Qreata vs Screen Studio: which Mac recorder should you buy?
Both apps record a Mac screen and add zooms that follow your clicks. Two things decide the purchase: whether you pay once or every year, and what happens when you say the wrong thing at minute four.
7-day trial · $49 once · no subscription · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+The short answer
Pick Qreata if you record demos and tutorials on an Apple Silicon Mac and want to pay once: $49 covers 3 Macs and every future update, and Replace Take re-records only the range you select. Pick Screen Studio ($29 a month, or $108 a year on annual billing) if you need cursor smoothing, editable captions, 60 fps or GIF export, raw-file extraction, an Intel Mac, or iPhone and iPad capture, none of which are in the Qreata beta. Screen Studio fixes a mistake by cutting it out; merging several recordings into one project is listed as Planned on its roadmap.
Choose Qreata if
You record narrated walkthroughs and would rather repair one bad section than start over.
- You have an Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 14 or later.
- You want a $49 one-time license for 3 Macs with future updates, not a subscription.
- You often get one sentence or click wrong in an otherwise good take and want to re-record only that range.
- You need separate gain and mute for microphone and system audio after recording.
- Your deliverable is an MP4 at 30 fps, with captions burned into the video if you want them, and you don’t need an SRT file.
Choose Screen Studio if
Your videos depend on output options that the Qreata beta does not ship.
- You are on an Intel Mac or on macOS 13.
- You need editable captions and transcript export, or the raw camera, microphone, and screen files for another editor.
- You want cursor smoothing, or you export at 60 fps or as GIF.
- You record an iPhone or iPad over USB.
- You want shareable links with comments included in the plan.
Side-by-side comparison
| What matters | Qreata | Screen Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Mac product demos, tutorials, and walkthroughs where one mistake should not cost the whole take.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Polished Mac demos and social clips with automatic zoom and cursor smoothing; also records iPhone and iPad over USB.Source: Screen Studio product and pricing |
| Platform | macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon. No Windows, Intel, or browser version.Source: Qreata app pricing | macOS 13.1 or later; Apple Silicon recommended, Intel build available. No Windows.Source: Screen Studio system requirements |
| Price | $49 once for 3 Macs, every future update included. Team: $149 once for up to 50 Macs. No subscription.Source: Qreata app pricing | Subscription only: $29 per month, or $9 per month billed yearly ($108 a year). One-time licenses are no longer sold. Students and educators get 40% off.Source: Screen Studio product and pricing |
| Free use and refunds | Full app free for 7 days, no account needed to record. The product is in beta.Source: Qreata app pricing | Every feature is free to use except exporting video. The terms state that fees are non-refundable.Source: Screen Studio download and free use |
| Fixing a mistake mid-recording | Replace Take: select a range on the timeline and re-record only that range, with screen, camera, and audio, or only its video or only its voice. Projects stay editable after export and hold multiple clips.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Cut the mistake out. A project holds one recording: “Multi-clip recordings” is listed as Planned on the roadmap, and the docs describe no re-record command.Source: Screen Studio public roadmap |
| Editing | Non-destructive trim, split, delete, undo, and segment speed; automatic or manual zooms you can adjust or remove; word-level cuts from the transcript, with filler-word removal for English and Russian speech; removable blur regions; background and camera layout changeable after recording.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Automatic and manual zooms, cursor smoothing, cuts anywhere on the timeline, speed-up, masks, camera layouts, vertical and square output.Source: Screen Studio zoom editing |
| Audio tracks | Microphone and system audio stay separate, each with its own gain and mute after recording.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Volume is set for the whole recording or for a selected section. Camera, microphone, and screen can be extracted as original files.Source: Screen Studio volume settings |
| Transcripts and captions | Transcription runs on the Mac with no upload. Captions can be burned into the video; there is no SRT export yet.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | Captions are generated on the Mac (Whisper or Apple Speech) and the transcript is editable.Source: Screen Studio captions |
| Export | MP4 (H.264) at 720p, 1080p, or 4K, 30 fps. No GIF, no 60 fps, and no raw-track export in the beta.Source: Qreata features and beta limits | MP4 and GIF, up to 4K at 60 fps. Raw camera, microphone, and screen files can be extracted.Source: Screen Studio export settings |
| Sharing and storage | Files stay on your Mac; nothing uploads unless you press a button. Optional Google Drive upload, or hosted links through Qreata Cloud, a separate paid plan.Source: Qreata cloud plans | Shareable links are included in the plan: 1080p at 60 fps for videos up to 30 minutes, with comments.Source: Screen Studio shareable links |
Prices are US list prices before tax and can change; some vendors show local currency. Where a vendor’s documentation is silent on a capability, the cell says so instead of guessing.
Qreata vs Screen Studio pricing over 1 and 3 years
Screen Studio is sold only as a subscription: $29 per month, or $9 per month billed yearly, which comes to $108 a year. One-time licenses are no longer sold. Qreata Personal is $49 once at the current early-bird price, for 3 Macs, with every future update included.
In year one Screen Studio’s annual plan costs $59 more than Qreata. After three years the difference is $275. Students and educators get 40% off Screen Studio. The move to subscription-only pricing is a recurring complaint in public reviews of Screen Studio.
