head to head · open source
OBS Studio vs Kap
OBS Studio has 76,325 GitHub stars, 10,217 forks, 1,148 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kap has 19,355 stars, 894 forks, 256 open issues and last shipped 1.8 years ago. OBS Studio leads on adoption by 294% (76,325 vs 19,355 stars). OBS Studio is written in C under GPL-2.0; Kap is written in TypeScript under MIT. OBS Studio has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Kap 5%. OBS Studio was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| OBS Studio | Kap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 19K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2024-11-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 894 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OBS Studio if
- You weight community size — 76K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kap if
- You want the Kap feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Kap fits your workflow better
About OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a free, open source C application for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content, built for streamers, screen recorders, and anyone who needs to produce live or recorded video without paying for a commercial suite.
read the full OBS Studio overview →
About Kap
Kap is an open source screen recorder for macOS, built with web technology and distributed as a native desktop application under the MIT license. The project is written in TypeScript and uses Electron and Next.js components in its stack, placing it within the macOS productivity and screen capture ecosystem rather than a browser extension or command line utility. Its public repository also identifies a related project named Aperture and a separate website repository, indicating that the recording application is part of a broader open source project structure.
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Frequently asked questions
Is OBS Studio or Kap more popular?
OBS Studio has 76,325 GitHub stars and Kap has 19,355. OBS Studio has the larger community by that measure.
Are OBS Studio and Kap free?
Both are open source. OBS Studio is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Kap under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OBS Studio and Kap?
OBS Studio is written in C and Kap in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OBS Studio or Kap?
Choose OBS Studio if you want the larger community (76,325 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Kap if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.