Screencast-O-Matic Review: Should You Use It for Your Videos?

Screencast-O-Matic is one of the most popular screencast software in the market today and there’s a good chance you may have heard of it.

It is super easy to use and has extremely affordable pricing which are the main reasons why Screencast-O-Matic is so popular.

However, a lot of video creators reach out to me and ask about its screen recording and video editing capabilities and whether or not they should use it to create screencast videos.

So, I am creating this most comprehensive Screencast-O-Matic review guide where we will explore all the different features it offers along with its strengths and weaknesses.

By the end of this review, you’ll have a definitive answer to whether it is the right screencasting platform for you or not.

Let’s get started.

What is Screencast-O-Matic?

Screencast-O-Matic is a screencasting software that lets you do different things such as capturing your screen along with your webcam, adding narration to your videos, as well as editing your video recordings – all in an easy to use platform.

Screencast-O-Matic offers well-designed solutions for different types of creators. So whether you want to create videos for your online course, for your Youtube channel, for customer support or even sales & marketing videos for your website, you can do that with Screencast-O-Matic.

What stands out the most for me with Screencast-O-Matic is its ease of use and simplicity. You can get started with making screencast videos quickly even if you’re totally new to this whole thing.

To start using the software, you just need to sign up, install it on your device, and launch your recorder/editor. The software is available on a host of different systems including Windows, Mac, Android, iOS as well as Chromebook.

Another major selling point for Screencast-O-Matic is that it’s the most reasonably priced screencasting software out there and the value that you get for your money is unbeatable.

In fact, the price is so low that a lot of creators end up thinking that it isn’t as good as other solutions. But that’s not true.

Despite being super easy to use and extremely affordable, Screencast-O-Matic still offers a range of features that should be more than enough for most people.

It has all the important screen recording features. But even when it comes to video editing and enhancement, it offers pretty decent capabilities.

We’ll talk about the features in detail in the next section.

A Closer Look at Screencast-O-Matic Features 

Now that I’ve given you an overview of Screencast-O-Matic, let’s take a deeper look at the platform and its capabilities. All the features that it offers can be grouped into three categories:

1. Screen Recording Tools

The core functionality of any screencasting software is to let you record a video of your screen and Screencast-O-Matic does an excellent job at it.

Its screen recorder has an extremely user-friendly and intuitive interface. Using the screen recorder is very straightforward and literally anyone can work with it.

To start recording your screen, you need to download their recorder. Once you launch it, you’ll see a few different options.

So, you can choose from three video recording options which include screen recording, webcam recording, and the combination of both screen and webcam.

Additionally, you can set the maximum duration for your video, change the size of the screen capture area, add narration using a microphone as well as capture your computer audio.

Apart from these essential ones, there are some pretty useful features that Screencast-O-Matic offers with its screen recorder.

Firstly, it allows you to seek back in your recorded video and continue recording from the exact point you want to.

This is really helpful, especially when you’re recording tutorial videos because there’s often some back and forth and you may not want to deal with a video that needs lots of edits later on.

Secondly, Screencast-O-Matic offers a Draw & Zoom feature that lets you draw on your screen while you’re recording. So, you can use different shapes such as line, arrow, square, oval, or highlight a specific part of your screen.

If you want, you can even draw with a free hand, change the thickness of the shape, and hide your cursor in your recording.

Another very useful feature that Screencast-O-Matic offers is Scripted Recordings which allows you to add script and break it into sections and then record your audio (and screen) separately.

Having a script for your video ensures that you don’t miss out on the key points of the video and makes your video delivery look more professional.

Overall, Screencast-O-Matic has a simple yet powerful screen recorder that lets you record your screen and/or webcam in HD without any hassle.

2. Video Editing Tools

As mentioned previously, Screencast-O-Matic is more than just a screen recording tool. It also offers inbuilt features for editing your videos, so you don’t need to use a third-party video editing tool.

The video editor is pretty straightforward and there is a minimal learning curve. So, even if you don’t have any prior video editing experience, you can still use the software.

In terms of capabilities, it lets you perform all the essential editing functions for your videos, right from trimming the video to inserting other recordings, modifying the speed and applying audio effects (noise removal, normalization, etc.).

You can also add overlays (images, text, shapes, etc.), create transitions as well as zoom in/out and highlight specific portions in your videos.

To further make your video look better, Screencast-O-Matic offers a stock library full of thousands of images and videos.

Apart from these essential tools, Screencast-O-Matic offers quite a few other useful video editing features.

One such feature is the Chroma Key that lets you remove background from your videos with a green screen and add another customized background for a professional touch. 

Another very handy feature is the ability to automatically detect silences in your audio. You can also modify the minimum duration of silence you want to detect and either speed up or cut out these silence sections entirely.

