Kap

Kap is the definitive open-source screen recorder for macOS, celebrated in 2026 for blending web technologies with native performance. Created by Wulkano, a design-led open-source collective, Kap was born from the need for a lightweight, extensible tool that could bridge the gap between simple system recorders and heavy professional suites. By leveraging Electron for its sleek, minimalist interface and a custom Swift library named 'Aperture' for low-level capture, Kap delivers high-fidelity recording without the typical performance penalty of web apps. In the 2026 design landscape, Kap remains a critical tool for developers, designers, and support professionals who value speed and transparency. Unlike closed ecosystems, Kap’s robust plugin architecture allows users to push captures directly to services like Vercel, S3, or Giphy immediately after recording. It supports modern formats like APNG and WebM alongside standard MP4 and GIF, making it indispensable for creating high-quality documentation, bug reports, and social media content. As of 2026, the application (Version 3.6+) continues to be maintained by the community, offering a privacy-first, watermark-free experience that stands as the premier free alternative to paid tools like CleanShot X.