# Bandicam — Lightweight Game & Screen Recorder for Windows PC - **Name:** Bandicam — Lightweight Game & Screen Recorder for Windows PC - **Version:** 27.0.7.2687 - **Developer:** Bandicam Company - **License:** Shareware / Trial - **Platform:** Windows - **Requires:** Windows 10 / 11 - **File type:** EXE Installer - **Size:** 60.5 MB - **Category:** Video Editing & VFX - **Updated:** 2026-10-31 - **SHA-256:** c9fab702f00dc71bfd07c54bf04e8135423479d17be51a78b53cbcdd95cf8133 - **Canonical page:** https://filecobra.com/app/bandicam-pc/ - **Download page:** https://filecobra.com/download/bandicam-pc/ - **Direct download:** https://dl.bandicam.com/bdcamsetup.exe > Bandicam 27.0.7 records games, screen regions, webcams and HDMI devices on Windows, using NVENC, Quick Sync and AMD AMF encoders to keep frame-rate loss low while you play for tutorials, lessons and quick captures alike. Bandicam 27.0.7.2687 captures DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan games, any screen region, webcam overlays and HDMI devices such as capture cards. Hardware encoding via NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync and AMD AMF keeps the frame-rate cost small during play, and you can draw annotations in real time while recording. The free build is limited to non-commercial use, stamps a watermark and caps each recording at 10 minutes; a paid per-PC licence removes both limits. ## Inside Bandicam: game capture that stays out of the way Bandicam's core trick is capturing the game itself rather than filming your desktop. Its game recording mode hooks into DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan titles, so the recorder follows the game window even at high frame rates, while separate screen mode handles any region, window or full display for tutorials and presentations. Real-time drawing sits on top of both: you can underline a setting, circle an enemy position or sketch a diagram mid-recording instead of adding annotations later in an editor. Webcam overlay places your camera feed in a corner with chroma options, and device mode records HDMI sources such as consoles and capture cards through the same interface. Encoding is where the low impact comes from. Choosing NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync or AMD AMF moves compression to dedicated hardware, so the CPU stays free for the game. You still choose the trade-offs that matter — frame rate, resolution, quality and file format — but the defaults are sane enough that a first recording usually looks right without a settings deep-dive first. ## Who Bandicam suits — and who should start elsewhere Bandicam suits Windows players who want gameplay footage without learning a broadcast suite, teachers recording short explained clips, and anyone capturing a webcam or HDMI device occasionally. Its simplicity is the product: open it, pick a mode, press record. The paid licence makes sense for creators publishing regularly from one main PC, because it removes the watermark and the ten-minute cap that define the free build. Start elsewhere if your needs contradict those limits. Streamers who also broadcast live, record multiple scenes and sources, or need everything free should begin with OBS Studio, which records without watermarks or time caps but demands far more setup. Mac and Linux users cannot use Bandicam at all, since it is Windows-only. Likewise, anyone recording commercially on several machines should price the per-PC licences honestly before committing, because that cost grows quickly. Judged on its own terms — fast, light, simple Windows capture — Bandicam delivers exactly what it promises, as long as you respect the free build's boundaries. ## A real Bandicam session: recording a boss fight and a tutorial Picture a typical evening session. You launch a Vulkan game, switch Bandicam to game mode, confirm NVENC is selected, and press the record hotkey as the boss fight starts; the small frame counter confirms capture without covering the action. Because encoding runs on the graphics card, the fight stays fluid, and the finished clip shows the detail you actually saw rather than a slideshow. Afterwards you switch to screen mode, frame just the game's settings window, enable the webcam overlay and use real-time drawing to circle the option you changed, narrating a two-minute fix for a friend. Both jobs took one program and no project setup. The free build's limits shape the session, though: the tutorial fits comfortably, but a forty-minute raid would be chopped into ten-minute pieces with a watermark on each. That is the honest dividing line in practice — short, casual and test recordings feel effortless for free, while anything long or publishable pushes you towards the licence. ## Installation 1. **Download the Bandicam installer** — Get bdcamsetup.exe from the official Bandicam download page and save it to your Downloads folder. Check the file name matches before running it, and avoid repackaged copies from third-party download sites. 2. **Run bdcamsetup.exe and install** — Double-click bdcamsetup.exe, approve the Windows prompt, choose your language and accept the licence agreement. Keep the default install folder unless you have a reason to change it, then let the wizard finish. 