonecamera-2.mov
Phone micmic-2.m4a

Matching the soundLined up

Safe for your take. Light on your Mac.

  • Saved every 2 seconds

    The files are written in 2-second pieces, so a crash keeps the take.

  • A camera that stops is caught

    If the camera stops sending pictures, the take stops within about 6 seconds and says why.

  • About 7% of one processor core

    That is its use between takes on a MacBook Air. When you switch to another app, the camera turns off after about 20 seconds.

  • Stays on your Mac

    Your recordings never leave your Mac. The live view reaches beyond your Wi-Fi only if you switch on Anywhere.

Completely free.

Every feature on this site is in the free app. There is no paid version, and the code is on GitHub.

Get it on GitHub See every feature
  • No account
  • No subscription
  • No watermark
  • No time limit
  • No ads
  • Recordings stay on your Mac

Open source. Make it yours.

The code is on GitHub under the MIT licence: free to read, change and share. Don't like something, or want something new? Ask Claude Code, and it changes Vidlark for you.

  • Ask in plain words, like "make the countdown 5 seconds".
  • Claude reads the code, makes the change, then builds and tests it.
  • Your version is yours to keep, change again or share.
Change it with Claude See the code
Claude Codevidlark

Get Vidlark

Free on both, from GitHub. The Windows version is a beta: it records your camera, mics and screen, and phones and live view come later.

Mac Ready now

For Macs with Apple silicon on macOS 15 or later. It is built on your Mac from its code on GitHub, by Claude Code or by hand.

Get it on GitHub Mac install steps

Questions

Is Vidlark really free?

Yes. Every feature is in the free app, and there is no paid version. There is no account, no subscription, no ads and no time limit, and the code is open source under the MIT licence.

Does it work on Mac and Windows?

Yes. On a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, you build it once from its code on GitHub, for free, and Claude Code can do that for you. On Windows 11 (64-bit) there is a beta to download. The Windows beta records your camera, mics and screen and makes the finished video; the transcript, phones and live view come later. See the steps.

Does Vidlark add a watermark?

No. Your videos have no watermark and no logo, and a take can be as long as you like.

Where do my recordings go?

They stay on your computer. Every take gets its own folder: on a Mac in /Users/Shared/Vidlark Recordings, and on Windows in C:\Users\Public\Videos\Vidlark Recordings. Vidlark never uploads your recordings. Every file a take leaves.

How is Vidlark different from Loom?

Loom uploads each video to its cloud and shares it as a link, and you need an account. Vidlark has no account and no cloud. It saves your camera, your screen and every mic as separate files on your computer, lines them up by sound, and makes the finished video there, plus a transcript and YouTube chapters on a Mac. It is made for videos you edit and upload yourself, like YouTube videos.

From the blog

All posts

Tutorials

Use Your iPhone as a Webcam for YouTube Videos

Two ways to film YouTube videos with your iPhone as your Mac's camera: Continuity Camera, or Wi-Fi and a QR code with any Apple Account. Setup and framing tips.

· 8 min read

Use cases

Record a Video Podcast in One Room With Phones

Film a two or three person video podcast with phones as cameras and a mic for each person, all on one Mac, every angle synced by sound. Setup to final edit.

· 9 min read

Comparisons

Open Source Loom Alternatives, Compared Honestly

Cap, Screenity, OBS Studio and Vidlark compared: licences in plain words, share links, self-hosting, project health on GitHub, and which one fits your videos.

· 7 min read

Who built it

Vidlark is built by Neel Madhav, a curious grade 9 student at Allen.