Moreover, you have the ability to share the somrec file with another person in your team and let them work on the video file. This makes it possible to outsource the video editing job to another person.

Once you’re done editing your videos, you can save the video to your computer. Or, you can publish them directly to Screencast-O-Matic platform or to video platforms like Youtube and Vimeo or to cloud drives like Google Drive and Dropbox.

Now, there are a few advanced video editing features that are missing from Screencast-O-Matic. 

One such feature is multi-track video editing which means you can’t work with and edit multiple media files simultaneously. Similarly, you only do basic animation stuff in Screencast-O-Matic.

So, if you have complex editing needs, Screencast-O-Matic might not be the best option for you. In this case, you’ll be better off going with a software with a fully-featured video editor like Camtasia. 

Having said that, most people don’t really need such capabilities and for them, Screencast-O-Matic has enough video editing functionality to create all types of videos.

3. Video Hosting Platform

One of the less talked about features that Screencast-O-Matic offers is for video hosting and sharing.

Screencast-O-Matic lets you upload your videos on the platform and deliver them through the customizable video player. For each video, you can modify the video title, add a description, and upload a custom thumbnail.

Plus you can create a channel for your videos and organize them into playlists. You can either keep your channel public or you can also select which audience will be able to access your videos.

For example, you can password protect your channel (and even individual videos) so that only a specific group of people can access it.

Now, you can share your channel (and videos) on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter or via email. You can even embed the videos on your website or use them in your online course builder.

Moreover, Screencast-O-Matic has direct integrations with several live chat and support platforms like Zoho Desk, Live Agent, Help Scout, Olark, Freshdesk, etc. which makes it a great option for creating quick videos and screenshots to provide customer service.

Similarly, it has direct integrations with Microsoft Teams, Slack, Asana, Trello, etc. which makes it a good screen recording tool option for internal communication within your team.

So, Screencast-O-Matic’s video hosting is pretty useful as it enables you to quickly share your videos and actually makes it a multi-purpose screencasting software.

So, you can use the software to not just create sales & marketing or online course videos but you can also use it to create videos for customer service as well as internal communication.

Screencast-O-Matic Pricing: How Much Does It Cost?

In this section, we’ll discuss Screencast-O-Matic pricing and this should help you make a decision on whether to use it or not.

To start with, Screencast-O-Matic offers a Free plan which includes core features like the ability to record screen and/or webcam, perform basic edits such as trimming recordings and adding captions, etc.

However, the FREE plan only allows you to record videos up to 15 minutes and adds a watermark to your videos. Plus, you miss out on all the video editing tools and other unique features the platform has to offer like the script tool, automated speech-to-text captioning, etc.

If you want to remove these limits, you’ll have to upgrade to one of their paid plans. The good thing is that the paid plans are extremely affordable.

So, Screencast-O-Matic offers two paid plans for solo creators – the lowest pricing plan is called the Deluxe Plan which costs $19.80/year.

It comes with some excellent features like all the video editing tools, a screenshots tool, scripted recordings and the ability to remove watermarks and record videos longer than 15 minutes.

The Deluxe Plan is pretty feature-rich and should work well for most creators unless you need specific features available only on the Premier plan ($48/year).

So, apart from all the features available on the Deluxe plan, you get access to their stock library, the ability to transfer iPhone/iPad and Android videos to the editor and also the feature for securely backing up your videos.

However, the biggest advantage of the Premier Plan is that you get the ability to create your own branded video channel and you get 100GB video bandwidth.

Besides the paid plans for solo creators, Screencast-O-Matic also has two paid plans for teams – Team Deluxe and Team Premier. 

The Team Deluxe plan costs $12/month ($9.5/mo when paid yearly) and the Team Premier plan costs $20/month ($17.5/mo when paid yearly) for use on upto 10 computers. The pricing will change if you need more users.

The difference between these two plans in terms of features is the same as the difference between two solo creator plans (Deluxe and Premier).

So, if you’re a small-to-middle sized organization where multiple team members will need to access Screencast-O-Matic, then you should consider these Teams plans for the platform.

It’s worth noting that Screencast-O-Matic’s pricing plans are worth every penny and believe me, there is no screencasting software that provides you a better value for money.

What I Like About Screencast-O-Matic?

Screencast-O-Matic has a lot to offer and is definitely one of the best screen recording solutions out there. Here are a few things that I like about it the most:

1. It Is the Easiest to Use Screencasting Platform

While Screencast-O-Matic might not be the most feature-rich platform, it’s definitely the easiest one to use. It has a clean and intuitive user interface with a small learning curve, and this is exactly what the platform boasts about.

You can find the simplicity and ease of use consistently across everything that Screencast-O-Matic does right from recording your screen to editing the recordings.

