Camtasia Screen Recorder & Snagit Review
Both are products by Techsmith, a company focused on screen capturing solutions. Techsmith is a US-based company founded in 1987 with over 300 employees.
So, let’s have a closer look at two of Techsmith’s mains solutions which are on the market for over a decade.
Camtasia Review
We will start with the review of Camtasia as this is the main product by the company.
What is Camtasia?
This is a screen recorder and video editor software available for both, Windows and Mac.
This screen recording software is good for two types of operations:
- Creating videos (tutorials, how-to videos, demo videos, YouTube videos, etc)
- Meeting, webinar, and presentation recording
How to use Camtasia
If simply put, using this software consists of three steps:
- Recording your screen (websites, video calls, PowerPoint presentations, etc).
- Adding effects with the built-in video editor (drag and drop text, transitions, and more).
- Uploading created videos to YouTube or an online video course.
Camtasia Features
Below are listed the main features of this tool:
- Recording the entire screen or a specific part of the screen
- Adding video and audio straight from your webcam
- Using pre-built video templates or creating custom ones
- Simple drag-and-drop editor for adding, removing, trimming, or moving sections of video or audio
- Recording and editing audio clips using a microphone, imported audio, or using royalty-free music
- Adding quizzes and interactivity directly into your videos
- Integration with PowerPoint
- Reducing background noise and replacing backgrounds
- Using cursor effects
- Using transitions between scenes and slides or adding animations
- Adding captions directly to your recordings
As for Camtasia 2021, some features were added; among them are:
- Over 70 new transitions added
- Automatically reducing the volume of music when a voiceover is played on top of it
- 3 new video effects (corner rounding, media matte, motion blur)
- Proxy video which means edit big video files without lagging
Camtasia Reviews
Most reviews about Camtasia are positive about the quality and features of this software. However, there are some negative regarding technical bugs and a high price.
Here you can check out some of the comments (fragments are taken from G2, Trustradius, and Truspilot).
“Best Screen capturing as well as a video editing tool. Many good features such as noise cancellation, Audio mixer, filters, and many more, to use in a Licensed application. Also provides a quick preview screen to repeatedly view the editing and added recordings. It allows to use the free trial for 30 days but with their watermark.”
“There’s a cost involved here to get a license, and I think it’s not cheap. Also, when updating to new versions, you’ll need to buy another license key. I think other tools on the market offer more affordable pricing. However, Camtasia is still my favorite. I’ve tried Camtasia alternatives but still return to Camtasia for my most important video projects.”
“Allows me to record my screen or part of it and webcam simultaneously and editing is a breeze. I can splice in other videos, images, and annotations. Rendering the video is fast and I can upload directly to YouTube or store on my hardrive.”
“The application crash quite often not sure it’s a system-specific issue and consumes a lot of RAM when process 4k files to edit. For basic editing, this application gives a lot of productivity tools embedded.”
“Camtasia seems to struggle sometimes with large videos (and I’m on a machine with 32GB RAM), especially with multiple tracks.”
Camtasia Pricing
There are two pricing packages:
- Free – 30 days free trial with no credit card required; but exported files will have a watermark
- $249.99 – one-time fee for unlimited use
Additionally, there is a package that combines Camtasia and Snagit, another main Techsmith’s product. It costs $274.99.
Is Camtasia worth it?
Yes, if you regularly create screencasts and tutorials, Camtasia is a good choice for its price. Despite some bugs and a high price, its advantages are significant to buy this software. However, if you need more of a video editor, this might not be the best option for you.
Camtasia Alternatives
Among the main competitors are:
- Filmora X (more visual effects and transitions, better for editing videos)
- DemoCreator (allows custom screen recording field and simultaneously record your screen and camera with audio but for a smaller budget)
- ActivePresenter (expensive alternative but with more advanced features)
- AceThinker and Free Cam are free Camtasia alternatives.
Snagit Review
Now, let’s move to one more Techsmith’s product worth mentioning, Snagit.
What is Snagit?
Snagit is a tool by Techsmith that allows capturing your screen, add additional context, and than share it with others. It can be a good option to use separately or together with Camtasia.
How to use Snagit
The process is quite simple:
- Capture your screen by taking a screenshot or making a video
- Mark up your screenshots to create visual instructions
- You can share the result as an image, video, or GIF
Snagit Features
Here are some of the main actions you can do with this software:
- Allows capturing the entire screen or a specific part of the screen
- Panoramic scrolling capture
- Screen and webcam recorder (allows toggling between them during a video)
- Creating video from screenshots
- Extracting text from a screen capture
- Automatically making objects in screen captures movable
- Converting screenshots into simplified graphics
- Record iOS screen
Snagit Pricing
There are three pricing options:
- Free-trial for 30 days
- Paid for $49.99 (one-time payment)
- One that combines Snagit and Camtasia for $274.99
Snagit Reviews
Here are also some of the online reviews about Snagit:
“Snagit works very well; I would only like additional audio editing options when we record the screen.”
“It’s simple and intuitive. It does most of what I need both at work and at home.”
“Snagit Editor by TechSmith is one of the best screen capture programs I’ve ever used. It gives you the flexibility to choose not only what you want to capture, including video and sound, but also allows you the freedom of how it is captured and saved.”
“What I like the best is that the shortcut keys are very responsive to capture screenshots. Ability to save directly to a file such as a word document. The editing feature is packed with good functionality. Video capture is easy.”
Is Snagit worth it?
Definitely yes. It offers a lot of useful features, is easy to use while being quite an affordable option.
Snagit Alternatives
- Greenshot – allows to create a screenshot of a selected region and annotate or highlight any part
- Screenpresso – allows saving screenshots in various formats, including PDF and HTML
- SnapCrab – Includes self-timer feature to take screenshots automatically
What e-learning problems you can solve with Camtasia and Snagit?
Those tools are useful for online courses or online training creators who need to produce visual content like professional-quality images, how-to content, video tutorials for the new generation of learners.
The software allows creating engaging video lessons for online, hybrid or reverse learning. You can add quizzes as part of the video and record results to see how students are performing. Then, you can see who is interacting with your videos to improve learning outcomes.
