Linux users often find themselves in a quest for a quality webcam app for their system due to the growing demand for remote work, virtual meetings, and online content creation. Webcam applications are not limited to capturing photos and recording videos but also cater to the need for video conferencing and professional streaming. Here, we show you the five best webcam apps for your Linux system.
Webcamoid is a free, fully-featured webcam suite for Linux that enables you to take pictures and record videos, and supports loads of recording formats and effects.
If you’ve got a multiple camera setup, Webcamoid allows you to manage multi-cam and offers separate controls for each of them. Moreover, it allows you to create virtual cams for feeding video recordings to other programs.
Webcamoid is cross-platform compatible, and is available for Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, and FreeBSD.
Webcamoid offers more than 60 interesting effects to apply to your webcam videos, making it fun to use. Furthermore, it allows you to use custom networks and local files as capture devices.
Overall, if you are looking for a simple webcam app that enables you to manage multiple cameras, including virtual cameras, in one place, Webcamoid is the one for you.
If you’re interested in trying Webcamoid in your Linux system use this snap command:
Note: You must have Snap installed in your system before running the above command.
Alternatively, you can run any of the following commands according to your distro to install Webcamoid on your system:
Kamoso is an open-source, user-friendly webcam app that allows you to capture pictures and record videos. It is developed and maintained by the KDE community, specially for the KDE desktop.
One interesting feature of Kamoso is its tight integration with social media platforms. You can easily share images and videos on social platforms including Facebook and YouTube.
Kamoso not only captures your pictures but also allows you to view them all at a glance, arranging them in chronological order.
Kamoso’s efficient performance and seamless integration with the KDE desktop and other applications is probably its best-selling point. It’s ideal for anyone with old hardware due to its low resource usage. While it does provide some effects and settings such as resolution and frame rate, it lacks fancy editing options.
Overall, if you’re a KDE fan looking for a simple webcam app, Kamoso is the one for you.
You can install Kamoso on your Linux system using this flatpak command:
Note: You must have Flatpak installed on your system before executing the above command.
Alternatively, you can use the following snap command to install Kamoso in your system:
Cheese is an open-source lightweight webcam app that comes pre-installed in many popular Linux distributions. It’s perfect for capturing photos and recording videos via your built-in or external webcams.
Cheese’s name perfectly depicts one of its coolest features – the countdown timer. It gives you enough time to strike the perfect pose before capturing pictures or videos. Moreover, it offers burst mode that enables you to capture multiple photos in quick succession.
Cheese’s simple interface, seamless integration with the GNOME desktop, fun 35+ effects, are some of the features that make it stands out.
Overall, if you’re looking for a simple yet effective webcam tool that enables you to take pictures and videos, and also apply fancy effects, try Cheese. As it comes pre-installed in many distros, you don’t have to go an extra mile to try it. Say Cheese and enjoy your pictures.
In case your system doesn’t come with the Cheese webcam app by default, install it by using this snap command:
Alternatively, you can run any of the following commands to install Cheese on your distro:
Motion is a lightweight, open-source, popular motion detection webcam app that enables you to monitor video signals from one or multiple cameras and triggers a script in case of defined motion (activity). Despite being a command-line utility, Motion allows you to monitor the live stream of cameras via a web browser.
Motion supports numerous databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. You can configure any of these databases to store activity logs.
Additionally, it allows you to move the camera in a pan (left-right) or tilt (down-up) position at certain degrees, making it easier to cover a wider area. You can utilize it to monitor your pets or birds’ movement in your lawn.
Motion works well with numerous devices, such as:
Motion is best used for its motion detection, alert system, and streaming support. Moreover, it offers many customization settings for your cameras, including sensitivity, frame rates, recording duration, automatic noise control, and threshold control. It can be used for various use cases, such as pet monitoring or forest surveillance.
Side Note: Recently, Motion has even released MotionPlus with additional features.
If you’re looking for an open-source motion detector software for your Linux system, Motion is the one for you. Additionally, you can use it to create aesthetic time-lapse videos.
Motion is included in Ubuntu/Debian official repository, so you can install it in Ubuntu/Debian with the following command:
Alternatively, you can build Motion via its source code to enjoy it on your Linux system.
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After installing Motion, execute motion -h command to see its usage details:
If you are a broadcaster, OBS Studio is the one for you. It is a popular open-source webcam app for you to record your screen and broadcast it. Additionally, you can record and mix audio and videos in real time. Moreover, it offers loads of advanced settings and features, including support for all popular streaming platforms, customizable layouts and transitions, an audio mixer with per-source filters, and multiview of your scenes.
OBS Studio is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS.
Note: You can create unlimited scenes from multiple sources and easily switch between them via custom transitions using OBS Studio.
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The best part of OBS Studio is its advanced streaming capabilities, including multi-platform streaming and scene switching. Furthermore, it offers support for extensive plugins for adding additional functionality and customization options.
Many popular content creators, gamers, and professionals use OBS Studio to make quality content and live streams. It is definitely the go-to tool for content creation or live-streaming.
You can install OBS Studio on your Ubuntu via PPA. To do so, first execute the following commands to add its repository and update your system:
Then, run the command mentioned below to install OBS Studio in your system:
To install it on any Linux system, you can use this flatpak command:
To decide which webcam application suits you best, you need to know what you need it for in the first place. Are you looking for a simple webcam app for capturing photos or videos, or do you need a surveillance webcam or a motion detector? Then, decide which webcam suits you the best.
If you wish to try these webcam apps but don’t have a webcam, did you know you can use your phone as a webcam? So, don’t stop yourself from trying out these apps. If I’ve missed any app that you think should be in the top 5 webcam apps, do comment it in the comments.
Image credit: Hillary Black via Unsplash. All alterations and screenshots by Nimrah Chaudhry.
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With 2+ years of experience, I’m a technical writer holding a Bachelor’s in Software Engineering and Cyber Security Certification. I’m passionate about simplifying Linux complexities into bite-sized wisdom for the community.
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