When comparing ActivePresenter vs OBS, the Slant community recommends OBS for most people. In the question“What are the best screen recorders for Windows?” OBS is ranked 1st while ActivePresenter is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose OBS is:
You can record videos in formats such as mp4, flv, mkv, and more. You also have control over the bitrate used.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free edition is available
Pro No watermarks on common formats available in the free version : mp4, webm, avi, wmv, mkv.
Pro Edit video after recording
- Multiple media layers
- Cut, join, insert freeze frame, change volume
- Annotate with shapes and images
Pro Support interactive HTML5 output
Pro Records to many popular formats
You can record videos in formats such as mp4, flv, mkv, and more. You also have control over the bitrate used.
Pro Free and open source
No subscriptions or payments or licenses.
Pro Available for Linux, Mac, Windows
Pro Live streams
Can be used to stream.
Pro Fast
From the website: "GPU-based game capture for high performance game streaming."
Pro Extendable
OBS has an API allowing developers to create their own unique plugins, giving them and others complete control of their streaming experience.
Pro Encoding using H264 (x264) and AAC and file output to MP4 or FLV
Pro Unlimited number of scenes and sources
Cons
Con Quite complex for novice user
- For user who just want to edit a simple video, interactive tools and slides are not necessary.
Con Recording a window will not record the menu bar, popup menus or child dialogs
Con Overkill for simple projects
Plus the interface is a bit intimidating.
Con Needs tutorial to get started
Otherwise it's hard to find out how to record a screen or window.