Best Screenshot and Screen Recording Tools for Mac

The short answer. CleanShot X is the polished all-rounder if you are happy to pay once and want the whole workflow in one app. Shottr is the one to install first if you want a fast native tool with a generous free tier, annotation, scrolling capture and OCR. macshot is the open-source choice and the only one here that redacts personal information automatically — the reason to pick it if your captures contain anything sensitive. Snipaste is worth it if the pin-a-capture-on-screen habit is already yours. BetterCapture is for recording rather than stills.

This guide covers 10 screenshot and screen recording tools for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment. Last verified 2026-10-16.

Quick comparison

What actually decides this

• Capture versus record. A still and a video are different workflows with different tools underneath. Some apps do both adequately; some do one well. Decide which you actually need before comparing feature lists.
• Scrolling capture. Capturing something taller than the screen is the feature that separates the tools, and the one that fails most often. A scrolling capture that stitches badly is worse than none.
• Annotation depth. Most people need a rectangle, an arrow and a text label. If your work involves redaction, measurement or numbered steps, that is a different requirement and worth checking specifically.
• Where the capture goes. An upload or share link turns a screenshot into a URL, and a URL is public unless it is scoped. Where a tool sends your image, and who can reach it, is a privacy decision disguised as a convenience feature.
• Whether it redacts properly. Drawing a black box over text leaves the text underneath it. A tool that removes the pixels is doing something different from a tool that covers them, and the difference matters for anything you publish.

Our picks

• CleanShot X — It aims at the whole workflow rather than one part of it, and it is sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. Choose it when you want one paid app to cover capture, annotation, recording and sharing.
• Shottr — It covers annotation, scrolling capture, on-device OCR, a screen ruler and a colour picker, with upload destinations, all in a lightweight native app. Choose it when you want a fast native tool with a free tier and do not need video.
• macshot — It is open source and includes automatic redaction of personal information alongside a large annotation set and a built-in video editor. Choose it when your captures may contain personal or confidential information.
• Snipaste — It is built around the pin: snip, then paste the capture back as a floating window you can zoom, rotate and annotate. Choose it when you work by pinning a reference capture on screen while you do something else.
• BetterCapture — It is an open-source screen recorder aimed at encoding quality rather than at annotation, which is the right focus if video is the output. Choose it when your need is recording rather than stills.

The apps

BetterCapture

BetterCapture is a screenshot tool for macOS. Free and open source screen recorder with professional encoding support. It is released under MIT.

What it does. Native macOS integration: Built with SwiftUI and ScreenCaptureKit, lives in your menu bar. Professional encoding: ProRes 422/4444, HEVC (H.265), and H.264 codecs with support for alpha channel and HDR. Flexible audio capture: Record system audio and microphone simultaneously. Content filtering: Exclude specific content from recordings.

BetterCapture is listed with current version 2026.4.

Full profile and verified facts for BetterCapture →

capcap

capcap is a screenshot tool for macOS. Menu bar screenshot tool where double-tapping Command captures, annotates, scrolls and pins. It is released under MIT.

Strengths. Free and open source under the MIT licence, with no subscription and no telemetry. Double-tapping the Command key captures immediately, so taking a screenshot does not start by moving the mouse. Long screenshots are stitched together as you scroll, which handles content taller than the screen.

Trade-offs. Requires macOS 14 or later and Swift 5.9; there is no Windows or Linux build. Cloud upload is bring-your-own: you connect your own image host rather than getting a hosted link out of the box. The primary README is written in Chinese, so the authoritative documentation is not in English.

Not for. Windows or Linux — capcap is macOS only.

What it does. Double-tap the Command key to capture immediately. Window and region selection with pixel-level precision and edge snapping. Long screenshots, stitched together while you scroll. Floating editor for annotation and beautifying: arrows, numbers, mosaic, highlight, text.

capcap is listed with current version 1.7.21.

Full profile and verified facts for capcap →

Capso

Capso is a screenshot tool for macOS. Open-source screenshot and screen recording tool with annotations, OCR, and webcam overlays. It is open source.

What it does. Open-source screenshot and screen recording for macOS. The free, native alternative to CleanShot X. Built with Swift 6.0 and SwiftUI.

Capso is listed with current version 1.1.2.

