Dolly vs Screen Studio

Dolly vs Screen Studio.

Both do the camera work for you. One has no free plan and costs $29 a month; the other is free, with no 5-minute limit. Here's everything else that's different, including what Screen Studio does better.

Download for Mac, free See pricing

	Dolly	Screen Studio
Price	Free · Pro €59 a year · Lifetime €99 once	$29 a month, or $108 a year
Free version can export	Yes, up to 1080p, no time limit, with a small Made with Dolly logo in the corner	No free plan: export needs a subscription
One-time license	Lifetime, €99 once	No (stopped for new customers on 1 Oct 2025)
Refunds	Within 30 days, no questions	Fees are non-refundable
Mac (Apple silicon)	Yes	Yes
Windows	In the works	No plans announced
Automatic zoom on clicks	Yes	Yes
Smooth, redrawn cursor	Yes, 25 cursor sets	Yes
Backgrounds, padding, shadow	Yes	Yes
Device frames	Browser, MacBook; phone and tablet for device recordings	iPhone and iPad frames
Camera layouts	Bubble, side by side, camera only	Five layouts, camera cutout
Captions and transcript editing	On your Mac	On your Mac, optional cloud
Blur and highlight masks	Yes	Yes
Several takes on one timeline	Yes	—
GIF export	Pro and Lifetime	Yes
Share links with comments and view counts	10 active links on Free; unlimited with stats on Pro	Yes
Record an iPhone or iPad	Coming soon	Yes
Teleprompter that stays out of the video	Yes	—
Draw on screen while recording, editable later	Yes	—
Vertical version that follows the action	Yes, also as a second file in the same export	—
Stop and the share link is on your clipboard	Yes, one shortcut	—
AI assistant can record demos (MCP)	Pro	No
Videos stay on your computer	Yes, unless you share a link	Yes, unless you share a link

Dolly

Price: Free · Pro €59 a year · Lifetime €99 once
Free version can export: Yes, up to 1080p, no time limit, with a small Made with Dolly logo in the corner
One-time license: Lifetime, €99 once
Refunds: Within 30 days, no questions
Mac (Apple silicon): Yes
Windows: In the works
Automatic zoom on clicks: Yes
Smooth, redrawn cursor: Yes, 25 cursor sets
Backgrounds, padding, shadow: Yes
Device frames: Browser, MacBook; phone and tablet for device recordings
Camera layouts: Bubble, side by side, camera only
Captions and transcript editing: On your Mac
Blur and highlight masks: Yes
Several takes on one timeline: Yes
GIF export: Pro and Lifetime
Share links with comments and view counts: 10 active links on Free; unlimited with stats on Pro
Record an iPhone or iPad: Coming soon
Teleprompter that stays out of the video: Yes
Draw on screen while recording, editable later: Yes
Vertical version that follows the action: Yes, also as a second file in the same export
Stop and the share link is on your clipboard: Yes, one shortcut
AI assistant can record demos (MCP): Pro
Videos stay on your computer: Yes, unless you share a link

Screen Studio

Price: $29 a month, or $108 a year
Free version can export: No free plan: export needs a subscription
One-time license: No (stopped for new customers on 1 Oct 2025)
Refunds: Fees are non-refundable
Mac (Apple silicon): Yes
Windows: No plans announced
Automatic zoom on clicks: Yes
Smooth, redrawn cursor: Yes
Backgrounds, padding, shadow: Yes
Device frames: iPhone and iPad frames
Camera layouts: Five layouts, camera cutout
Captions and transcript editing: On your Mac, optional cloud
Blur and highlight masks: Yes
Several takes on one timeline: —
GIF export: Yes
Share links with comments and view counts: Yes
Record an iPhone or iPad: Yes
Teleprompter that stays out of the video: —
Draw on screen while recording, editable later: —
Vertical version that follows the action: —
Stop and the share link is on your clipboard: —
AI assistant can record demos (MCP): No
Videos stay on your computer: Yes, unless you share a link

Prices and features as listed on each product's own website in October 2026, before tax. Check them before you buy; they change often.

The short version.

Pick Dolly if

You want an MP4 that looks great, and Free is enough or Pro is half the price.
You record a few videos a month and a $108 subscription feels silly.
You want to try everything, including export, before paying.
You stitch several takes into one video, or read from a teleprompter.
You'd like Claude or Cursor to record demos for you (Pro).

Pick Screen Studio if

You want 1080p60 share links that have been around for years.
You record iPhone or iPad apps every day.
You need a camera cutout or color grading.
You want AI voiceover or the AI upscaler for zoomed text.
$108 a year is easy money for how often you record.

Price

Screen Studio is $29 a month or $108 a year, and fees are non-refundable under their terms. Dolly has no 5-minute limit and exports for free (up to 1080p, with a small logo in the corner). Pro is €9.99 a month or €59 a year, Lifetime €99 once, with a 30-day refund. Over three years, Screen Studio is $324; Dolly Free is €0.

The camera work

Both find your clicks and zoom there automatically, both offer a Loupe-style magnifier, and both let you add or edit zooms by hand. In Dolly you pick a spring (focused, balanced or smooth), set zoom from 1.2× to 3.5×, add motion blur, or choose an instant cut. Screen Studio's motion is excellent and has had years of tuning; try both on the same recording and trust your eyes.

Cursor and look

Both record the cursor separately and redraw it, so it can be smoothed, resized, restyled or hidden after the fact. Dolly has 25 cursor sets, click effects, and click sounds (or your own). Both put your recording on wallpapers, gradients or images with padding, corners and a shadow. Dolly adds browser and MacBook frames; Screen Studio frames iPhone and iPad recordings.

Editing

Dolly's timeline lets you split, trim, reorder and put several takes after each other, change speed per clip without chipmunk voices, and find silences and long typing in one click. Both have captions and transcript editing on your Mac. Screen Studio adds camera cutout, color grading and AI voiceover.

Sharing

Screen Studio has had share links at 1080p60 with comments and view counts for a while. Dolly exports MP4 (up to 4K60) or GIF to a file or straight to your clipboard, and since 0.4.9 it has Dolly links too: Get link gives a short 1080p link right away, with timestamped comments, reactions, a transcript, chapters, a password or expiry, and insights without cookies. Free includes up to 10 active links; Pro makes them unlimited, with stats, password, expiry and your own branding.

Privacy

Both are offline-first. In Dolly an account is optional, and recording, transcription and export run on your Mac. Nothing leaves it unless you choose Get link, and then only that video.

Questions

Is Dolly cheaper than Screen Studio?

Yes. Dolly Free costs nothing and exports; Pro is €9.99 a month or €59 a year, and Lifetime €99 once. Screen Studio has no free plan and is $29 a month or $108 a year.

Which has better auto zoom?

Both zoom on clicks with spring motion. Screen Studio has more years of tuning; Dolly gives you three spring styles, zoom levels from 1.2× to 3.5× and motion blur. Try both on the same take.

Can Dolly export without paying?

Yes, up to 1080p, with a small Made with Dolly logo in the corner. Screen Studio needs a subscription to export.

Does Dolly have share links like Screen Studio?

Yes. Get link gives a short link with comments, reactions and a transcript; Free includes 10 active links, Pro unlimited links with insights. You can also export MP4 files (GIF on Pro), or copy the video to your clipboard.

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Download free for Mac See pricing

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