Webcam Software

Most of the software listed here, except for Windows Media Encoder, is intended for single snapshot style webcam pages of the type I have on my site. There are many other commercial products available for streaming, video conferencing, security monitoring and speciality purposes. I don't use any of those, have no experience with them, hence, I don't list them here.

Do you have a favorite webcam program you would like to see listed here? Drop me a note with the name and website address. If the program seems to be decent and is not too expensive I may post it. Don't bother to submit speciality software or single purpose programs such as those intended for viewing over cell phones. If I can't install it on an old computer to try out, I'm not interested in testing it.

• Windows Media Encoder Free,
  Microsoft product. Live streaming and recording only, no still captures
• Tin Cam $19.00. My current preferred program.
  Works well, but some of the menus are a bit confusing. Will run multiple cameras on same computer. Streaming available.
• VisionGS Pro $29.95 (Free limited feature version available)
  Will run multiple cameras on same computer. Streaming available. Difficult to understand much of the setup
• booruWebcam Free, a simple program which works, mostly.
  There is a bug in version 2. If you have the preview window open and try to open the Options dialogue, the program may crash. Work around may help: Close the preview window at least 15 seconds before trying to open the Options dialogue. I have tried to contact the author about this, but have received no response.
• Conquer Cam $10.00 (no updates since September 2003)
  Recommend downloading and trying version 2.6.0.29 first. Version 2.7b3 is buggy, but you may need 2.7b if you have one of the newer cameras. May need to run as administrator in Windows Vista
• SpyCam $15.00
  The software I used back in 1998 for my first camera. Still being updated but somewhat limited in flexibility
• Dorgem Free
  Decent program, simple to use but current version has some limitations. Website says it will handle multiple cameras, but I don't see how without starting several instances of the program. Will only capture images up to 640x480. This may be a limit caused by Video for Windows. No thumbnails.
• KABcam $24.95
  A fair program with lots of options. Website says it will handle multiple cameras and see the read me file, but there is no read me file included and nothing in the help file on this. Thumbnails and email sending available.
• Fwink Free.
  Simple free program that seems to work nicely. Somewhat limited in configurations.
• Willing Webcam $29.95-49.95
  Many options available, but I found the coding to be inefficiently written. Ran slowly and difficult to understand many of the options.
• Digi Watcher $39.00
  Geared primarily for video surveillance use
• YAWcam Free, asking for donations
  Simple but very flexible, lots of options, seems to run smoothly, written in Java, single camera only.

• Privat-Webcam $19.00 to $69.00 depending on version
• Webcam XP $39.95 to $99.95
• Webcam DV $20.00 (Use a DV camera for your webcam