Full profile and verified facts for Capso →

CapSoftware

CapSoftware is a screenshot tool for macOS. An open-source alternative to Loom. Beautiful, shareable screen recording tool. It is open source.

Full profile and verified facts for CapSoftware →

Capty

Capty is a screenshot tool for macOS. Screen capture and recording tool with built-in editing and annotations. Its pricing is not published.

What it does. Capty is the all-in-one screen capture app for macOS. Take screenshots, record your Mac, iPhone & iPad, then annotate, beautify, and share with a powerful built-in editor. Try it free for 7 days.

Capty is listed with current version 2.2.0.

Full profile and verified facts for Capty →

CleanShot X

CleanShot X is a screenshot tool for macOS. Discover a superior way to capture your Mac’s screen. It is released under Proprietary. It is one-time purchase.

Strengths. According to the developer, scrolling capture works in every app and supports both vertical and horizontal scrolling, which the built-in macOS capture does not offer. According to the developer, text recognition runs entirely on-device, so OCR does not send image content off the Mac. A one-time purchase option exists: $35 for one Mac, including one year of updates, so the app can be bought without a subscription.

Trade-offs. There is no free trial; the developer offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead and notes that Setapp’s own trial is the only way to try it for free. The one-time licence includes only one year of updates and then costs $19/year to continue, while unlimited Cloud storage, custom branding and team features require the separate Pro subscription. macOS 13.0 or newer is required, and the developer states there is no Windows version and none is planned. Apple Silicon support is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks.

Not for. Anyone who wants to try before buying — there is no trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee. Windows or Linux users — the developer states there is no Windows version and none is planned. Users on macOS 12 or earlier — CleanShot X requires macOS 13.0 or newer.

What it does. Area, window, fullscreen and scrolling capture, with vertical and horizontal scrolling. Annotation editor with pixelate, blur, spotlight, counter and numbered step tools. Screen recording to MP4 or GIF with camera bubble, click and keystroke display, microphone and system audio. Studio Mode video editor with smart zooms and motion blur, introduced in version 5.0.

CleanShot X is listed with current version 5.0.1.

Full profile and verified facts for CleanShot X →

CloudApp

CloudApp is a screenshot tool for macOS. Work at the speed of sight. It is free.

Full profile and verified facts for CloudApp →

macshot

macshot is a screenshot tool for macOS. Free, GPL-3.0 native Mac screenshot and screen recording tool: 19+ annotation tools, a built-in video editor, OCR with translation, automatic PII redaction, scrolling capture and beautify. It is released under GPL-3.0.

Strengths. Free and open source under GPL-3.0, with no paid tier, subscription, account or telemetry. According to the developer, native Swift and AppKit rather than Electron, so it is small and starts quickly. According to the developer, screen recording includes a full video editor, so a clip can be trimmed without another app.

Trade-offs. Requires macOS 12.3, so older Macs are out of support. According to the developer, the 4.4.0 line is still in beta, and upgrading to it from 4.3.x can break Screen Recording permissions until the app is removed and re-added. macOS only, and not on the App Store, so updates come from GitHub or the site. Version 4.4.0 is still in beta. The developer’s signature changed at beta.3, so upgrading from 4.3.x or from beta.1/beta.2 can leave Screen Recording looking enabled while capture fails; the fix is to remove macshot in System Settings and add it back from Applications. Licensed under GPL-3.0, which is a consideration for anyone redistributing it.

Not for. Anyone who needs plugin or workflow integration with a launcher such as Raycast or Alfred, which macshot does not advertise. People on macOS 12.2 or earlier, since the current release requires macOS 12.3. Users who want a cross-platform tool, as macshot is macOS only.

What it does. Area, window and fullscreen capture, run from a menu bar app rather than a separate window. 19+ annotation tools including shapes, arrows, text and a marker pen. Automatic redaction of personally identifiable information, so credentials and names are blurred without hunting for them. Screen recording at up to 120fps, with a built-in video editor for trimming the result.

macshot is listed with current version 4.3.0.

Full profile and verified facts for macshot →

Shottr

Shottr is a screenshot tool for macOS. Fast native macOS screenshot tool with annotation, scrolling capture, on-device OCR, a screen ruler, a colour picker and S3 or iCloud upload. It is freemium.

