The Best Free Webcam Software for Windows 10

Try Movavi Screen Recorder!

  • Grab your webcam feed
  • Capture webinars and online calls
  • Record video instructions and tutorials
Edited by Carrie Marshall
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It is really useful to have some of the best webcam recorders on your PC if you record a lot of meetings and presentations. So here’s the list of the best webcam software available for free. You can also check out our recorder right away.

Quick summary

For Windows and Mac users with Logitech webcams: Logitech Capture

For screen recording with special effects on Windows: CyberLink YouCam

They’re great tools for making HD training videos[1], promotional videos, or for presenting software reviews. And the top webcam recorders can come in useful for lots of other things such as design projects, making presentations into movie files, and for messing around with the kids or your friends. If you’re looking for the best webcam downloads, a screen recorder with a webcam capture, laptop camera software, or a webcam application with universal compatibility, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ll show you the best free webcam software for Windows 10 as well as paid-for options and some Mac apps too, with links to reputable places for your webcam software download.

At Movavi, we’re committed to providing you with verified information only. Here’s what we do to ensure this:

  • When selecting products to include in our reviews, we research both demand and popularity.

  • All products mentioned in this article have been tested by Movavi Content Team.

  • When testing, we aim to highlight the best features of a product and what it’s best suited for.

  • We study user reviews from popular review platforms and make use of this information when writing our product reviews.

  • We collect feedback from our users and analyze their opinions of Movavi software as well as products from other companies.

Free webcam software for Windows 10

Movavi has one of the best webcam software
Best for capturing online calls, webinars, and streaming videos

Movavi Screen Recorder

Features:

  • Capture anything from your screen and webcam, complete with keystrokes and mouse actions
  • Save video from the screen or webcam in 4K and HD
  • Draw right on your screenshots and videos while recording live
  • Schedule to record at any time, then watch later
  • Grab system sound, mic, even speaker feeds – clean and noise-free

  • Keep your colleagues up-to-date with screenshots – capture an entire screen or snip just a part of it, then edit and send via WhatsApp or email

The best thing about Movavi Screen Recorder isn’t its flexibility or extensive file format support. It’s that the learning curve is virtually flat: this is an app you can install and use without having to work out what button does what. It can capture your webcam, your display, or both simultaneously; you can schedule recordings in advance; you can annotate as you record, and there’s a useful audio-only recording option too. The free version is fully functional, so you can put it through its paces without having to spend any money, and it can record both Full HD and 4K video.

Pros:

  • Save actions from your screen to boost your day-to-day productivity

  • Smooth performance on any Windows or Mac computer

  • A handy tool to ramp up productivity with digital media capture

  • A wide choice of popular formats to save your recording in

  • Simple sharing via links to your videos or uploading directly to the cloud and social media

Cons:

  • You’ll get all the creative freedom with the full version of the app

Logitech has one of the best webcam apps
Best for Logitech webcam owners

Logitech Capture

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac OS X

  • Formats:

    MP4

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Multiple sources

  • Vertical mode for phone viewing

  • Multiple camera profiles

Logitech Capture is available for both Windows and Mac, and it’s designed to work specifically with Logitech’s own webcams. There are lots of useful features here, including multi-source recording – not just desktop or window plus webcam, but two webcams if you have them – and vertical video capture for when you’re making movies to be seen on mobile phones. It enables you to livestream and to add live text overlays, and you can customize your settings and save up to six different camera profiles if you like to have a different look for different kinds of video. It’s very capable, although it’s the kind of app you’ll want to spend some time learning to appreciate what it can do.

Pros:

  • Very capable

  • Portrait recording

  • Multi-source recording

Cons:

  • Doesn’t work on M1 Macs

  • Overkill for some

CyberLink YouCam
Best for special effects and family fun

CyberLink YouCam

  • CNet rating:
  • OS:

    Windows 7 or later

  • Formats:

    WMV, AVI, MP4

  • Price:

    $34.99

Features:

  • Live makeup

  • Presentation mode

  • Good filters

Many webcam recorders can make videos, but can they make you look good too? YouCam can. Its Live Makeup feature can make subtle enhancements to your skin tone to make sure that every side is your good side. The app also has lots of special effects and filters, which make it a good option for messing around with the family, but it’s also a serious tool that you can use for business. There’s a dedicated presentation mode that helps you turn slideshows into something more visually interesting, and a good collection of video enhancement features to help you get the best from your recordings. There’s a 30-day free trial, so you can put the app through its paces and see quite a lot of pop-up messages urging you to buy the whole thing.

