How does CleanShot compare with other Screenshot Tool apps?
4 apps · 8 factors
Scored for the goal: Find a Mac screenshot and screen recording tool that annotates, captures scrolling pages and shares a link fast, without paying a subscription.
Quick answer
From the sourced cells below · nobody pays for a position
Buy once, no subscription
Xnapper
$29.99 one-time
Free to use
Snapzy
Free
Compare
One judgement per cell. Click a row to read every app’s answer; click a cell to open that answer’s sources.
 100%fit | 100%fit |  76%Misses Current price | 100%Scrolling capture unknown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase | ||||
| Current priceNo subscription★ | $35 once +7 | Free | $60/yr +5 | $29.99 once +6 |
| Screenshot | ||||
| Scrolling captureYes★ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Video / GIF recordingYes★ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Cloud upload / share linksYes★ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ! |
| Annotation toolsHas Arrows, Text★ | ArrowTextRectangle+16 | SelectionArrowsText+12 | CropResizeDrawing+12 | ArrowsShapesRectangles+5 |
| Features | ||||
| Automatic link copyingYes★ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| Capture shortcutsYes | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ |
| Product | ||||
| What it does | Best screenshot and screen… | Native macOS app | All-in-one and trustworthy app… | Xnapper takes beautiful screenshots… |
Head to head
Two apps side by side, full answers, nothing truncated. Swap either side.
Website: Basic USD 35 once/1 Mac, 59/2 Macs, 139/5 Macs, 269/10 Macs; perpetual use with 12 months of updates, optional update renewal USD 19/year. Pro USD 120/user/year or USD 12/user/month (monthly price independently corroborated). Setapp: Mac USD 14.99/month; Mac + iOS USD 18.99/month; Power User USD 22.99/month for 4 Macs; annual totals and other membership tiers unverified. Mac App Store (US): matching listing not verified. No ongoing free app tier documented.
Website: Community $0, free forever with all features and free updates. Optional Supporter donations: pay what you want, one-time or monthly through GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi; no fixed price or paid feature tier. Mac App Store (US): no official listing found.
Yes — capture full pages or long content as one image; vertical and horizontal scrolling, with Auto-Scroll available. Officially works in every app; included in Basic and Pro. No capture-size limits or app exclusions stated.
Yes — free scrolling-area capture stitches frames into one long image while you scroll manually or use Auto Scroll. Exclude fixed headers, sidebars and footers. Auto Scroll needs Accessibility permission and the pointer inside the selection; it finishes at the bottom or an unspecified height limit and stops if alignment repeatedly fails.
Yes — record a window, custom screen area, or fullscreen as MP4 (H.264) video or GIF; adjustable quality, FPS, and resolution.
Yes — free full-screen, selected-region or application recording with system audio and microphone. Export MP4 or animated GIF; the official walkthrough also lists MOV. Offers 30/60 fps, trimming and custom dimensions, without watermarks or time limits. Version 2.0 adds an optional recording-resolution cap for browser compatibility.
Yes — upload screenshots and recordings to CleanShot Cloud for shareable links. Basic includes 1 GB with the one-time app purchase; no separate subscription is required. Pro subscription adds unlimited storage, custom branding, and team features.
Yes — manually upload screenshots, videos and GIFs to your own S3-compatible bucket, Cloudflare R2 or Google Drive; Snapzy automatically copies a direct share link. Custom domains and storage lifecycle expiration are supported. Included free without a Snapzy subscription; a separate storage account is required and provider charges may apply.
Arrow, text, filled rectangle, rectangle, line, ellipse, highlighter, counter (step marks), pencil, spotlight, pixelate, blur, solid redaction, crop, resize, frame, rotate, flip, backgrounds, color picker, and combine images.
Selection, arrows, text, highlighter, rectangles, filled rectangles, ovals, lines, blur, counters, watermark, pencil/freeform, callouts, crop, 3D mockups, remove background, auto-crop. Crop and mockup backgrounds require the full editor.
Yes — use the included CleanShot Cloud account and upload from the capture overlay, or configure an After Capture upload action; the share link copies automatically when uploading starts. Screenshots and recordings/GIFs supported. Basic: 1 GB; Pro: unlimited storage. Soft monthly guidelines: Basic 300 uploads/5 GB bandwidth; Pro 3,000/100 GB. Videos recorded outside CleanShot are excluded by fair-use policy.
Yes — automatically copies the shareable link after a manual screenshot, video or GIF upload. Connect your own S3-compatible storage, Cloudflare R2 or Google Drive; upload through Quick Access or ⌘U in the editors. Included free; storage-provider charges may apply.
Yes — configurable capture shortcuts, including a single All-In-One shortcut; function keys supported. Included in Basic and Pro. Explicit official confirmation of operation while another app is active, and a complete list of customization restrictions, remain unverified.
Yes — global capture shortcuts work while other apps are active (e.g. ⌘⇧3 fullscreen, ⌘⇧4 area). Every shortcut can be remapped or disabled in Preferences → Shortcuts, with system conflict warnings. Requires Accessibility permission; disable conflicting macOS screenshot shortcuts or remap Snapzy's. Free; no paid tier required.
CleanShot X is the best screenshot and screen recording app for Mac with a built-in annotation tool, Cloud uploading, scrolling capture, and a lot more.
Snapzy is a native macOS app for capturing stunning screenshots and screen recordings. Create, edit, and share beautiful visuals in seconds.
Releases
Each dot is a release. The hatched bar runs from the last release to today; its color says whether that gap is normal for the app.
Every app with a dated changelog is shipping at its usual pace.
Score
A reference score weighted by the priorities set for this research. Nobody pays for placement.
Reference score
Priority-weighted · 83% evidence · 3 must-have · 3 important
| App | Score | Payment | Price | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24pts | One-time · Subscription | Free · $35 | 8 / 8 |
| 24pts | Free · One-time | Free | 8 / 8 |
| 16pts | Free · Subscription | Free · $6/mo | 6 / 8 |
| 11pts | Free · One-time | Free · $29.99 | 5 / 8 |
Sources
Where every claim comes from, when it was checked, and how to report an error.
How this report was made
Every cell links to the page it came from. Nobody pays to change a score.
- Report ID
- TMA-0WDGDIF
- Sources
- 35
- Verified cells
- 28/32 (88%)
- Last checked
- Oct 15, 2026
- Reading saved
- ≈ 2.5 h
Scoring
Must-have factors weigh 5 and important ones 3; only these are scored, or the first five factors if none are marked. An app earns a factor's weight only when a cited source confirms it, and unknown cells count for no one. A pick is named only when the lead is larger than everything still unresolved could swing. Reading time assumes about 4 minutes per source. Full methodology
Corrections
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