Capturing screenshots of an application, website or product takes time. A feature-rich and fast screenshot tool creates stunning, perfect images and print screens in less time. Necessary documentation tool to create great product documentation.
We have analyzed and grouped free and commercial screenshot tools on the market. This page provides an overview.
Categories of Screenshot tools
By platform and operating system
Depending on your operating system and computer, many options are available. “Classic” screenshot tools run as a stand alone application for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Other screenshot tools work inside a browser. Installed as a browser addin e.g. for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
There are also screenshot software products for mobile devices. For example, Apple’s iPhone and iPad, but also Android running on smartphone or tablet.
Web-based screenshot tools run in every browser.
Use web services and cloud APIs to programmatically capture screenshots of a website.
By price
There are free and even open source tools available. Often they do not provide (commercial) support. Not all of them are updated regularly.
Commercial products (one-time buy, or recurring subscription fee) provide support and regular updates. The quality and feature set of such a program is often better compared to a free software application.
Features of screenshot capture and editing tools
There are two groups of screenshot tools
1) full-blown screenshot applications that capture the screen, provide editing and publishing
2) limited screenshot tools with basic editing and “beautifuling” of already taken screenshots
These two groups can be further differentiated by the following features
Draw on screenshot
Annotate screenshots with arrows, boxes and texts.
“Beautifulize” screenshot
Improve the design and layout of the screenshot. For example, add a nice-looking background or shadow. Some tools also add a smartphone or browser mockup to show the app in a real-life environment.
Resize screenshot
The screenshot app can resize the generated image to a specific target resolution.
For example, twitter, Insta and other apps need a specific screen resolution. A tool with this feature can export the screenshots in a matching format. This saves time and provides better results.
Customize keyboard shortcuts
The user can configure the keyboard combination to start the screenshot capture mode. Very helpful to start the software quick when necessary.
Redact email addresses and other privacy features
The appliction uses algorithms or AI to detect and blur/hide private data. This can be e-mail addresses, websites or phone numbers.
Very helpful when taking screenshots of application with sensive user or customer data.
Publish screenshots to Cloud
Export screenshots with one click to cloud services. Some tools integrate to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box or other cloud services. Other applications provide their own cloud storage.
Figma integration
Export screenshots to the cloud-based design and prototyp application Figma .
Support templates & styles
Customize the design of screenshots and save as template. For example set a text or logo as watermark, or define a background image. Very helpful when creating product-specific, similar looking screenshots.
Market Overview
The following sections describe available screenshot for mac and screenshot for windows products and application.
Xnapper
Supported Operating systems: Mac, Apple iOS (app is currently in private beta)
Xnapper is a simple Mac-based tool that creates beautiful screenshots with backgrounds and AI-powered screenshot-optimizations.
Tagline by the vendor: Take Beautiful Screenshots Instantly.
Pro: Fast, simple to use
Cons: Mac (and iOS) only; no editing/annotation of screenshot possible
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
- Detect privacy related data
Price: $29 (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://xnapper.com
BrandBird
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Easy to use web application with a lot of features to optimize and fine-tune the screenshots.
Tagline by the vendor: An image editor for busy SaaS founders, who build in public! BrandBird turns your screenshots into captivating graphics aligned with your branding to help you boost your social media reach & engagement!
Pro: Free to use (with BrandBird branding), nice templates
Cons: advanced features only with subscription
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Beautifulize screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Export to Figma
- Supports templates
Price: 120 $ / year or 15$ / month (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://www.brandbird.app/
ScreenshotOne
Supported Operating systems: Web Service/API
Tagline by the vendor: Fast and reliable screenshot API built to handle millions of screenshots a month.
Pro: great for capturing of websites programmatically
Cons: only for developers
Features
- Publish screenshot to cloud
Price: 0 to $150 / month (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://screenshotone.com/
Shots
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Simple to use web application to beautifulize screenshots
Tagline by the vendor:
Pro: Provides various templates e.g. for device mockups as iPhone or browser
Cons: Limited functionality, no editing of screenshot
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
- Support templates
Price: free
Website: https://shots.so/
tweet.pics
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Simple web application for screenshot “beautifulizing”
Pro: Simple, free
Cons: Limited functionality, no editing
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
Price: free
Website: https://tweet.pics/
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Apple iOS, Android
Cloud-based platform for screenrecording and screenshot with native applications.
