Searching for whether Medal Premium is worth it usually comes down to one worry: will my clips get a watermark if I stay free? The answer from Medal's own support pages is clear. The file Medal saves on your PC never carries a watermark.
The watermark, the 20 minute upload cap and the 1080p ceiling all apply to what you upload to Medal's servers, not to what you record. That changes the real question from do I need Premium to get clean clips to how much of my clipping happens inside Medal's cloud.
This guide puts the free (Core) plan and Premium side by side using the official Premium page, the Premium FAQ, the Medal Cloud FAQ and the watermark FAQ, all checked on November 12, 2026, then sorts players into who is fine on free and who gets real value from paying.
If you are still choosing between Medal and a recorder you set up yourself, our Medal vs OBS comparison explains how each one saves clips, and the Medal alternatives roundup looks at other auto clipping tools.
Free or Premium: the short answer
Stay on free if your clips live on your PC. You record with Medal, open the file from your clips folder, trim it in any editor and upload it to YouTube, TikTok or Discord yourself. Those files are not watermarked, and paying for Premium does not change how they are recorded.
Free also covers sending friends a quick link, as long as they watch it within two weeks or you post the clip to your profile. Consider Premium if Medal is both your library and your sharing platform.
That means uploading full matches longer than 20 minutes, sharing at the quality you recorded instead of 1080p, downloading your uploaded clips back without the watermark, or moving clips to Medal Cloud to free up disk space.
The 14 day trial is long enough to test exactly those cases before you pay anything. If clean local files are your main goal whatever the app, our guide to free recorders that save without a watermark compares more options.
Medal free (Core) vs Premium (as of November 12, 2026)
| Feature | Free (Core) | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Recording saved on your PC | No watermark | No watermark |
| Downloading an uploaded clip | Downloads with a watermark | Your own clips download without the watermark |
| Upload length | Up to 20 minutes per clip | 20 minute cap removed (the Premium FAQ lists up to 24 hours) |
| Upload quality | Up to 1080p and 60 fps | Up to 4K and 144 fps, original capture quality |
| Shared links | Expiring links last 14 days unless posted to your profile | Shared clips stay in the cloud until you delete them |
| Cloud Sync and storage | Not available | Manual or automatic sync, unlimited cloud storage |
| Ads and extras | Ads shown | No ads, auto subtitles in the Medal Editor, priority chat support, animated avatar and banner |
| Trial | Not applicable | 14 day free trial, one per Medal account |
Quick check: is the free plan enough for you?
- You edit clips from your PC folder and upload them yourself: free is enough, because local files are never watermarked.
- You send friends links they watch the same week: free is enough. For links that should last, use Post to Profile so they never expire.
- You want to upload full matches or sessions longer than 20 minutes to Medal: that needs Premium.
- You record at 1440p or 144 fps and want shared clips to keep that quality: Premium uploads up to 4K and 144 fps.
- Your drive keeps filling up and you want clips stored online instead: Cloud Sync is Premium only. If you mostly share in Discord, see our Discord clips guide too.
How to test Premium with the free trial
- 1Note what you actually do with clipsFor a few days, watch whether you share Medal links or files. If almost every clip leaves Medal as a file, the trial will not show you much.
- 2Look at your recent uploadsThe free limits of 20 minutes, 1080p and 60 fps only apply to clips you upload to Medal's servers. If your recent uploads are short and 1080p or lower, those limits rarely touch you, so set aside a longer or higher quality clip to test during the trial.
- 3Start the trialOn desktop or web, click Try Premium Free in the left sidebar. On iOS or Android, tap the Medal Premium icon at the top left and choose Monthly or Yearly. Every plan starts with a 14 day free trial and each Medal account gets one. Medal does not list a price on its Premium page, so check the amount shown on the subscription screen in your currency before confirming.
- 4Test only the features you would pay forUpload a match longer than 20 minutes, share a clip at your recording quality, download an uploaded clip and switch on Cloud Sync. If none of these matter after a week, free is enough for you.
- 5Keep or cancel before the trial endsOn desktop, go to Settings, Subscription Billing, Manage Subscription, then Cancel plan. On Android cancel in Google Play, and on iOS cancel through your Apple subscriptions.
If you mostly use local files: where DOR fits
If the checklist shows your clips live on your PC, it is worth comparing a recorder built around that workflow. DOR is a free Windows game recording app. When you launch a supported game it detects it and records the whole match, and every recording lands in My Clips.
In seven games it also cuts highlight clips from in game events: kills, multikills and objectives in League of Legends, kills with ace and clutch tags in VALORANT, plus PUBG, FC Online, Fortnite, CS2 and Overwatch. In other games you keep the full recording and trim the moment you want yourself.
The free plan records at 720p or 1080p and 30 or 60 fps. Recordings saved on your PC and automatic event clips carry no watermark; on the free plan, re-encoded exports, 1:1 crops and DOR Studio results get one, which DOR Pro removes.
In DOR Studio you can merge clips, switch to 9:16, add text, BGM and effect templates, then export an mp4 or share a dor.gg link. See what each game supports on the VALORANT page and the League of Legends page, or read how automatic highlight clips compare.