I have used quite a few screencasting software over the years and I am yet to come across an easier to use tool than this especially when it comes to video editing.

Plus it does an excellent job at striking a balance between ease of use and functionality. So, despite its simplicity, Screencast-O-Matic has enough firepower for most creators.

2. It Offers Some Unique Features That Improve the Overall Screen Recording Experience

While Screencast-O-Matic’s screen recorder has all the essential features, it offers a few unique ones which make the overall experience amazing.

First off, I love the built-in drawing or annotation tools that come with a bunch of useful features like the ability to add freehand drawings, highlight sections in a screen, etc. and you can do all this while recording the screen.

Another such feature is Scripted Recordings that allows you to first import your script and then add your narration and screen video separately. This is a very useful tool for creating more professional screencasting videos.

3. It Lets You Host and Share Your Videos

Apart from screen recording and editing, Screencast-O-Matic also lets you host your videos on the platform. So, once you create a video, you can quickly upload it to the cloud which can then be shared with your audience through a direct link or can be embedded on your site.

It even has direct integrations with customer support platforms like ZenDesk, LiveChat, Help Scout, etc. which enables you to provide support to your customers through video.

Similarly, it integrates with multiple project management and productivity tools which means you can also use it for internal communication within your organization.

4. It Also Includes a Screenshots Tools

So that you know, Screencast-O-Matic also has a screenshots tool which allows you to quickly capture your screen and easily annotate them.

You can capture the entire screen or a specific area on it. And then you can easily add arrows, text, or drawings to enhance your screenshots.

Finally, you can upload the screenshots to the Screencast-O-Matic platform and share them with anyone like you share the videos.

5. It is Super Budget-Friendly and Offers Great Value for Money

What makes Screencast-O-Matic so appealing to a wide range of video creators is the fact that it has the most affordable pricing.

And when you consider everything that you get – screen recorder, video editor and video hosting, you’ll find that the platform offers the best value for money.

What I Don’t Like About Screencast-O-Matic?

I am a big fan of Screencast-O-Matic but that doesn’t mean that it’s the perfect platform. It does have some limitations and you should consider these before you make a decision.

1. It Offers Limited Video Editing Capabilities 

If there is one area where Screencast-O-Matic isn’t as feature rich, it has to be video editing. It lacks some important features like multi-track editing as well as advanced animations and audio effects.

So, if you’re looking to mix and match a lot of different recordings or you want to add some cool effects to your video, you’ll find Screencast-O-Matic’s video editing capabilities to be limited.

While it can be argued that most people don’t need these features and that they want to keep the software easy to use, I still think something like multi-track editing is pretty important and just adding this one feature can take the video editing experience to the next level.

2. Screencast-O-Matic Launcher Has a Couple of Snags

While Screencast-O-Matic’s recorder is lightweight and works pretty smoothly, there are a couple of snags. 

The first one is that the app keeps running in the background even when you close it. This can slow down your system. 

Plus sometimes when you relaunch the app while being already running in the background, it doesn’t work properly. So, you have to “quit” the app completely and relaunch again.

Another issue is that you can’t launch the app from your desktop. It can only be launched from inside your Screencast-O-Matic account in the browser which doesn’t make sense to me.

3. The Free Version Is Too Limited

The free version of Screencast-O-Matic is quite restrictive in terms of the features it offers and the control it gives you over your recordings.

To start with, you can record videos of only up to 15 minutes in length. Moreover, it has a watermark on your video which doesn’t look good. Plus, you don’t get any video editing tools on the free plan. 

So, Screencast-O-Matic’s free version is too limited and it won’t be suitable for any professional use. Otherwise it should work fine if you want to record some internal videos or just give the software a try.

Screencast-O-Matic Review – Final Verdict

In this Screencast-O-Matic review, we’ve talked about all the features that the platform offers along with what l like and what I don’t like about it.

Based on the review, we can say that Screencast-O-Matic strikes a great balance between functionality and ease of use. Plus the extremely reasonable pricing means you get maximum value for your money.

While the platform isn’t as powerful as its competitors like Camtasia which has a full-blown video editor, its features will be more than enough for a majority of users.

If you’re a beginner, there is no better screencasting software for you than Screencast-O-Matic. It ticks off all the boxes for beginners including an extensive feature set, ease of use, and budget.

In fact, Screencast-O-Matic should work well for all types of video creators as long as you don’t have very complex video editing needs.

You can use the software to create videos for various use cases including online course delivery, sales & marketing, customer service and team communication.

If you like what you have read about Screencast-O-Matic, you can try the platform for free by clicking on the button below.

I hope you liked this Screencast-O-Matic review and it helped you decide whether it is the right screencasting platform for you or not. If you have any feedback or questions about the platform, please let me know in the comments below.