FAQ

Is CaptureFlow really free and open source?

Yes — it's AGPL-3.0-only and fully self-hostable. Every feature ships in the open-source build. There is an optional managed-hosting tier for people who'd rather not run their own infrastructure, but it doesn't unlock any extra features — it's just hosting.

Do viewers need an account to watch?

No, not for public recordings — they play in any browser. Private and workspace recordings require the viewer to sign in (or request access). See Sharing & visibility.

What platforms does the recorder run on?

The recorder is macOS today (Apple Silicon and Intel) — it uses native macOS capture APIs. The dashboard and share/snap pages are cross-platform and work in any modern browser on any OS.

Where are my recordings stored?

On a self-hosted instance, in your Cloudflare account: video/poster/snap files in R2, metadata in D1. Nothing goes to a third party you didn't configure.

How is the share link ready so fast?

The recording uploads while you record (a streaming multipart upload), so by the time you stop, the bytes are already in storage and only a quick finalize step remains. See How it works.

Can I use my own domain?

Yes. The defaults assume captureflow.xyz, but you can point the Worker and CDN at any domain you control — edit the vars in apps/web/wrangler.jsonc. See Deploy to Cloudflare.

What's a "snap"?

A screenshot that shares exactly like a recording — capture, get an instant link, done. See Snaps.

Do I need a Cloudflare paid plan?

Not to start. The free tiers cover light usage, though R2 requires a card on file even on the free tier, and a video-heavy workload will reach R2 limits first. See Storage & limits.

How do I self-host it?

Follow Self-Hosting → Overview and the Deploy to Cloudflare runbook. The only required secret is BETTER_AUTH_SECRET.

How do I contribute?

See Contributing. You'll need to sign the CLA.