Best Screenshot Apps for Mac in 2026, Compared

The best screenshot app for most Mac users in 2026 is CleanShot X, because it does screenshots, scrolling captures, recording and sharing well in one app. Shottr is the best low-cost pick if you only need screenshots, Snagit suits documentation work, Xnapper makes the most polished images, and Monosnap or Zight fit people who share everything as links. If you only capture now and then, the free Screenshot app built into macOS is enough.

Disclosure: I am Siddharth Sharma, and I build Znip, one of the apps in this list. It is in invite-only beta. I have described it with the same care as the others, limits included. Prices and features below come from each company's own pages, first checked on 25 October 2026 and re-checked on 30 October 2026.

My count from those pages: 4 of the 7 third-party apps here (Shottr, Xnapper, Monosnap and Zight) have a free plan or free version, and at least 4 of the 7 need macOS 13 or newer (CleanShot X needs 13, Snagit 14, Monosnap 14.6 and Znip 15). Check your macOS version before you pay.

How I compared these screenshot apps for Mac

This is a desk comparison, not a lab test. For each app I read its official feature, pricing and system-requirement pages on 25 October 2026, re-checked the prices on 30 October 2026, and link to them below. I have not run timed, side-by-side tests of every app, so I do not rank them by speed or image quality. Use the free plans, trials and refund periods to try the one that fits before you pay. Prices are in US dollars, exclude tax, and can change by region and store.

What to look for in a Mac screenshot tool

Capture modes. Area, window and full screen are standard. Scrolling capture, for long web pages and chats, is where the apps differ most.
Annotation and redaction. Arrows, text, shapes and numbered steps explain the image. Redaction hides names, emails and keys before you share. A solid block is safer than a light blur for sensitive text.
Text recognition (OCR). Copying text out of an image saves retyping.
Screen recording. Some apps record video and GIFs; others are screenshot-only.
Sharing. Cloud links are handy, but they mean your captures sit on someone else's server.
Price model. One-time licences, yearly subscriptions and free plans all appear here.
macOS requirement. Several apps now need a recent macOS, which matters on older Macs.

Quick comparison

macOS Screenshot (built in)

Best for: occasional captures
Scrolling capture: No
Screen recording: Yes
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): Free with macOS

CleanShot X

Best for: an all-round capture, recording and sharing app
Scrolling capture: Yes
Screen recording: Yes
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): $35 once, or Pro at $10 per user per month billed yearly

Shottr

Best for: cheap, fast screenshots
Scrolling capture: Yes
Screen recording: No
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): Free to use; Basic licence $12 once

Snagit

Best for: documentation and training guides
Scrolling capture: Yes
Screen recording: Yes
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): $39 per user per year

Xnapper

Best for: polished images for posts and slides
Scrolling capture: Not listed
Screen recording: No
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): Free with a watermark; from $29.99 once

Monosnap

Best for: screenshots and recordings with many storage options
Scrolling capture: Not listed
Screen recording: Yes
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): Free non-commercial version; paid from $4.49 a month

Zight

Best for: teams that share by link
Scrolling capture: Not listed
Screen recording: Yes
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): Free plan; paid from $9.95 per user per month billed yearly

Znip (my app)

Best for: screenshots, recording and optional sharing in one Mac app
Scrolling capture: Yes
Screen recording: Yes
Price (checked 30 Oct 2026): Invite-only beta, public purchases closed

1. macOS Screenshot: the free built-in option

Every recent Mac has a Screenshot app. Press Shift, Command, 5 to open its toolbar, which captures the full screen, a window or a selected area, records the screen, and lets you set a timer and a save location. Shift, Command, 3 captures the whole screen and Shift, Command, 4 lets you drag an area. A thumbnail appears after each capture, and clicking it opens basic markup tools, including cropping.

Price: free, part of macOS.
Good: nothing to install, familiar shortcuts, and it records video too.
Less good: no scrolling capture, no share links, and only basic editing.

If you want the shortcuts in detail, see my full list of Mac screenshot shortcuts and my guides to screenshotting part of the screen, copying a screenshot to the clipboard and the Mac's Snipping Tool equivalent.

2. CleanShot X: best all-rounder

CleanShot X covers screenshots, scrolling captures, annotation and redaction, backgrounds, text recognition, screen recording with a webcam bubble, click highlights and keystroke display, smart zooms, and CleanShot Cloud links (cleanshot.com).

Price: CleanShot Basic is $35 once, with one year of updates and 1 GB of Cloud storage. Updates after the first year are an optional $19 a year. CleanShot Pro is $10 per user per month billed yearly and adds unlimited Cloud storage, custom domains and team features (CleanShot pricing).
Good: the broadest single toolkit here, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. It is also included in Setapp, which has a 7-day free trial.
Less good: no free trial of the standalone app, and it needs macOS 13 or newer.

If CleanShot X is not right for you, I compare the options in best CleanShot X alternatives for Mac.

3. Shottr: best low-cost screenshot tool

Shottr is a tiny, fast app for screenshots. It does scrolling captures, text recognition and QR reading, annotation, backgrounds, pixel measurement and a colour picker, and it can upload to your own S3-compatible storage (shottr.cc).

