Bandicam review

Bandicam is a long-running Windows recorder that covers lessons, meetings and games in one small app. For tutorials it adds a webcam overlay, highlights mouse clicks, and lets you draw pen strokes, arrows, shapes and text on screen while you record, then trim the result right after. It records a single window with its audio, schedules recordings in advance and can stop automatically by time or file size, which suits teachers capturing live online classes. Newer AI tools transcribe recordings to text or SRT subtitles and remove the webcam background. The free version is honest about its limits: recordings stop at 5 minutes, edited exports carry a watermark and only part of a transcript is shown, though raw recordings have no watermark. A Personal license costs $33.26 a year, and the Business and Education license starts at $49.46 per PC per year, as listed during a sale when we checked. It is less polished for editing than Camtasia.

Who it is for

Windows users recording lessons, meetings and gameplay on a small budget

Price

Free version with 5-minute recordings; Personal license $33.26 per year ($2.77 a month).

$2.77 / mo $33.26 per year (10% OFF)
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 12, 2026.

Key features

• Webcam overlay, mouse click effects and drawing on screen while recording
• Scheduled recording and auto start or stop by time or file size
• AI transcription to text or SRT subtitles
• Game recording mode for DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan with an FPS display
• Multi-monitor recording and capture from external devices

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Personal license costs $33.26 a year, and a perpetual license is also sold
• Strength: Free version recordings carry no watermark
• Strength: Draw arrows, shapes and text on screen during a lesson
• Weakness: Free version limits each recording to 5 minutes
• Weakness: Free version exports edited videos with a watermark and shows only part of a transcript
• Weakness: Personal licenses are for non-commercial use; businesses need a pricier Business license

Key facts

• Free version: Yes, 5 minutes per recording
• Personal license: $33.26 per year
• Business license: From $49.46 per year per PC
• Platforms: Windows, with a separate Mac version
• Users: Over 10 million, per Bandicam

Where it ranks

Bandicam is No. 7 in our Best Screen Recording Software verdict.