3. **Pick a recording mode and test** — Launch Bandicam, choose Screen Recording or Game Recording mode, set your webcam and microphone options, then record a short test clip. Play it back to confirm audio levels and check whether the free watermark and ten-minute limit suit your needs. ## Editorial verdict Bandicam earns its popularity honestly: few Windows recorders capture fast DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan games this smoothly while asking so little of your PC. Hardware encoding through NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync or AMD AMF means long sessions stay playable, and real-time drawing, webcam overlay and HDMI capture cover tutorials, lessons and console footage without extra tools or complicated setup. The catch is the free build, which is genuinely limited rather than quietly generous. Every free recording carries a watermark, each clip stops at ten minutes, and free use is non-commercial only, so creators earning from footage need the paid licence. If you record short clips to test it, or you pay once for a single PC, Bandicam is an easy recommendation; if you need free, unlimited, watermark-free recording, look at OBS Studio first. In short, budget for the licence if recording is regular work, and treat the free build as a generous test drive rather than the finished product for publishing creators. ### Strengths - Bandicam captures DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan games directly, so fast-paced gameplay records smoothly without the stutter and dropped frames many generic screen recorders produce during demanding scenes. - Hardware encoders for NVIDIA NVENC, Intel Quick Sync and AMD AMF shift compression onto the graphics hardware, keeping the frame-rate impact noticeably low while you keep playing normally. - Real-time drawing and annotation tools let you highlight, underline and sketch directly over the recording, which makes software tutorials and recorded lessons far clearer for viewers following along. - Separate modes for screen regions, full display, webcam and HDMI devices mean one small program handles gameplay, presentations, video calls and capture-card footage without installing several different tools. - The interface stays deliberately simple, with a visible recording timer, pause control and hotkeys, so a first-time user can start a clean capture within a minute of installing it. ### Trade-offs - The free build stamps a visible watermark on every recording and stops each clip after ten minutes, which makes longer sessions genuinely awkward to publish. - Bandicam runs only on Windows, so anyone who also records on a Mac or Linux machine must learn and maintain a second recorder elsewhere. - The paid licence is tied to one PC, so recording regularly on both a desktop and a laptop means buying two separate licences. ## FAQ **Is Bandicam free?** The download itself is free, but it is a limited shareware build rather than a fully free recorder. Free recordings carry a Bandicam watermark, each recording stops after ten minutes, and the free licence covers non-commercial use only. Paying for a licence removes the watermark and the time cap and allows commercial work, so treat the free version as a proper trial. **Why does Bandicam add a watermark to free recordings?** The watermark marks footage made with the free, non-commercial build and is Bandicam Company's way of separating trial use from paid use. It is burned into the video itself, so it cannot be switched off in settings afterwards. Recording the same session again after activating a paid licence produces clean footage, but existing watermarked files stay watermarked. **Does the watermark stay after you buy Bandicam?** No, recordings you make after activating a paid licence are clean, with no watermark and no ten-minute limit. The catch is that the change is not retroactive: clips already recorded with the free build keep their watermark permanently because it was rendered into the video frames. Re-record anything important after upgrading if you need a publishable copy. **Is Bandicam free for commercial use?** No. Bandicam's own free-versus-full comparison limits the free build to non-commercial use, so monetised YouTube videos, client work, training sold to customers and other paid projects need a paid licence. The licence is sold per PC, so budget for each machine you record on commercially rather than assuming one purchase covers a whole desk setup. **Is there a time limit for recording with Bandicam?** Yes, in the free build each individual recording is capped at ten minutes, after which recording stops. The paid licence removes that cap, letting you record long gameplay sessions, lectures or meetings in a single file. Until you upgrade, plan around the limit by recording in deliberate segments and joining the clips together in a video editor afterwards. --- Source: https://filecobra.com/app/bandicam-pc/ · Mirrored from the publisher's own release channel by FileCobra. FileCobra runs no antivirus lab of its own.