An OBS Studio alternative for design recordings
OBS will out-feature anything on this page. It will not make your scroll smooth.
OBS Studio is a free, open-source broadcasting suite with scenes, sources, filters and streaming built in. Viewport is a small macOS app that does one thing: load a website, frame it exactly, and replay a scroll-and-click sequence you authored on a timeline. OBS can capture anything; it cannot author the motion of a page for you.
Viewport vs OBS Studio, side by side
| Comparison criterion | Viewport | OBS Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $9.99 once, no subscription | Free and open source |
| Platform | macOS 13.1+ | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| How a take is made | Authored on a timeline, replayed identically | Live performance, recorded as-is |
| Output framing | Exact dimensions or aspect ratio set before recording | Canvas resolution set in settings |
| Account required | No | No |
| Updates | All future updates included | Free, community-maintained |
What OBS Studio costs
OBS Studio is free software released under the GPL, with no paid tier, no account and no telemetry. Cost is not a reason to choose anything else over it - the reasons are scope and setup time.
Source: obsproject.com. Checked . Third-party pricing and limits change; confirm at the source before relying on them.
Which one you should actually use
Choose OBS Studio if…
- You are streaming, or recording multi-source scenes with overlays, cameras and audio mixing.
- You need Windows or Linux, or all three platforms.
- You want a plugin ecosystem and total control over encoder settings.
- You are recording long-form video where a broadcast tool's stability matters more than its convenience.
Choose Viewport if…
- You want to open the app and record a clean website take in a couple of minutes, without configuring a scene first.
- The scroll and hover motion needs to be authored and repeatable, which OBS has no concept of.
- You want the page framed to an exact deliverable size rather than composited onto a canvas.
- You are a designer with a case study due, not a broadcaster.
OBS Studio and Viewport, answered
Try the OBS Studio alternative that authors the take.
Viewport is a macOS screen recorder that builds the take on a timeline instead of asking you to perform it. $9.99 once - no subscription, no account.
Usual price $19.99 founder discount · macOS 13.1 or later
Other comparisons
Viewport is a one-time-purchase alternative to Screen Studio for macOS. Both produce smooth, polished screen recordings, but they get there differently: Screen Studio records a live performance and applies automatic zoom and cursor smoothing afterwards, while Viewport has you place scrolls, clicks and hovers on a timeline and replays them identically every take.
Viewport is a one-time-purchase macOS alternative to Loom for recording websites. Loom is optimised for fast, disposable async messages hosted in its cloud and shared by link; Viewport is optimised for a finished video file you author on a timeline and publish yourself. Loom bills per seat every month, Viewport costs $9.99 once and needs no account.
CleanShot X and Viewport are both one-time-purchase macOS tools, but they solve different halves of the problem. CleanShot X is a best-in-class screenshot and quick-capture utility that also records video. Viewport does not take screenshots at all - it loads a website, frames it to an exact size, and replays a scroll-and-click sequence you built on a timeline.
QuickTime Player is the free screen recorder built into macOS, and for capturing what happens on your screen it is entirely adequate. It has no editing timeline, no control over output dimensions beyond the region you drag, no cursor smoothing and no way to repeat a take exactly. Viewport exists for the recordings where those four things are the whole job.