Mac Screen Recorder with Audio — Free, No Watermark

How to screen record on Mac with audio — and why other tools make it hard

Recording internal (system) audio on a Mac has historically required a virtual audio driver. QuickTime Player cannot capture computer audio at all — it records only your microphone. Tools like OBS need you to install BlackHole or the older Soundflower, then open Audio MIDI Setup, create a multi-output aggregate device, set it as your system output, and remember to switch back afterwards. Every step is an opportunity for something to go wrong — wrong device left selected, no audio in the recording, distorted playback through your speakers.

Clipy avoids all of that. On macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple's ScreenCaptureKit exposes a native system-audio capture API that requires no kernel extension, no driver installation, and no aggregate device. Clipy uses this API directly. Toggle “System audio” in the Clipy menu-bar popover, and the next recording captures your Mac's internal audio alongside your microphone — no extra software, no configuration, nothing to undo when you are finished.

The result is a single MP4 with both tracks mixed: everything playing through your Mac's speakers (browser tabs, apps, music, meeting audio) plus your voice from the mic — exactly what the viewer needs to understand what was happening on screen.

On macOS 12 Monterey, Apple's system-audio API is not available. Clipy still records your screen and microphone on Monterey — just without internal audio. Upgrade to macOS 13 Ventura or later to unlock system audio capture.

Why does Apple Silicon matter for Mac screen recording?

Clipy ships as a native arm64 binary. It uses Apple's ScreenCaptureKit to grab the display and routes pixels straight into h264_videotoolbox, the same hardware H.264 encoder Final Cut Pro uses. There is no Rosetta translation, no x86 overhead, and no compatibility shim — your M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip runs Clipy as fast as the silicon allows.

Once a recording starts, Clipy streams the upload to our servers in parallel with capture. By the time you press Stop, most of the video is already on the wire — your share link lands in your clipboard within a few seconds, not after a multi-minute export-then-upload cycle.

The default global hotkey is ⌘⇧R to toggle Start/Stop, and you can rebind it from Settings if it conflicts with another app. Flip on Menu-bar only mode and Clipy hides from the Dock entirely (a Tauri LSUIElement toggle) — recording lives behind the menu-bar icon and your keyboard shortcut, no window in your way.

And it stays free with no watermark and no signup-to-watch. Anyone with the link can play your recording in any browser, on any device, without making an account.

What are the system requirements for Clipy on Mac?

What are the three ways to record on Mac with Clipy?

1. 1

   Desktop app (this page) — best for Apple Silicon Macs. Lives in your menu bar, records system audio plus mic natively (no extra drivers), no browser tab required. Pick this when you record often or need system audio.

2. 2

   Chrome extension at clipy.online/products/chrome-screen-recorder — best for quick tab or window recordings straight from Chrome. Works on Intel and Apple Silicon, no install beyond the extension.

3. 3

   Web app at clipy.online — works in any browser on any platform. No install at all. Pick this on a borrowed Mac, an Intel machine, or any device that is not yours. Once you record, your share page comes with a downloadable transcript and inline timestamp links to jump around the video.

Who uses Clipy for Mac?

What do viewers see when you share a Clipy recording?

When Clipy hands you a link, the recipient lands on a hosted Clipy share page — not a raw download. That share page has its own niceties that come from the web side of Clipy:

• A downloadable transcript your viewers can grab as a .txt for notes or context.
• Inline timestamp buttons in Q&A answers so viewers can click straight to the moment they care about.
• No signup wall — anyone with the link plays the video.

These features live on the share page (the web side of Clipy). The desktop app's job is to capture and upload fast; the share page is where viewers get their value.

Frequently asked questions