All 100 ideasVideo
#96 of 100 · Video
Screen recording for demos, made simple
Developers want a hotkey region recorder that saves small video or GIF files locally, with simple trims, on Mac, Windows and Linux.
Asks per year
What the askers want
- Would pay8%
- Want it local or private77%
- Object to subscriptions8%
- Want it open source or self-hosted8%
- Want AI to do it0%
Share of the 13 asks that say so, as judged by Jev.
What exists on Show HN
Built, still asked for5 Show HN launches do this job, and 20 more do part of it. People still ask, so the launches are missed, unknown, or not what they want. Ask what they’re missing before you build.
- Screenity – Open source screen recorder and annotation tool2020 · 103 pts
- I built a free screen recording app similar to Screen Studio2024 · 9 pts
- Videoyards – screen recorder with auto-zoom, crop and 4K exports2025 · 5 pts
- Cap – open-source screen recorder with custom S3 bucket support2024 · 5 pts
- Screenrecorder.me – Make screen recordings directly in the browser2025 · 2 pts
Instead of: Screen Studio, Camtasia
The idea, as matched
A simple, free screen recorder for demos and tutorials: hotkey region capture, auto zoom and pan, keystroke overlays, small files and GIF export, on Mac, Windows and Linux (Screen Studio/Camtasia alternative).
Jev first matched 14 requests to this idea; a second reader kept 13 of 14.
Every ask, newest first
Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.
Reader’s note. GIF capture is the recurring ask.
- Mar 2024Wants a simpler OBS alternative that reliably records programming sessions on an M1 Mac. Read it: a comment in “TimeLapze: Open-source screen recorder”
- Dec 2021Wants a minimalist Windows recorder: hotkey region select, instant start, saves to a preset folder. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Why isn't there a simple, seemless Windows screen recording app?”
- Aug 2020Wants a Mac tool producing small shareable GIFs from screen recordings, with trim, zoom and speed controls. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Tools to do GIF screen recording”
- Feb 2020Wants a tool that overlays typed keystrokes on screen recordings. Read it: a comment in “The missing semester of CS education”
- Mar 2019Would pay for a Camtasia-like screen recording and editing app for Linux. Read it: a comment in “Kdenlive: an open-source video editor”
- Aug 2016Wants a quick screen-region capture tool for video or GIF with frame trimming, for visual changelogs. Read it: a comment in “Keep a Changelog”
- May 2016Wants a local-only screen recorder like Recordit that produces small files without uploading. Read it: a comment in “Show HN: Klart – Capture Anything (Pocket for Screenshots)”
- Mar 2016Wants a tool that records high-quality GIFs directly, without degradation from video conversion. Read it: a comment in “Saved Replies”
- Oct 2014Wants a Mac hotkey-driven region recorder that makes animated GIFs of product features. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Tool to quickly make animated gifs for product features?”
- Jun 2013Asks for screencast software for Windows and Linux. Read it: a comment in “A List of Programming Screencast Series”
- May 2010Asks for a good screencast program for Linux. Read it: a comment in “Tips for startups and small business: Creating your first screencast”
- Jul 2009Wants a free, capable screen video capture program for Mac OS X. Read it: a post: “Does anyone know of a good, free, screen video capture program for Mac OS X?”
- Jan 2009Asks for a good Camtasia-like screencast tool for Ubuntu. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: What software do you use to make screencasts for you product?”
Building this?
Read ten of the asks above first, because they say what the existing launches miss. If you ship it, post it as a Show HN so the next run of this list finds it.
Ship it like Vercel, on a server you own
This site runs on ShipTiffin. A push to GitHub deploys it, the way it would on Vercel, but the server is a Hetzner box in your own account. Postgres, sign-in, email, jobs and analytics are already on it, every project gets a hard limit, and nothing is billed by usage.
$19 a month per box, plus about $10 for the server at Hetzner. Open source, so you can also run it yourself for free.