Tagline by the vendor: Jumpshare is the best screenshot capture tool for Mac and Windows 10. It’s easy to capture screenshots, annotate, and share using a link.
Pro: Provides a lot of features, basic version is free
Cons: subscription
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
- Publish screenshot to cloud
- Support templates
Price: 0 to $12.50 / user / month (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://jumpshare.com/screenshot-capture
CleanShot X
Supported Operating systems: Mac
Tagline by the vendor: Capture your Mac’s screen like a pro.
Pro: many features as scrollable area capture, and even screen video recording and export
Cons: Mac only
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Beautifulize screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
Price: $29 purchase for Mac app; OR $8 / user / month for yearly subscription (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://cleanshot.com/
Snagit
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac
The leading commercial tool for screenshot windows and screenshot Mac.
Tagline by the vendor: Snagit lets you quickly capture your screen and camera, add additional context, and share images, GIFs, or videos across your preferred platforms.
Pro: Feature-rich well-known screenshot tool for Windows and Mac
Cons: Expensive
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
- Support templates
Price: $69 (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html
Shottr
Supported Operating systems: Mac
Free, feature-rich Mac application – made for web developers / designers
Tagline by the vendor: Shottr is a small, fast, human-sized screenshot app built for those who care about pixels. It was crafted with Swift, optimized for M1, and is completely free at the moment.
Pro: Free, features for editing
Cons: Mac only, collects some usage statistics (cannot be disabled)
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
Price: free
Website: https://shottr.cc/
Pika
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Simple to use web application for basic screenshot beautifulization
Tagline by the vendor: Pika is web app to help you design beautiful screenshots and website mockups instantly and easily.
Pro: Basic features free, stores custom settings as preset in browser, canvas size templates for twitter, Insta Post + Story, Dribble and Product Hunt
Cons: Cropping and tilt are paid only
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Support templates
Price: Basic plan is free, Pro costs $99 / year (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://pika.style/
Twiz.me
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based,
Very basic tool that puts a background behind an uploaded screenshot.
Tagline by the vendor: Twiz is tiny. It has a single purpose – to put your screenshot on a beautiful gradient background in a twitter-compatible image size.
Pro: Free, features for editing
Cons: Very limited functionality
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
Price: free
Website: https://www.twiz.me/
LightShot
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Web/Browser-based
Screenshot Editor for Windows + Mac
Tagline by the vendor: The fastest way to take a customizable screenshot
Pro: free, various editing and publishing features; browser plugins for taking and editing screenshots directly in browser
Cons:
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Publish screenshot to cloud
Price: free
Website: https://app.prntscr.com/en/
Greenshot
Supported Operating systems: Windows
Simple to use, feature-rich and free Windows screenshot tool
Tagline by the vendor: Greenshot is the most awesome tool for making screenshots you can get on your Windows PC.
Pro: Free, many features, great usability
Cons: Windows only
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
- Publish screenshot to cloud
Price: free
Website: https://getgreenshot.org/
tinykiwi
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Great online screenshot editor, with presets, templates and text editing features
Tagline by the vendor: Share beautiful screenshots with your audience. A tiny image editor for indie makers who are #buildingInPublic. Turn your screenshots into beautiful images and boost social engagement. 🚀
Pro: Many options for editing, templates and image presets
Cons:
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Beautifulize screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Support templates
Price: $5 / month (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://www.tinykiwi.co
snappify
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Create nice screenshots of source code – e.g. for Javascript, C#, PHP
Tagline by the vendor: This is the place for beautiful code snippets Easily explain your code and share your knowledge with the rest of the world.
Pro: Syntax highlighting for various programming languages, great tool for code sharing
Cons: Limited to programming code sharing
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
Price: Free plan with basic features and branding, Pro for $6 / month as yearly subscription
Website: https://snappify.io/
screenshot.rocs
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Simple tool to create a web page and mobile screenshot for a given url, with Chrome extension
Tagline by the vendor: Create beautiful mobile & browser screenshots in seconds
Pro: Simple tool to create web-based screenshots
Cons: Phone layout looks a bit outdated
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
Price: free
Website: https://screenshot.rocks/
tango
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Create workflows with screenshots
Tagline by the vendor: Create step-by-step documentation, in seconds.
