JustRec vs QuickTime and the macOS Screenshot Toolbar

The Mac built-in screen recorder is good, and it’s free. Press ⌘⇧5 and the Screenshot toolbar records your whole screen, a window or an area; in macOS 27 it can finally include system audio. What it doesn’t do is the part that matters for client work: it gives you a .mov file, not a link, and there’s no camera bubble or subtitles. That’s the gap JustRec fills.

This page compares the two built-in tools with JustRec, which isn’t released yet. If you only need the steps, our guide to screen recording on Mac covers every method.

What macOS gives you for free

The Screenshot toolbar (⌘⇧5)

Press ⌘⇧5 and choose one of three recording modes: Record Entire Screen, Record Selected Window (macOS Tahoe 26 or later) or Record Selected Portion. Click Options before you start to set:

• Microphone, to record your voice;
• Include System Audio, on macOS 27 Golden Gate or later;
• Show Mouse Clicks, a black circle around the pointer when you click;
• Timer, a delay before recording starts;
• Save to, the folder for the file (the desktop by default);
• SDR or HDR capture format, on supported Macs with macOS Tahoe 26 or later.

Stop with the button in the menu bar or ⌘⌃Esc. A thumbnail appears in the corner: click it to trim, or let it save. The file is a .mov named “Screen Recording” plus the date and time.

QuickTime Player

Open QuickTime Player and choose File › New Screen Recording (⌃⌘N). On recent macOS versions this opens the same Screenshot toolbar; Apple’s guide says to follow the toolbar steps if that happens. QuickTime is still useful for two other jobs:

• Trimming. Open the recording, choose Edit › Trim, drag the yellow handles and click Trim.
• Recording the camera. File › New Movie Recording records from the built-in camera or a connected iPhone, at High (H.264) or Maximum quality (ProRes, which makes very large files).

QuickTime’s File › Share sends the movie through the share menu, such as AirDrop, and creates a version optimized for where it’s going.

What changed in macOS 27

Until macOS 27, the built-in tools recorded audio only from a microphone: to capture the sound your Mac plays, you needed a third-party app or a virtual audio driver. Apple’s support page now lists Include System Audio in the toolbar’s Options for macOS 27 Golden Gate or later. If you’re on macOS 15 Sequoia or macOS 26 Tahoe, read how to record internal audio on Mac.

Built-in tools vs JustRec

	Screenshot toolbar	QuickTime Player	JustRec
Price	Free, built in	Free, built in	Lifetime €19 once (early bird), Personal from €6.90/month
Record screen, window, area	Yes (window on macOS 26+)	May open the toolbar instead	Yes, with pause and resume
System audio	macOS 27 or later	Not in Apple’s QuickTime steps	Yes, on macOS 15 or later
Camera with the screen	No	Camera only, as a separate movie	Camera bubble: round, square or 16:9
Click highlights	Black circle on click	Show Mouse Clicks option	Soft pulse on every click
Editing	Trim from the thumbnail	Trim	Trim start and end, auto zoom, backgrounds
Subtitles	No	No	Generated on your Mac
Output	.mov on your desktop	.mov	MP4 in a library on your Mac
Sharing	Send the file yourself	Share menu, AirDrop	Link copied when you press stop
Online copy	None	None	Stored in the EU, deleted when the link expires

Apple facts from Apple Support, checked November 2026. JustRec prices exclude VAT and may change before launch.

What’s missing for client work

A link instead of a file

A screen recording of a few minutes can easily be too big to attach to an email, and the client has to download it before they can watch. With the built-in tools you upload it somewhere yourself, copy the link and set the sharing permissions. Our guide on sending a large video to a client compares the options.

With JustRec you press stop and the link (justrec.app/v/…) is already in your clipboard. The client opens it in any browser, on a laptop or a phone, without an account. Link previews show the title and thumbnail in WhatsApp, Slack and Mail.

Your face on screen

A small camera bubble makes a design review feel like you’re in the room. macOS can’t put one in a screen recording. The usual workaround is a QuickTime camera window parked in a corner while you record, which other windows can cover. JustRec has a camera bubble you can drag, resize and hide during the recording, using the built-in camera, an external webcam or an iPhone through Continuity Camera. More in recording your screen and camera at the same time.

Subtitles

If your client watches on a phone between meetings, the sound is probably off. The built-in tools don’t create subtitles. JustRec generates them on your Mac, with a speech-to-text model that runs locally, in the language you speak, and shows them on the video page. If you want to add subtitles to a QuickTime file, see how to add subtitles to a screen recording on Mac.

A copy that expires

Once you upload a file to a drive or a video site, it stays there until you remember to delete it. JustRec’s shared copy is stored in the EU and deleted when the link expires: 3 days on Lifetime, 30 days on Personal and Team. The original stays on your Mac.

When the built-in tool is enough

You don’t need another app if:

• you record for yourself, for example a bug you want to remember;
• you send a file to a colleague by AirDrop or a shared drive;
• the video goes into an editor anyway, such as a tutorial you publish;
• you record rarely and don’t mind uploading and sharing by hand.

The built-in tools also have one advantage over JustRec: Apple’s guide doesn’t mention a length limit, while JustRec stops at 10 minutes on Lifetime and 30 minutes on Personal and Team.

If you’re comparing JustRec with a cloud recorder instead, read JustRec vs Loom or our list of the best Loom alternatives for Mac.