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EnglishWhat Is Screencastify and What Can You Do With It?
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Screencastify is a browser-based screen recorder and video editor built primarily for education, though it also serves business teams. You can record your screen, webcam, or both, edit the result, and share it with students or colleagues — all without installing desktop software. It's a good fit if you want to create lessons, training videos, assignments, or assessments and need something that works inside a browser and integrates with tools like Google Classroom, Schoology, and Canvas.
What Screencastify actually is
Screencastify describes itself as a browser-based screen recorder. It runs as a Chrome extension (also available through the Edge Add-On Store), which means recording happens in the browser rather than through a separate installed application.
The platform reports scale that signals its main audience: 500M+ videos created, 12.4M+ users, and users in 195 countries. The site's own framing — "Video tools designed for educators" and "Loved by educators everywhere" — makes clear that education is the core market, with a separate track for business teams.
Core things you can do with it
The feature set on the site covers both recording and post-recording work:
- Screen recording — capture your screen, and combine it with other recording modes.
- Teleprompter — read from a script while recording, useful for polished instructional videos.
- Voice over — add narration to video content.
- Live Learning — a mode aimed at live or interactive instruction.
- World Languages — language-related capability, tied to the platform's accessibility and translation emphasis.
- GIF Creator — turn video into short looping GIFs.
- Video Editor — edit recordings after capture.
- Exporting and Embedding — get video out of the tool and into where your audience is.
- Google Drive Integration — store and manage recordings through Drive.
- Collaboration and Custom Branding — work with others and apply your own branding.
- Video Analytics — see how viewers engage with your videos.
Interactive video: the part that goes beyond recording
The site's headline capability is creating interactive video, described as content that makes communication and learning "more engaging, accessible, and personalized." Two mechanisms stand out:
Interactive Questions. You can add questions to video content, turning any video into an assignment. The site describes "easy workflows for adding questions and grading," so the value is in assessment — you're not just sending a video, you're checking whether it was understood.
AI-powered translation. The site notes that video improves accessibility because viewers can pause, rewatch, and use AI-powered translation. This matters if your audience includes multilingual learners.
There's also Submit, which lets students create their own videos. The site frames this as collecting video assignments and helping students practice skills, reflect, build a portfolio, and learn by doing.
Who it's for
Screencastify organizes its audience into distinct groups, which tells you who the product is designed around:
| Audience | What they use it for |
|---|---|
| Teachers | Recording lessons, sub plans, training videos, station rotations |
| Students | Creating and submitting video assignments, building portfolios |
| Schools & districts | Deploying video across a school or district |
| Principals, technology specialists | Supporting instruction and assessment at scale |
| Business teams (sales, engineering, support, design, project management, legal, marketing, product) | Training, how-tos, and internal communication |
| Creators | General video creation |
The site also points to a library of 1,000+ standards-aligned videos and lesson resources, browsable by standards — a signal that the education offering extends beyond the recording tool itself.
How to decide if it fits your situation
Choose Screencastify if:
- You work in education and want a recorder that integrates with Google Classroom, Schoology, or Canvas.
- You need to turn videos into graded assignments with embedded questions.
- You want browser-based recording without managing desktop installs across many devices.
- Your audience is multilingual and would benefit from AI translation.
Look elsewhere or check further if:
- You need heavy professional video production — the tool is positioned around instruction, training, and communication rather than cinematic editing.
- You're evaluating cost: the site has a Pricing page and a "Start creating free" option, but the specific plan limits and prices aren't detailed in the material here, so check the pricing page directly before committing.
Getting started
The site offers a "Start creating free" entry point and a separate "Contact Sales" path for schools and organizations. If you're an individual educator or creator, the free start is the natural first step; if you're evaluating it for a school or district, the sales route is where deployment questions get answered.