Two things the table does not show. Screen Studio’s plan includes shareable links. Qreata uploads only when you press a button: to Google Drive, or to Qreata Cloud, a separate paid plan that needs an account and takes MP4 files up to 1 GB. And the two free periods work differently: Qreata runs as the full app for 7 days, while Screen Studio lets you use every feature for free except exporting video, and its terms state that fees are non-refundable.
| Plan | Year 1 | 3 years | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qreata Personal | $49 | $49 | One payment, 3 Macs, updates included |
| Screen Studio, billed yearly | $108 | $324 | $9 × 12 months, then × 3 |
| Screen Studio, billed monthly | $348 | $1,044 | $29 × 12 months, then × 3 |
Can you fix a mistake without re-recording the whole video?
In Qreata, yes. Say you click the wrong menu at 4:10 of a 6-minute demo. Select 4:05–4:20 on the timeline, put the app back in the state it was in at 4:05, and choose Replace Take (the Rerecord tool in the editor). You re-record 15 seconds of screen, camera, microphone, and system audio, and the other 5:45 stays as it was. The project can hold multiple clips and stays editable after export, so the same fix works months later when the interface changes.
In Screen Studio you cut the mistake out. The trimming guide covers cutting anywhere on the timeline and removing the segment. A project holds one recording: “Multi-clip recordings” is listed as Planned on the public roadmap, and the docs describe no re-record command. A cut works when the mistake is a pause or a stray sentence. When the cut would remove a step the viewer needs, the fix is a new recording.
Where Qreata is the better choice
Four differences favor Qreata, and all of them show up in the first week of use.
- Price model: $49 once against $108 every year. The license covers 3 Macs, and a Team license is $149 once for up to 50 Macs.
- Replace Take: re-record a selected range inside the project, with screen, camera, microphone, and system audio, instead of cutting around the error. It still works after export, because the project stays editable.
- Audio: microphone and system audio stay separate, each with its own gain and mute after recording. Screen Studio’s volume guide describes setting volume for the whole recording or for a selected section.
- Recording safety: Qreata writes the recording in five-second chunks with a recovery journal, and checks screen and audio before you start. After a crash it restores what was already saved.
Where Screen Studio is the better choice
Qreata is in beta, and Screen Studio is ahead on output formats and capture sources. If one of these is a requirement, buy Screen Studio.
- Captions: generated on the Mac with Whisper or Apple Speech, with editable captions and transcript export. Qreata burns word-highlighted captions into the video from its on-device transcript, in one fixed style, and has no SRT or VTT export.
- Frame rate and formats: MP4 and GIF up to 4K at 60 fps. Qreata exports MP4 (H.264) at 720p, 1080p, or 4K, always at 30 fps, with no GIF.
- Raw files: the original camera, microphone, and screen recordings can be extracted. Qreata keeps four tracks inside the project but has no raw-track export.
- Hardware: runs on macOS 13.1 and has an Intel build. Qreata needs Apple Silicon and macOS 14.
- iPhone and iPad: recorded over USB. Qreata records the Mac only.
- Sharing: links at 1080p and 60 fps for videos up to 30 minutes, with comments, are part of the subscription.
- Presentation tools: cursor smoothing, masks, and vertical or square output are documented features. Qreata changes cursor size, hides the cursor, and highlights clicks after recording, but it does not smooth cursor movement and does not reframe a screen recording to vertical.
Who should pick neither
Both apps are Mac-only editors for finished screencasts. Some jobs need a different kind of tool.
- Your team records on Windows or in a browser: Loom runs on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iOS, and Android, and its Starter plan is free for 25 videos of up to 5 minutes.
- You build courses with quizzes or SCORM packages: Camtasia Essentials, $179.88 a year.
- You mostly take screenshots: CleanShot X, $35 once.
- You live stream: OBS Studio, free.
- You need one unedited clip today: press Shift-Command-5 and use the recorder built into macOS.
Switching from Screen Studio to Qreata
Qreata does not import Screen Studio projects or any other video file; it edits only its own recordings. Export any unfinished project to MP4 while your plan is active, because Screen Studio locks video export without one. Leave published share links where they are, and record your next video in Qreata during the 7-day trial before you cancel anything.
Questions worth asking
Is Qreata cheaper than Screen Studio?
Yes. Qreata is $49 once for 3 Macs. Screen Studio is $108 a year on annual billing or $29 a month, so it costs $324 over three years on the cheaper plan. These are list prices before tax.
Is Screen Studio a subscription?
Yes. Screen Studio is $29 per month or $9 per month billed yearly. One-time licenses are no longer sold to new customers.
Can Screen Studio re-record part of a recording?
No, its documentation describes no re-record command. You cut the mistake out, and merging several recordings into one project is listed as Planned on the roadmap. Qreata’s Replace Take re-records a selected range.
Is Screen Studio free to use?
No, not for finished videos. Every feature works without a plan except exporting video, so you need a subscription to get a file out.
Does Qreata or Screen Studio work on Windows?
No. Both are Mac apps. Screen Studio runs on macOS 13.1 or later, including Intel Macs; Qreata needs Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later.
Can Qreata export captions or SRT files?
Yes for captions burned into the video, no for SRT files. Qreata transcribes on the Mac and burns word-highlighted captions into the export in one fixed style; there is no SRT or VTT export. Screen Studio offers editable captions and transcript export.