What is CleanShot X?
CleanShot X is a screenshot and screen-recording app for macOS that replaces the built-in capture tools with a single capture, annotate, record and share workflow. The feature it is best known for is scrolling capture, which grabs content taller or wider than the screen and works in every app; version 5.0 added Studio Mode, a built-in video editor with smart zooms for recordings. It is a paid, proprietary app from MTW Oślizło & Magiera, sold as a one-time purchase of $35 for one Mac that includes one year of updates, or as a yearly Cloud subscription that adds unlimited storage, custom branding and team features. There is no trial — the developer offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead. It requires macOS 13.0 or newer and is macOS-only. Choose it if you want capture, annotation and recording in one native app and are willing to pay for them.
Verified product facts
- Type
- screenshot toolEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Pricing
- One-time purchaseDeveloper-stated
- Developer
- MTW Oślizło & Magiera s.c.Developer-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- Proprietary
- Current version
- 5.0.1Developer-stated
- Official website
- cleanshot.com/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What CleanShot X does at a glance.
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
On-device text recognition (OCR) and QR code reading in 30+ languages
CleanShot Cloud upload
With one-click links, comments, password protection and optional custom domain
What you can use CleanShot X for
- Capturing content taller or wider than the screen with scrolling capture
- Annotating a screenshot with pixelate, blur, spotlight or numbered steps
- Recording the screen to MP4 or GIF with microphone and system audio
- Editing a recording with smart zooms in Studio Mode
- Copying text out of an image with on-device OCR
Who is CleanShot X for?
- People who want capture, annotation and recording in one native app and are willing to pay for them
- Users who need scrolling capture, which the built-in macOS capture does not offer
- Anyone who needs text recognition to run on-device rather than sending images off the Mac
Who is CleanShot X 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
- People who need unlimited Cloud storage or team features on the one-time licence — those require the separate Pro subscription
Limitations
- macOS 13.0 or newer is required, and the developer states there is no Windows version and none is planned
- The one-time $35 licence covers one Mac and one year of updates, then $19/year to continue
- Unlimited Cloud storage, custom branding and team features require the separate Pro subscription
- Apple Silicon support is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks
Strengths and trade-offs
What CleanShot X does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Scrolling capture works in every app and supports both vertical and horizontal scrolling, which the built-in macOS capture does not offer.Developer-stated
- Text recognition runs entirely on-device, so OCR does not send image content off the Mac.Developer-stated
- 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.
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download the .dmg from cleanshot.com and drag the app to Applications; a purchase arrives as a Paddle receipt with a licence key, and the licence can be moved to another Mac by activating it there.
- First launch Developer-stated
- After a capture a Quick Access Overlay appears in the corner of the screen with options to save, copy, annotate, upload or pin the result.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Capture shortcuts are configurable, captures can be dragged into any app, pinned as floating windows, or uploaded to CleanShot Cloud with a link.
What it does
CleanShot X is a screenshot and screen-recording app for macOS. It covers the captures macOS already offers — area, window and fullscreen — and adds scrolling capture, a built-in annotation editor, screen recording, on-device text recognition and one-click upload to CleanShot Cloud. It is a paid, proprietary app developed by MTW Oślizło & Magiera and requires macOS 13.0 or newer.
Scrolling capture
Scrolling capture is the capability the developer leads with. It grabs content taller or wider than the screen — long pages, chat histories, documents, code — and the developer states it works in every app and supports both vertical and horizontal scrolling. The built-in macOS capture tool has no equivalent, which is the clearest single reason to use CleanShot X over the system shortcut.
Recording and the video editor
Screen recording exports to MP4 (H.264) or GIF, from a window, a fullscreen or a custom area, with optional microphone and system audio, a camera bubble, and on-screen display of clicks and keystrokes. Version 5.0 added Studio Mode, a Mac-native video editor built into the app: smart zooms that follow the cursor, smoothed cursor movement, motion blur, backgrounds and export in landscape, square or vertical formats. Export uses hardware encoding.
Pricing and licensing
CleanShot X is sold two ways, and the distinction matters:
| Option | Model | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| CleanShot Basic | One-time, $35 for 1 Mac | Mac app, one year of updates, 1 GB Cloud storage |
| CleanShot Pro | Subscription, $10 per user/month billed annually | Mac app always up to date, unlimited Cloud storage, branding, SSO/SCIM |
The one-time licence covers one Mac and one year of updates; continued updates cost $19/year, and more seats can be added through the developer’s Licence Manager. Students get 30% off with an educational email address, and existing PixelSnap 2 customers get 20% off. There is no trial — the developer offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead. Purchases are handled by Paddle rather than the Mac App Store, and the licence is governed by the EULA with MTW Oślizło & Magiera s.c. under Polish law.
Requirements
macOS 13.0 or newer. The developer states that 4.8.10 was the last release to support macOS Catalina (10.15), 4.8.4 the last for Mojave (10.14), and 4.1 the last for Sierra and High Sierra (10.12–10.13). There is no Windows version and the developer states none is planned.
Apple Silicon
Recorded as unknown. The developer’s site does not state the build’s architecture, and Nuanyue leaves the field unestablished rather than inferring it from the macOS requirement.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for CleanShot X, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
5.0.1Developer-stated
Bug fixes and improvements.
Source: Official website
5.0Developer-stated
Introduces Studio Mode and a built-in video editor with smart zooms, motion blur and hardware-encoded export.
Source: Official website
Questions about CleanShot X
How much does CleanShot X cost?
The Mac app is $35 as a one-time purchase for one Mac, which includes one year of updates (optional renewal at $19/year). CleanShot Pro is a separate subscription at $10 per user per month billed annually, adding unlimited Cloud storage, custom branding and team features.
Is there a free trial?
No. The developer states there is no trial version and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead; CleanShot is also available through Setapp, which has its own trial.
What macOS version does CleanShot X require?
macOS 13.0 or newer. The developer notes that version 4.8.10 was the last release to support macOS Catalina (10.15), and earlier versions covered Mojave and High Sierra.
Does CleanShot X replace the built-in macOS screenshot tool?
It is built to. It adds scrolling capture, an annotation editor, a video editor and cloud sharing on top of the area, window and fullscreen captures macOS already provides, and its shortcuts can be remapped to match the system ones.Developer-stated
Does CleanShot X run on Apple Silicon?
Nuanyue has not established this. The developer's site does not state the build's architecture, so the field is recorded as unknown rather than assumed.Editorially reviewed
Alternatives to CleanShot X
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
macshot
Free, open-source native screenshot and recording tool for macOS.
Both offer screenshots, scrolling capture and OCR; macshot is open source, while CleanShot X is a proprietary paid app with a cloud service.
Snipaste
Screenshot tool that pins captures as floating windows.
Both capture and annotate screenshots and can pin them on screen; Snipaste is free and cross-platform, while CleanShot X is macOS-only and paid.
Compared with
Head-to-head comparisons Nuanyue has published.
Shottr
Fast macOS screenshot and annotation tool with scrolling capture and OCR.
Both are Mac screenshot tools with scrolling capture and OCR; Shottr is a free, lightweight utility while CleanShot X is paid and adds screen recording, a video editor and cloud sharing.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
Paste
Smart clipboard history & snippets manager.
Paste manages clipboard history while CleanShot X captures and records the screen, so they cover adjacent parts of the same Mac workflow.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