Pros:

  • Lots of fun

  • Business-friendly options

  • Lots of effects

Cons:

  • Trial version really wants to sell you the app

Show more
Best for quick webcam recording

Screencapture Webcam Recorder

Features

  • TrustPilot rating:
  • OS:

    Windows, Mac (via browser)

  • Formats:

    MP4

  • Supported devices:

    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Not many: it’s designed to be extremely simple

Webcam recording doesn’t get much simpler than this. Simply point your web browser at Screencapture.com, and you can record your webcam with a single click (or three clicks if you include giving the browser permission to use your webcam and microphone). There are no editing features and no on-screen controls other than a stop-recording button; when you do that, you can then download your video as an MP4 file.

This isn’t a great option for Mac users. It doesn’t work in the Safari web browser, but you can get around that by opening it in Google Chrome. Also, the downloaded MP4 might need additional software to play it.

Pros:

  • Fast and effective

Cons:

  • Very basic; webcam only

  • Doesn’t work in Safari on Mac

  • File format won’t open in QuickTime on Mac

ManyCam
Best for making learning fun

ManyCam

  • G2 rating:
  • OS:

    Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

  • Formats:

    GIF, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4

  • Price:

    free download; from $29 per year

Features:

  • Chroma key

  • YouTube and Facebook streaming

  • Virtual backgrounds

ManyCam is the kind of webcam application we’d turn to in education or training, thanks to the inclusion of a whiteboard that’s ideal for sketching, scribbling, and doodling. It can handle multiple simultaneous video sources and stream live to Facebook and YouTube. It enables you to use multiple layers and adjust their opacity, replace the background of your feed with a virtual location, and there’s also chroma key support for green or blue screen effects. Not all of these features are available in the standard edition, though: if you want the virtual backgrounds, chroma key, and the ability to record in 4K, you’ll need the Studio version, which is $59 a year.

Pros:

  • Useful whiteboard for education/training/meetings

  • Multiple video sources

  • Multiple layers

  • Live-streaming

Cons:

  • Standard version doesn’t include background blur or chroma key

Recording external connected devices

Bandicam
Bestseller

Capturing online calls, webinars, and streaming videos

Movavi Screen Recorder

Lots of special effects and filters

CyberLink YouCam
Yawcam
Best for PC hobbyists

YawCam

  • Snapfiles rating:
  • OS:

    Windows XP/2000 or later

  • Formats:

    GIF, JPG, PNG

  • Supported devices:

    PC only

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Built-in web server

  • Automatic FTP upload

  • Motion detection

YawCam gets its name from Yet Another Webcam Software, and it’s a Windows webcam app written in Java. It’s a fairly simple freeware app in terms of what it does. If you’re looking for multi-camera footage with all kinds of special effects and other goodies, this is not the webcam program for you. But YawCam has its own built-in web server, the ability to upload to FTP sites, motion detection and an online scheduler. You can also use it to make time-lapse movies. What it can’t do is output in any of the video formats you’d expect: the output options here are JPG, GIF, and PNG images, although you can stream live to the internet. That means YawCam is best suited to applications such as public webcams or security cameras rather than making video podcasts or game speed runs.

Pros:

  • It’s free

  • It can stream live

  • It can make time lapse

Cons:

  • No video file export

  • Feels very old

SplitCam
Best for multistreaming

SplitCam

  • OS:

    Windows 10, Mac OS X

  • Formats:

    MP4

  • Supported devices:

    PC, Mac

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Multiple streaming destinations simultaneously

  • Virtual webcam

  • Desktop sharing

  • Audio mixing

You can tell that SplitCam has been around for a while: its marketing materials on splitcamera.com make great play of its compatibility with Windows 7, ICQ, and MSN Messenger. That latter service was closed in 2014. But the app itself has been in continuous development, and the most recent version at the time of writing was released in April 2021. That’s for version 10, for Windows 10; there’s also a Mac version but that’s version 0.9, which is a beta version.

The big draw here is multistreaming, which enables you to stream one video source to multiple live services or to multiple apps simultaneously without melting your computer. SplitCam also has virtual webcam features to mix your webcam with other sources such as your screen, media files, or apps, and there’s full desktop sharing too. Having multiple sources also means handling multiple audio sources too, and SplitCam’s built-in audio mixer makes that easy. It looks and feels like a premium app, but it’s freeware: the only cost is if you want it sent to you on a disc instead of downloading it.

