Screencastify

Screencastify is the screen recorder born as a Chrome extension, now one of the most widely used tools in schools and universities. Its extreme simplicity — you record without installing anything — made it popular in education before any other category.

Screencastify is a screen recording tool that works as a Google Chrome extension, with no desktop app installation needed. With one click you record the browser tab, the full screen or the webcam (or a combination of both), and the video is automatically saved to Google Drive when recording ends. The built-in editor lets you trim recordings, add text, annotations and a pointer tool, and export to MP4, GIF or upload directly to YouTube. Its strong integration with Google Workspace (Drive, Classroom, Google Docs) made it the preferred tool in the Google educational ecosystem: teachers record lessons, create video feedback for students and share productions directly in the LMS. The free version is very limited (5 minutes per video, maximum 10 videos); paid plans remove these constraints. Screencastify has added AI features to generate scripts, create interactive quizzes from videos and generate automatic captions.

For teachers, educators, corporate trainers and anyone using Chrome who wants to quickly record screen and webcam without installing software, with strong Google Workspace integration.

Screencastify has a very limited free plan: 5 minutes per video and a maximum of 10 videos. Paid plans for individual use start at around $14 per month billed annually and remove the limits, adding the advanced editor, AI features, unlimited export and much more space. Site license plans with district pricing exist for schools. The free version is often sufficient only for minimal use or initial evaluation.