Pro: Made for workflow capturing
Cons: no generic screenshot editing
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Support templates
Price: $16 / user / month (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://tango.us
Screenity
Supported Operating systems: Web/Browser-based
Full-featured Chrome extension for screenshot and video capturing and editing
Tagline by the vendor: Screenity is a feature-packed screen and camera recorder for Chrome. Annotate your screen to give feedback, emphasize your clicks, edit your recording, and much more.
Pro: Many features, free and open source
Cons: Chrome and Microsoft Edge only
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Publish screenshot to cloud
Price: free
Website: https://github.com/alyssaxuu/screenity
Beauty Shot
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux
Simple beautifulize screenshot app for multiple computer platforms
Tagline by the vendor: Beauty Shot is a desktop app that turns your screenshots into masterpieces, so you can create better Social Media content. It takes just 2 seconds!
Pro: Simple, fast, multi-platform product
Cons: Only beautiflization of screenshots
Features
- Beautifulize screenshot
Price: $19 one-time payment
Website: https://beautyshot.rcruz.es/
CloudApp Screenshot Tool
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux, Web/Browser-based, Apple iOS
Simple screenshot tool with editor, Registration to CloudApp service required
Tagline by the vendor: CloudApp is the screenshot tool that puts users in the driverseat. Fast, effective, and simple to use. The future of communication is visual. Start capturing screenshots and video today for free.
Pro: Multi-platform screenshot editor with video capabilities
Cons: Requires registration
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
Price: limited free plan, subscription starting at $9.95 / user / month
Website: https://www.getcloudapp.com/screenshot-tool/
Microsoft Snipping Tool
Supported Operating systems: Windows
Very basic screen capture tool for Windows, installed on every Windows 10 computer
Tagline by the vendor: Take a snapshot to copy words or images from all or part of your PC screen. Use Snipping Tool to make changes or notes, then save, and share.
Pro: Free, already installed on every Windows computer
Cons: Very limited
Features
- Draw on screenshot
Price: free
Monosnap
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Web/Browser-based
Screenshot tool with editor and cloud service integration (Amazon AWS S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, FTP/sFTP, …)
Tagline by the vendor: Share screenshots and videos to be more productive and clear working remotely.
Pro: Editor, many supported cloud services
Cons: Subscription
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Publish screenshot to cloud
Price: $0 for free (limited functionality), $2.50 / month / user (yearly subscription) for non-commercial usage, $5 / month / user (yearly subscription, $10 otherwise)
Website: https://monosnap.com/
droplr
Supported Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Web/Browser-based
Commercial, multi-platform Screenshot and Screen Recording tool, with cloud integration
Tagline by the vendor: Capture screenshots and screen recordings instantly: it’s saved to the cloud with a link you can share with anyone, anywhere.
Pro: Many features, various enterprise-level security properties
Cons: Made for enterprise companies
Features
- Draw on screenshot
- Resize screenshot
- Detect privacy related data
- Publish screenshot to cloud
Price: Starting at $6 / month / user (yearly subscription) (has free demo or evaluation version)
Website: https://droplr.com/
Summary
The market of screenshot capture and editing tools is very fragmented.
Windows users that need a basic tool. Free products as LightShot or Greenshot are good enough. Windows-based power users can use Greenshot or the commercial SnagIt product.
For Mac users, Shottr is a simple and free solution that is great for basic usage. Commercial products as Xnapper, CleanShot X and SnagIt provide features for power users.
Plugins for Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser can be used to take screenshots from websites – inside the browser. The free browser-add in Screenity is a great solution with many features.
To improve the design and layout of a screenshot or image, the free web-based products Shots and tweet.pics are good enough. If you need an advanced, commercial web-based screenshot editors – BrandBird or tinykiwi might be interesting for you.
For developers and designers: ScreenshotOne provides a webservice API to capture websites by url and return a screenshot as image. BrandBird provides a Figma integration.
This page is part of the comprehensive list of documentation tools.
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