Pros:

  • It’s free

  • One app, multiple livestreams

  • Good audio features

Cons:

  • Mac version is a beta

Windows 10 Camera
Best for keeping things simple

Windows 10 Camera

  • OS:

    Windows 10

  • Formats:

    MP4

  • Platforms:

    Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox One/X/S

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • OneDrive integration

  • Auto-stitch recordings

This Windows 10 camera app is Microsoft’s own image and video app, and it integrates well with OneDrive cloud storage, so you can access your content from anywhere and any device. The video recording feature has a useful auto-stitch feature: you can pause and resume your recording whenever you like, and the Camera app sticks the bits together into a cohesive whole.

Microsoft’s camera app for PC is all very polished and works very well, but the Windows 10 Camera app is designed to be simple and doesn’t offer much in the way of features. We’ve also seen users complain that the file sizes can be massive: because Windows 10 Camera is designed to work with every PC, it doesn’t use some of the more efficient but processor-intensive compression you’ll find in many paid-for Windows webcam apps.

Pros:

  • It’s really simple

  • It’s really easy

Cons:

  • It’s really basic

  • Video files can be very large

Debut
Best for home security camera recording

Debut Video Capture Software

  • TechRadar rating:
  • OS:

    Windows, Mac OS X

  • Formats:

    AVI, MPG, MP4, MOV

  • Price:

    Free for non-commercial use

Features:

  • Scheduled recording

  • Multi-camera recording

  • Virtual webcam

  • Image adjustments

Debut looks a bit dated, but it’s a solid and straightforward screen recorder that includes some advanced options, including scheduled recording and lots of export options. In addition to your webcam, it supports multiscreen setups, and it can also grab footage from IP cameras, so you can use it to tune into and record from internet-enabled security cameras too. However, while it supports multiple video sources, it can only record from one source at a time. You can still record your screen and webcam simultaneously thanks to its virtual webcam, which puts you in a screen overlay as you record your PC screen.

There’s lots to like here, with lots of control over resolutions and video size, aspect ratio and frame rate, and you can also adjust the brightness and contrast to make footage more vivid. It’s worth noting that while this app is free, that’s only for non-commercial use. For commercial users, you need the $39 Pro version.

Pros:

  • Works with IP cameras and connected video sources, e.g. video recorders

  • Direct upload to YouTube, Vimeo, and Flickr

  • Green screen and audio-only options

Cons:

  • Looks a bit old-fashioned

Webcam Toy
Best for messing around

Webcam Toy

  • OS:

    Any (web browser)

  • Formats:

    JPG

  • Platforms:

    Any

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Live filters

  • Still image capture

  • Social media sharing

Webcam Toy’s name is a bit of a giveaway. This is a webcam app that’s designed for having a bit of fun rather than doing anything serious. So, while it enables you to add all kinds of special effects while you clown for the camera, there’s no video recording facility here. Instead, the app takes one or more still images that you can share to your socials or download as JPEGs to your computer or mobile device.

Pros:

  • Over 80 effects

  • Instant results

  • Easy to use

Cons:

  • Static images only

MyCam
Best for arty filters

MyCam

  • OS:

    Windows

  • Formats:

    MP4, GIF

  • Price:

    Free (watermarks) / $9.99

Features:

  • Real-time artistic filters

  • Hardware acceleration

MyCam is a webcam application that enables you to apply a range of artistic filters to your video, with a library that includes filters to distort, blur, recolour and transform the footage from your webcam. We particularly like the ones that make the video look like it’s hand-drawn or painted. These filters are possible because unlike some of the apps we’ve looked at here, MyCam can take advantage of the power of your PC’s graphics card to apply its effects. It’s not the most comprehensive webcam application we’ve looked at, but its filters and effects are fun. The free version is fully featured but watermarks your projects; you can get rid of the watermarks by getting the paid-for version, which isn’t very expensive.

Pros:

  • It’s cheap

  • It’s fun

  • Effects are very good

Cons:

  • It’s quite basic

Bandicam
Best for big ideas

Bandicam

Features:

  • 3D game recording

  • Connects to external devices

  • Chroma key

  • Record scheduling

Bandicam is designed specifically for recording PC screens or webcams, and to capture games that use DirectX/OpenGL/Vulkan graphics technologies. It can record 3D games at up to 4K Ultra HD resolution, it can shoot video at up to 480fps, and it can also record external connected devices such as your games console or an IP camera. It uses a very high compression ratio that makes its video files much smaller than many rivals, and it has a range of advanced features, including chroma key, scheduled recording, and narration recording.

