Both formats show your product. They differ in control, cost and how long they stay accurate.

Screen recording

  • Pros: honest, fast, shows the real product.
  • Cons: tiny text, shaky cursor, loading delays, and it goes stale after the next release.

UI animation

  • Pros: zooms, highlights and clean transitions. You can show a feature before it ships.
  • Cons: more design and motion work, and it needs good design files.

How to choose

  • Tutorial or docs video? Record it.
  • Homepage or launch video? Animate it.
  • UI changing soon? Animate from separate layers so one screen can be swapped.

A blended video often works best: a polished animated overview, then a short real clip to prove it is the actual product.

More detail: UI animation vs screen recording.