Strengths. Free to download and use, with a one-time $12 licence rather than a subscription, and a 14-day refund window. According to the developer, native and small, and the developer states it is optimised for Apple Silicon. OCR runs on the Mac — the privacy policy states both the image and the recognised text stay on the device.

Trade-offs. A licence is required for commercial use, so the free tier is not a complete solution for work. Scrolling capture fails in Terminal, Visual Studio Code and Finder column view, where scrolling is emulated rather than native. The upload feature makes screenshots publicly readable to anyone with the URL, which rules it out for sensitive content. Commercial use requires a paid licence; the free tier only stops asking after 30 days and is not licensed for work. One Basic licence covers one user and up to five Macs, and the Friends Club tier cannot be discounted or upgraded into.

Not for. Anyone who needs a screenshot tool on Windows or Linux — the developer states those versions are unlikely, since the codebase relies on low-level macOS APIs. Teams that need the interface in a language other than English; the developer is deliberately avoiding localisation for now. Users who want an open-source tool, since Shottr is closed source and requires a licence for commercial use.

What it does. Area and fullscreen capture with a fullscreen-then-crop workflow the developer recommends over area selection. Scrolling capture for long web pages and chat threads, with a manual scrolling mode for systems where automatic capture fails. On-device OCR that reads text from an area and copies it to the clipboard, and also decodes QR codes. Annotation tools for text, freehand drawing, highlights, spotlights and arrows, plus pixelation and object removal for hiding sensitive content.

Shottr is listed with current version 1.9.3.

Full profile and verified facts for Shottr →

Snipaste

Snipaste is a screenshot tool for macOS. Screenshot tool built around pinning: snip with F1, then paste the capture back on screen as a floating window you can zoom, rotate, annotate and click through. It is released under proprietary. It is freemium.

Strengths. Free for personal use, and free for business use too on the 1.x line. According to the developer, pinned windows are the point: a capture stays on screen, on top, and can be zoomed, rotated, made translucent or clicked through. According to the developer, pins accept more than images — plain text, HTML, colour values and animated GIFs all become floating windows.

Trade-offs. According to the developer, has to stay running in the background to work, which the developer states is unavoidable given the paste model. Business use needs a paid licence from 2.0, and no price is published. According to the developer, no scrolling capture, no GIF recording and no OCR on the Mac version. Must stay running in the background. The developer states plainly that it cannot be a pure snipping tool, because paste requires it to be resident. Scrolling capture and GIF recording are not in the Mac version; the developer tracks Mac progress separately from Windows.

Not for. Anyone who needs scrolling capture, GIF recording or OCR, which the Mac version does not have. Users who want it to run only when needed — it has to stay in the background to work as a paste tool. Businesses that need a published price, since the site states the licence rule but no figure.

What it does. Snip with F1, then paste the capture back on screen with F3 as a floating always-on-top window. Pins accept images, plain text, HTML text, colour values and image files including animated GIF. Pinned windows zoom, rotate, flip, and can be made translucent or fully mouse click-through. Grouping, with auto backup and restore of pinned windows between sessions.

Snipaste is listed with current version 2.11.3.

Full profile and verified facts for Snipaste →

How to choose

• Free of charge. CloudApp — no payment is required.
• No licence fee, source available. BetterCapture, capcap, Capso, CapSoftware and macshot — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
• One-time purchase. CleanShot X — you pay once.
• Freemium. Shottr and Snipaste — free to use, with paid tiers for additional features.
• Pricing not published in our data. Capty — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.

Open source: BetterCapture, capcap, Capso, CapSoftware and macshot (5 of 10).

Common mistakes

• Buying for features you will never use. Most people need region capture and an arrow; a subscription for a whiteboard tool is money for nothing.
• Ignoring where an upload goes. A shared screenshot link is a public URL unless it expires or is scoped, and screenshots frequently contain more than the sender realises.
• Never setting a save location. The default desktop is where screenshots go to be lost, and a tool that files them for you is worth more than one that saves a click.
• Confusing a scrolling capture with a browser’s full-page screenshot. The browser captures its own page; a tool captures whatever is on screen, including other apps.

How this guide was put together

Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.

A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.

The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.

Verified 2026-10-16.