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NVIDIA ShadowPlay vs Xbox Game Bar: catalog facts
NVIDIA ShadowPlay	Xbox Game Bar
Free Free with a supported NVIDIA GPU.	Free Free and included with Windows.
Windows	Windows
Hardware-accelerated recording built into the NVIDIA App Instant replay captures recent gameplay after the fact	Already present on Windows, opened with Win+G Records game and app video without extra software
Requires a supported NVIDIA GPU Windows only	Windows only Focused on games rather than general screen recording
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Closed source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.