NVIDIA ShadowPlay vs Razer Game Clips
NVIDIA ShadowPlay
nvidia.comRazer Game Clips
razer.comSide by side
| Figure | NVIDIA ShadowPlay | Razer Game Clips |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Graphics optimisers | 8.2 (#8) | 8.4 (#6) |
| Spec score · Game recording software | 8.2 (#10) | 8.7 (#5) |
| Automatic highlights | NVIDIA Highlights automatically captures key moments, clutch kills, and match-winning plays. | Auto-Clipping detects supported events such as eliminations, multi-kills, clutch wins and victories. |
| Founded | 1993 | 2005 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, United States | Irvine, California, and Singapore |
| Instant Replay | ShadowPlay Instant Replay can save the last 30 seconds of gameplay. | Yes |
| Recording modes | multi-mode | multi-mode |
| Supported platforms | Windows | Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| What it does | NVIDIA describes the app as a companion for PC gamers and creators that updates drivers, optimizes games and applications, and provides recording tools through an in-game overlay. | Razer Game Clips is a Razer Cortex feature for automatic highlight capture and manual gameplay recording. |
Plans
In their own words
NVIDIA ShadowPlay
NVIDIA ShadowPlay is a free Windows companion app for PC gamers and creators, combining driver updates, game and application optimization, and recording tools in an in-game overlay. Manual recording supports up to 8K HDR at 30 fps or 4K HDR at 120 fps; NVIDIA describes the performance impact as minimal. Automatic Highlights captures key moments, and overlay metrics include FPS, GPU and CPU utilization, FPS 1% Low, and system latency. GeForce RTX 40-series GPU owners can record with AV1 encoding. The app also includes a GPU control center for graphics settings and tuning, Freestyle filters for supported games, and ways to discover and launch selected NVIDIA apps. Requirements include Windows 10 or 11, a GeForce RTX 20, 30, 40, or 50 Series GPU, driver 551.52 or later, 2 GB of system memory, and 600 MB of disk space. Signing in is optional; NVIDIA says login enables users to redeem GPU bundles and rewards.
Razer Game Clips
Razer Game Clips is a gameplay recording feature in Razer Cortex for capturing and viewing highlights. It supports manual clipping with a hotkey and automatic highlight detection for selected titles, and saves gameplay moments in HD. Clips can be watched on a PC, synced to cloud storage at no extra cost, kept in a game clips library and shared to social platforms. The feature supports instant replay and multi-mode recording. Razer says background recording has minimal system impact alongside Cortex performance boosting. Listed supported games include Battlefield 6, Overwatch, Counter-Strike 2, DOTA 2, VALORANT, League of Legends, Delta Force and Street Fighter 6. The supported operating systems are Windows 10 (64-bit) and Windows 11. Game Clips is free. To enable capture, users need to download Razer Cortex and sign in with or create a Razer ID. The maker’s headquarters are listed in Irvine, California, and Singapore, and its founding year is 2005.