Recorders - Good Tools #15

30+ zero-cost tools to record computer screen, videos, audio, meetings and voice notes

Hello and welcome to a new edition of Good Tools.

Thanks to your feedback to the poll in the last issue, this episode focuses on “Recorders”.

Recorders are tools that allow you to capture and record what you are seeing, watching and listening on your computer, as well as to record your voice and ideas through sounds and notes.

To find these 30+ tools it has taken more time than I expected, especially to test and manually verify each one, and to identify and pick only the truly free ones.

I remind you that my focus is on finding zero-cost tools that are as good or better than their paid counterparts, to save money and time to indie entrepreneurs.

I hope you find them useful.

*Please support the work behind this publication by sharing it, liking it and - if you can - by upgrading to a paid subscription which gives you direct access to all past issues in the archive.

A special thanks to the newest premium subscriber, Umar, who kindly wrote:
”"I love your generosity for sharing this with the world! Keep going Robin".

In this issue:

1. Screen Recorders

2. Voice Recorders

3. Meeting Recorders

4. Voice Notes Recorders

5. Audio Recorders

6. Browser-Audio Recorders

Enjoy, comment and share.
Robin Good

Video, Audio, Meeting & Notes Recorders

1) Screen Recorders

• SnipClip Screen Recorder
  Screen and webcam recorder
  Can record system sound and microphone
  No registration required - Saves as .WebM
  Web-based app
  100% free

• Screenity

  Screen and webcam recorder
  Integrated annotation tools
  No registration required - Saves as .WebM
  Chrome extension
  100% free

• ApowerSoft Screen Recorder
  Screen and webcam recorder
  Can record system sound and microphone

  No registration required
  Web version + downloadable Mac & Windows, iOS and Android versions

  100% free

• ScreenRec
  Screen + Cam + Audio recording
  Records live video streams + screenshots + annotations
  2GB Cloud Storage - 720p recording quality

  Requires registration and login
  Downloadable software - Mac, Windows & Linux

  Free version

• RecordScreen

  Screen recorder + audio + webcam
  No registration required

  Saves to WebM format
  Web-based app

  100% free
  

• Scre.io
  Screen and webcam recorder
  Max recording quality 720p - Download to .WebM

  Web-based or Chrome and Microsoft Edge apps
  100% free

• Mac Native Screen Recording

  PRE-INSTALLED on all Macs
  Can record all screen or custom area
  No audio
  Activate with: Command + Shift + 5
  Saves to standard .MOV (.MP4) files

  100% free
  

• Quicktime Player
  Basic video player, recorder and editor by Apple.
  Can record video and audio of anything being played on your screen.
  Downloadable. Mac and Windows.
  100% free

2) Voice Recorders

• Audio and Voice Recorder
  Web-based audio recorder
  Chrome extension

  100% free
  

• Sodaphonic Boombox
  Voice recorder
  No editing - auto-upload and shareable link
  Web-based

  Free version - up to 180 min/month
  

• Online Voice Recorder
  Audio recorder - saves as .MP3
  Web-based
  100% free (ad-based)

• Clypit
  Web-based audio recorder and audio file sharing service

  Free trial available - then $3 for 6hrs recording/mo
  

• Adobe Podcast
  AI-powered audio recording and text-based editing
  Integrated transcription tools - Remove noise and echo
  Pre-edited royalty free music - Export to .wav
  Web-based
  Free fully working version
  

• Tula Mic
  Studio-quality USB-C microphone and mobile recorder featuring cardioid and omnidirectional capsules, Hi-Fi amp and integrated noise reduction.
  Internal battery + 8GB of memory - 12 hrs of onboard recording
  Compatible with Mac/PC/iOS/Android.
  Apx $260 (paid product worth considering)

3) Meeting Recorders

• Otter
  Meeting assistant - records audio, writes notes, captures slides and generates summaries. Good to record Zoom or Google Meet events.
  Chrome (not recommended), Android, iOS.
  Free version - 300 monthly transcription minutes; 30 minutes per conversation.
  

• ReWatch
  Screen and meeting recorder - Record Zoom, Google Meet, & Teams
  Echo cancellation - background customization - instant upload
  Integrated transcription and AI-summarization features
  Web + desktop app for Windows and Mac + iOS and Android
  Free trial 15 days - then $23.75/user/month
  

• Beesy
  Record Google Meet events
  Automatic download of recording when exiting meeting

  Chrome extension - no signup required
  100% free
  

• Rewind
  Records everything you’ve seen, said, or heard through your computer.
  Transcribes and summarizes your calls and meetings whether in-person or virtual.
  Privacy controls. Local storage.
  Mac and iOS
  Free fully working version (with some limitations) available.

4) Voice Notes Recorders

• Apple Notes
  Note-taking tool
  Works with text and audio - you can record your voice and have it auto-converted to text. Supports checklists, images, web links, scanned documents, handwritten notes, sketches
  Web, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
  100% free
  

• Good Tape

  Audio to text transcription
  Up to 3 recordings/month

  Up to 30 minutes per tape

  Accurate transcriptions in 90+ languages

  Web-based
  Free version 
  

• Voice Notes
  Voice-to-text note-taking tool
  Android
  100% free (ad-supported)
  

• Audio Pen
  This (like many other similar AI-assisted apps) is a great tool to process your train of thoughts, ideas and vocal notes into something useful, structured and usable. Call it an idea processor or thoughts refiner, its power is in making organized sense of any audio you upload to it in a way that you have not previously experienced before.
  Free trial. Worth trying out.

• Podsqueeze
  Same as Audio Pen.
  Free version.

Audio Recorders

• Audiomass
  Audio recorder and editor
  Basic effects - equalizer - filters
  Exports to .mp3 and .wav
  Web-based - No registration required
  100% free
  

• Audacity
  Professional desktop audio recorder and editor
  Downloadable software for Mac, PC, Linux - Open-source
  100% free
  

• Sodaphonic Recorder Editor

  Audio recorder
  Can export to .mp3, .flac, .wav, .ogg, .wma
  Saves directly to Dropbox
  Web-based
  100% free (donations supported)
  

• Audio Recorder
  Mobile app for Android
  100% free
  

• Voice Recorder & Audio Notes
  Mobile app for iOS
  Free - in-app purchases

Browser Audio Recorders

• Sample
  In-browser audio sampler - Records audio directly from your browser
  44.1kHz sampling rate - Stereo/mono - Local file library
  Up to 15 minutes of continuous recording time

  Export to WAV or MP3 - Up to 15 min recording
  Chrome extension

  100% free
  

• Volume Recorder Online

  Browser audio recording
  Allows to instantly record the audio from your active browser tab
  Volume control - Max 20 min capture - export to .mp3 or .wav
  Chrome extension
  100% free

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Vote Your Favorite Tools Category for Next Issue

I hope you have found this collection of selected free tools useful for your needs.

I have gone out to research and find them with the passion of a gold miner. I love to be helpful and to do so by bringing back to my friends unexpected presents. This is what I do here.

Please consider supporting this mission by placing a like at the bottom of this newsletter or by activating a premium subscription.

Thank you!

.

from sunny Holbox island
Robin Good

*Opening image - Photo by David James on Unsplash

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