Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most people on Linux who want fast, presenter-led screen recordings they can reuse everywhere, starting in StreamYard’s browser-based studio is the easiest path. If you need deep hardware control or offline, screen-only capture, a Linux-native tool like OBS Studio is a strong alternative.

Summary

• StreamYard runs in the browser on most Linux distributions and lets you record your screen, camera, and guests without installing a heavy desktop app. (StreamYard Support)
• OBS Studio is a free, open-source Linux application with advanced scene controls, ideal when you want to tune encoding and record locally. (OBS)
• Loom focuses on async sharing but does not support Linux desktop apps, so it’s not a primary choice for Linux screen recording. (Loom Support)
• For most US-based creators, educators, and teams, StreamYard offers the best balance of simplicity, quality, and collaboration for Linux screen recording.

What do most Linux users actually need from screen recording?

If you’re searching for “best screen recording software for linux,” you’re usually not trying to build a TV studio. You want to:

• Hit record quickly without wrestling with drivers.
• Capture your screen plus your face and mic, clearly.
• Save a high-quality file you can reuse on YouTube, in courses, or inside your company.
• Share recordings easily without managing giant raw files on your laptop.

That’s the lens we’ll use here. Instead of just listing every Linux recorder, we’ll look at which tool fits which job—and why, for a lot of people, a browser-based studio like StreamYard ends up being the most practical default.

How does StreamYard work on Linux for screen recording?

StreamYard runs entirely in the browser, so if you can open a supported browser on Linux, you can get into a recording studio—no .deb, no Flatpak. The support docs confirm it “runs completely in your browser,” and that it can work on most Linux distributions. (StreamYard Support)

From there, screen recording is built around a presenter-led studio:

• Presenter-visible screen sharing. You share your entire screen, a specific window, or a browser tab; those are separate sources you can turn on or off mid-recording. (StreamYard Support)
• Independent audio control. You manage mic and system audio separately, so you can talk over a silent demo or let app audio shine while you stay muted.
• Camera + screen layouts. Picture-in-picture, side-by-side, or full-screen views are just layout switches—no scene-graph tinkering.
• Local multi-track recording. On all plans, StreamYard supports local recordings per participant, with the free plan limited to 2 hours/month and paid plans offering unlimited local recording. (StreamYard Support)
• Branding and overlays. Logos, lower thirds, and overlays can be applied live so you finish with a near-final asset.

You can run pure recording sessions (no live streaming) and walk away with both a cloud copy and local tracks for editing, depending on your plan and storage.

Does StreamYard allow screen audio capture on Linux?

One of the top Linux questions is: “Will my viewers actually hear my app audio?”

In StreamYard, when you share your screen, you choose between:

• Entire screen
• Application window
• Browser tab (with tab audio)

On Chromium-based browsers, sharing a browser tab lets you include system audio from that tab, which is often enough for product demos, slide decks with sound, or showing a browser-based app. (StreamYard Support)

Because Linux audio stacks (ALSA, PulseAudio, PipeWire) vary by distro and desktop, the most reliable path today is:

• Put anything that needs system audio into a browser tab (web app, hosted video, etc.).
• Share that tab with “share tab audio” enabled.
• Use your mic for narration on a separate track.

It’s a pragmatic approach: instead of chasing every possible audio routing combination on Linux, you lean on the browser’s built-in screen-audio support and let StreamYard handle recording.

When to choose StreamYard (browser) vs OBS (native) on Linux?

OBS Studio is a powerful local app for Linux that supports video recording and live streaming, with scenes made of multiple sources like window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, and capture cards. (OBS Overview)

Use StreamYard on Linux when:

• You want fast setup: open a browser, share your screen, go.
• You’re recording presenter-led content—walkthroughs, webinars, interviews, or cohort calls—rather than raw gameplay.
• You care about multi-guest sessions with separate local tracks for each person, automatic cloud storage, and simple exports. (StreamYard Support)
• You’re on a managed laptop where installing heavy native apps is difficult, but browsers are allowed.

Use OBS on Linux when:

• You need fine-grained control over encoding, bitrates, and file formats.
• You’re recording screen-only content like gameplay or local apps, often for long stretches, and you’re comfortable tuning your hardware.
• You want complex scene setups that change dynamically during the recording.

OBS is free and open source, with no vendor-enforced recording caps; your limits are your hardware and disk space. (OBS) Many creators pair the two: OBS for advanced local capture, StreamYard for polished, multi-person sessions and easy distribution.

Why isn’t Loom a great fit for Linux screen recording?

Loom is known for async screen sharing, but its desktop apps are supported on Windows and macOS—not Linux or ChromeOS. Its own compatibility docs state that Linux and Chrome OS aren’t supported for the Loom recording platform. (Loom Support)

Even if some browser-extension workflows may function on Linux, they’re not part of the officially supported desktop lineup. That makes Loom a risky choice if you depend on stable, day-to-day recording on a Linux laptop.

Compared to Loom’s per-user pricing model—where Business plans are billed per user per month—StreamYard pricing is per workspace, which is often more cost-effective for teams that record or stream together. (Loom Pricing)

If you want a link-first async workflow, you can still:

• Record in StreamYard.
• Export your file.
• Upload it to your platform of choice (LMS, Slack, project tool, or video host) and share from there.

For many teams, that keeps Linux support and collaboration flexibility without committing to a Windows/macOS-only recorder.

Native alternatives to OBS for Ubuntu screen recording

If you prefer Linux-native tools but don’t need OBS’s complexity, there are several long-time favorites often mentioned in “best screen recorder” lists for Linux.

Roundups from Linux-focused sites and developer communities frequently highlight tools like SimpleScreenRecorder, Kazam, VokoscreenNG, and recordMyDesktop alongside OBS. (GeeksforGeeks)

These tools generally offer:

• Straightforward “select area + record” interfaces.
• Local-only recording to formats like MKV or MP4.
• Lower resource usage than full production suites.

They can be good fits when you:

• Want a lightweight recorder for quick captures.
• Are comfortable managing files and backups yourself.
• Don’t need multi-guest workflows, branding, or cloud archives.

In practice, a lot of Linux users keep one of these installed for ad hoc local captures and use StreamYard when they need to look and sound more like a show.

How does pricing compare for teams on Linux?

For a US-based team that lives on Linux laptops, the real question is often: “What happens when more people need to record?”

• StreamYard uses per-workspace pricing—so one subscription covers your whole workspace instead of charging per recorder. New users can start on a free plan, and paid options begin around $20/month and $39/month billed annually for the first year, with a 7-day free trial and frequent special offers for new users.
• Loom bills per user; Business plans on the pricing page start from $15 per user per month billed annually. (Loom Pricing)
• OBS and native Linux tools like SimpleScreenRecorder or VokoscreenNG are typically free, but you pay in setup time, hardware demands, and your own storage and backup.

Many teams find that, once more than a couple of people need to record or present, a per-workspace model plus browser access on Linux ends up being simpler and more affordable than per-seat licensing.

What we recommend

• Default for most Linux users: Use StreamYard in a modern browser for presenter-led, high-quality recordings you can reuse everywhere.
• For power users and offline workflows: Add OBS Studio or another native Linux recorder when you need deep control over encoding or long, screen-only captures.
• For async collaboration: Record in StreamYard, then upload to your preferred sharing platform rather than relying on tools without full Linux support.
• For teams: Lean on StreamYard’s per-workspace pricing and browser-based studio to keep setup light while letting multiple people record from any Linux machine.