Short on time? For most people the answer is Lovely Screenshots (most features per dollar, free to start), Shottr (fast and free), or CleanShot X (most polish, costs the most). The rest of this guide is who should pick what.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Price | Scrolling | Video | AI search |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lovely Screenshots | All-round studio, best value | Free · Pro $12 once | Yes + PDF export | Full editor | Yes |
| CleanShot X | Polish + cloud sharing | ~$29 once (+cloud sub) | Yes | Trim + basic | No |
| Shottr | Fast & free power tools | Free | Yes | No | No |
| Xnapper | One-tap beautiful shots | Paid, one-time | No | No | No |
| Snagit | Cross-platform docs teams | Paid ($$) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Zappy | Quick team sharing | Free | No | GIF only | No |
| Monosnap | Free team uploads | Free core | No | Basic | No |
| macOS built-in (⌘⇧5) | Zero-install basics | Free | No | Record only | No |
Prices are approximate and change — check each site for current pricing.
Do you even need a screenshot app?
If you take a screenshot a week — no, ⌘⇧5 is fine. The built-in tools capture areas, windows and full screens, record video, and offer basic markup. The case for a dedicated app starts when screenshots are part of your daily work: bug reports that need arrows and blur, docs that need long-page captures, demos that need editing, or a library of hundreds of shots you need to search. Every app below earns its place by fixing one of those.
The 8 best screenshot apps for Mac
1. Lovely Screenshots
The closest thing to “all the features, none of the subscription.”
Best for: Developers & designers who want CleanShot-level features without recurring fees — and new ones almost every week.
Key features
- Six capture modes incl. scrolling capture that exports as a multi-page PDF
- A real annotation editor — 13 tools (arrows, callouts, numbered steps, blur, spotlight, pixel ruler)
- A genuine video editor: trim, split, timed zoom & blur, voice-over, a movable webcam bubble
- On-device AI search, OCR, and a “Grab Table” that pastes into Excel
- Draw live on your screen during calls; beautify with gradient backdrops
Pricing: Free forever for the core (watermarked). Lovely Pro is a one-time $12 (early price) — no subscription.
The most features per dollar on this list, shipping weekly. Currently in open beta. Full Lovely vs CleanShot X comparison →
2. CleanShot X
The polished incumbent everyone compares against.
Best for: People who want a mature, beautifully-designed capture tool and don't mind paying for cloud sharing.
Key features
- Excellent annotation and “Scrolling Capture”
- Cloud sharing with short links (subscription)
- Screen recording with basic trimming
- Highly refined UX
Pricing: Around $29 one-time for the app; CleanShot Cloud is a separate subscription. Also on Setapp.
The benchmark for polish. The catch is cost creep once you want cloud features, and updates land less often than smaller, hungrier tools.
3. Shottr
The fast, free favourite of power users.
Best for: Anyone who wants speed and serious features without paying a cent.
Key features
- Blazing fast, tiny footprint
- Scrolling capture and OCR
- Solid annotation set
- Pixel measuring, colour picker
Pricing: Free (donationware), macOS only.
Superb value and speed. Screenshot-first though — no video editor — so heavy recorders pair it with something else. Lovely vs Shottr →
4. Xnapper
One tap from raw grab to gorgeous share.
Best for: Founders and marketers who post screenshots publicly and want them to look designed.
Key features
- Auto-balanced backgrounds and padding
- Smart redaction of emails/keys
- Very fast beautify workflow
Pricing: Paid, one-time purchase.
Brilliant at making shots look pretty, less about deep annotation, scrolling or video.
5. Snagit
The heavyweight, cross-platform workhorse.
Best for: Trainers and documentation teams who need capture + editing on both Mac and Windows.
Key features
- Powerful capture incl. scrolling
- Deep image + video editing
- Templates, step-by-step tools
- Runs on Mac AND Windows
Pricing: Paid ($$), one-time or subscription depending on plan.
The most feature-complete and the only true cross-platform pick — but heavier and pricier than daily screenshotting needs.
6. Zappy (by Zapier)
Grab, scribble, share a link — done.
Best for: Teams that live in chat and just need to fire a marked-up shot to a colleague.
Key features
- Quick capture + light annotation
- One-click link sharing
- GIF recording
Pricing: Free, macOS only.
Frictionless for quick team sharing. Intentionally minimal — no scrolling capture, no proper video editor.
7. Monosnap
Solid free capture with team uploads.
Best for: Teams that want a free tool with configurable cloud upload targets.
Key features
- Area/window/scrolling-free capture
- Annotation basics
- Upload to own S3/FTP/cloud
Pricing: Free core; paid for commercial cloud use.
A dependable free workhorse; the editor and recording tools are more basic than the paid options here.
8. macOS built-in (⌘⇧5 / ⌘⇧4)
Already on your Mac, and free.
Best for: Anyone who only needs an occasional grab or a plain screen recording.
Key features
- Area / window / full-screen capture
- Basic screen recording
- A tiny floating thumbnail to markup
Pricing: Free — built into macOS.
Perfectly fine for the basics. No scrolling capture, no search, no beautify, and only rudimentary markup — which is exactly why the tools above exist.
How to choose
Match the tool to how you actually work:
- Most features for the least money, frequent updates → Lovely Screenshots
- Maximum polish, budget's fine → CleanShot X
- Fast and completely free → Shottr
- Pretty shots for social/docs → Xnapper
- Mac + Windows, documentation teams → Snagit
- Only the occasional grab → macOS built-in
Frequently asked questions
What's the best free screenshot app for Mac?
Shottr for pure screenshots; Lovely Screenshots if you also want screen recording and a full annotation editor in the free tier (with an optional one-time $12 Pro). Zappy and Monosnap are solid free picks for team sharing.
What's the best screenshot app without a subscription?
Lovely Screenshots ($12 one-time Pro), Xnapper (one-time) and Shottr (free) all avoid recurring fees. CleanShot X's app is one-time, but its cloud is a subscription; Snagit has moved toward subscription plans.
Which Mac screenshot apps can capture a whole scrolling page?
Lovely Screenshots, CleanShot X, Shottr and Snagit all do scrolling capture. Lovely additionally exports the result as a multi-page A4/Letter PDF instead of one giant image.
Which app should I get for screen recording too?
Lovely Screenshots records MP4/GIF/MOV and edits on a real timeline (split, timed zoom & blur, voice-over, movable webcam bubble). CleanShot records with light trimming; Snagit has solid video tools; Shottr doesn't record.
Are these apps private? Where do my screenshots go?
Shottr, Xnapper and the macOS tools are local. Lovely Screenshots is local-first too — even its AI search runs on-device with Apple's MobileCLIP. CleanShot, Zappy and Monosnap offer cloud upload as a feature; check what you enable.