Pros:

  • Great for games

  • High compression makes smaller files

  • Very flexible

Cons:

  • A bit much for basic recording

Photo Booth Pro
Best for simple filters

Photo Booth Pro

  • OS:

    Windows 10 Anniversary Update

  • Formats:

    JPG

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Live filtering

  • Social media sharing

  • Static images and photo strips

Photo Booth Pro is very like MyCam in that it’s really a webcam application for messing around in real-time rather than a dedicated screen recorder. Video recording is a very recent addition to the app, which was previously focused on producing static images and photo strips, and it’s as straightforward as the photo effects: find a filter you like, record it and then save it or share it to your socials. It’s fun to mess around with, but limited in what it can do.

Pros:

  • Fun filters

  • Really easy to use

  • Easy sharing

Cons:

  • Very basic

Apowersoft
Best for editing while you’re online recording

Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder

  • TechRadar rating:
  • OS:

    Windows, Mac OS X

  • Formats:

    MP4, WMV, AVI, FLV, MPEG, VOB, ASF, and GIF

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Real time video editing

  • YouTube and Vimeo uploading

  • Google Drive support

As you’d expect from a web grabber, Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder enables you to record all kinds of on-screen activities: demos, online calls, streaming videos, and more (but not games). But it also has an extra useful feature, which is the ability to edit your recordings in real time.

Unusually for a browser-based editor, Apowersoft has extensive file exporting options comparable to a desktop app. You can upload your recording to Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube, or Vimeo, which covers the essentials for most people.

This is a superb option, not least because it doesn’t have time limits or watermarks, although to run it you will need to install a browser plugin.

Pros:

  • Can record almost anything

  • Lots of output formats

  • No watermarks

Cons:

  • Launcher installation required

  • Can’t record games

Camwiz Webcam Recorder
Best for Mac users on a really tight budget

Camwiz Webcam Recorder

  • OS:

    Mac OS X 10.9 or later

  • Formats:

    MOV

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • External camera support

  • Audio-only record option

  • Night vision mode

Camwiz Webcam Recorder has been around for a long time, but it hasn’t been updated in six years – something that’s apparent if you open it on a Mac with a Retina display, which makes the user interface so small you can’t read any of the text labels on the controls. It works well enough and exports as MOV files at up to 1080p HD resolution. We have also found no problems with either built-in webcam or an external USB one, but there are many more modern options in the Mac App Store.

Pros:

  • Simple to use

Cons:

  • Very dated

  • Interface is microscopic on Retina displays

  • Basic

IP Camera Viewer
Best for keeping an eye on multiple cameras

IP Camera Viewer

  • OS:

    Windows 7 or later

  • Formats:

    n/a

  • Supported devices:

    More than 2,000 cameras

  • Price:

    Free

Features:

  • Per-camera image adjustments

  • Can control tilt, pan and zoom of compatible cameras

  • IP camera support

If you use webcams for security, IP Camera Viewer enables you to monitor four of them simultaneously and supports over 2,000 different camera models from all the leading names, including stand-alone IP cameras and USB webcams. You can make per-camera adjustments to improve the picture, and if your camera supports it, you can also control pan, tilt, and zoom. However, the app doesn’t support recording: for that you’ll need the WebCam Monitor from the same provider, which costs £50.

Pros:

  • Watch 4 cameras at once

  • Useful image enhancement

  • Wide range of supported cameras

Cons:

  • A viewer, not a recorder

Frequently asked questions

What is the best webcam software?

That depends on what you want it to do. Some apps are great for quick and easy filtering, others can monitor security cameras[2], and some are fully featured video apps. That’s why we’ve included a range of options in this guide.

What software is best for video recording?

We have an in-depth guide about that very thing. Click the link to learn more about video recorders.

What is the best webcam software for Windows 10?

We really rate Movavi Screen Recorder, but there are other options too, such as Windows 10 Camera, Bandicam, and ManyCam.

What apps do YouTubers use for recording?

Everybody has their own favorite, but many YouTubers use Movavi Screen Recorder. It integrates tightly with the rest of the Movavi apps, allowing pro-level editing and FX without having to learn a bunch of different apps from different developers.

Movavi Screen Recorder

The perfect way to record anything from your screen

An easy way to record from your screen in HD. Make video footage of any application, record online streaming video, webinars, even Skype calls, and save clips in all popular formats.

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