Price: free to download and use; after 30 days it starts asking you to upgrade. The Basic licence is $12, a one-time purchase that covers one user on up to five computers and is required for commercial use. Friends Club is $30 (Shottr purchase page).
Good: very cheap, light, and strong for designers and developers who inspect pixels. It runs on macOS 10.15 and later.
Less good: no screen recording (video and GIF recording are on its feature-request list), and share links need your own storage.

4. Snagit: best for documentation and guides

Snagit from TechSmith captures screenshots and screen recordings and has the deepest editing tools in this list. Features include Step Capture, which builds a guide as you click through a process, Smart Redact for sensitive information, and scrolling capture (Snagit store page).

Price: Snagit Individual is $39 per user per year, billed yearly. It includes hosting for up to 25 videos on Screencast and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Good: built for training material and how-to guides, and it works on both Mac and Windows.
Less good: it is a subscription, it needs macOS 14 or newer, and it is more than most people need for quick captures.

5. Xnapper: best for polished images

Xnapper focuses on making a screenshot look finished in seconds. It balances the image, picks a background colour, redacts emails, card numbers, IP addresses and API keys with one click, recognises text on the device, and offers social media sizes (xnapper.com).

Price: free to use with a watermark. Paying once removes it: Basic is $29.99 for one Mac, Personal $54.99 for two and Standard $79.99 for three, each with one year of updates and renewal at 40% off. Team is $5 per device per month, billed yearly (Xnapper pricing).
Good: the fastest way to a good-looking image for a post, slide or changelog, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. It runs on macOS 10.15 and later.
Less good: no screen recording, and cloud upload is listed as coming soon.

6. Monosnap: screenshots and recording with a free version

Monosnap captures screenshots, records video and GIFs, and uploads to its own storage (10 GB when you log in) or to services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and Amazon S3 (Monosnap on the App Store).

Price (US App Store): there is a free version for non-commercial use. The paid non-commercial plan is $4.49 a month or $44.99 a year. The commercial plan is $14.49 a month or $85.99 a year. Prices vary by location.
Good: a usable free version and many storage options.
Less good: commercial use needs the commercial plan, and the App Store listing says it requires macOS 14.6 or later.

7. Zight: best for teams that share links

Zight, formerly CloudApp, is built around sharing. You record videos, share screenshots and make short GIFs, and everything lives in a shared workspace (Zight pricing).

Price: the Share plan is free. Create is $9.95 per user per month and Collaborate is $12 per user per month, both billed yearly.
Good: team workspaces, video requests and, on higher plans, custom branding.
Less good: it is a subscription cloud service, so your captures live on Zight's servers.

8. Znip: screenshots, recording and sharing in one app (my app)

This is the app I build. Znip captures an area, a window or a whole display, with a timer and repeat-area capture, plus scrolling captures in either direction. You can annotate with arrows, text, shapes and numbered steps, cover private details with solid blocks or pixelation, add backgrounds, and read text and QR codes on your Mac. It also records the screen with microphone, system audio and a camera overlay, shows clicks, adds zooms in the editor, and exports MP4 or GIF (Znip features, Znip FAQ). Optional Znip Cloud gives existing customers and invited users share links with 10 GB of storage.

Price: none to quote. Znip is in invite-only beta, and public downloads and purchases are closed. You can request an invite.
Good: capture, editing, recording and sharing in one native app, and local capture, editing and export work offline.
Less good: it is a beta, so some features may still have bugs. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later, and it does not show keystroke overlays.

Free screenshot apps for Mac

If you do not want to pay, you have several options:

macOS Screenshot: free and already on your Mac.
Shottr: free to use, with an upgrade prompt after 30 days.
Xnapper: free to use, with a watermark on images.
Monosnap: a free version for non-commercial use.
Zight: a free Share plan.

For long pages without a paid app, see how to take a scrolling screenshot on Mac. For video, see how to screen record on Mac with audio.

How to choose

You capture once in a while: the built-in macOS Screenshot app.
You want one app that does almost everything: CleanShot X.
You only need screenshots and want to pay little: Shottr.
You write guides or training material: Snagit.
You want images that look designed: Xnapper.
Your team shares everything as links: Zight or Monosnap.
You want screenshots, recording and optional sharing in one app and can wait for an invite: Znip.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free screenshot app for Mac?

The built-in Screenshot app (Shift, Command, 5) is free and covers basic captures and recording. For scrolling captures and text recognition at no cost, Shottr is free to use, with an upgrade prompt after 30 days.

Does a Mac have a Snipping Tool?

Not by that name. The Mac's equivalent is the Screenshot app, opened with Shift, Command, 5. I explain it in Snipping Tool for Mac.

Which screenshot apps for Mac also record the screen?

CleanShot X, Snagit, Monosnap, Zight and Znip record video, and so does the built-in Screenshot app. Shottr and Xnapper are screenshot tools.

Which Mac screenshot apps are a one-time purchase?

CleanShot X Basic ($35), Shottr Basic ($12) and Xnapper (from $29.99) are one-time purchases. Snagit, Zight and Monosnap's paid plans are subscriptions.

Is CleanShot X worth paying for?

If you capture, annotate, record and share every day, $35 once is reasonable for what it covers. If you only take a few screenshots a week, the built-in tool or Shottr will do.

Can I use Znip today?

Znip is in invite-only beta for Apple silicon Macs running macOS 15 or later. You can request an invite on the Znip website.