# Free Alternative to CleanShot X Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 The best free alternative to CleanShot X ($29) is Shottr, which is open source. Install it with: `brew install --cask shottr`. ## Why I Finally Ditched CleanShot X for Free Alternatives I bought my first CleanShot X license in 2020. The app still costs $29 one-time for App + Cloud Basic (one year of updates, optional $19/year renewal for continued updates, 1 GB cloud). It solved a very specific problem I had with macOS. I hated how native screenshots cluttered my desktop with poorly named PNG files. CleanShot gave me a nice floating overlay. It let me drag images directly into Slack. I recommended it to everyone I knew. Then the business model shifted. The developers introduced an optional cloud subscription. That made sense for hosting files. But soon, the core app updates required a paid renewal. You pay $29 for a year of updates. If you stop paying, you keep the old version but lose out on bug fixes. Meanwhile, the app ballooned in size. The developers added optical character recognition. They added video trimming. They added a custom background editor. The simple utility I loved turned into a heavy suite of tools I rarely used. I spent the last month testing every free screenshot application available for macOS Sonoma. I uninstalled CleanShot entirely to force myself into new habits. I wanted to see if a free tool could handle my daily workflow of grabbing quick reference images and annotating bugs for developers. My testing revealed a massive divide in the Mac software world. You have native Swift apps built by solo developers that run incredibly fast. You also have heavy cross-platform ports that chew through battery life. I evaluated each tool based on memory usage, annotation quality, and speed. This guide covers the free utilities that actually deserve a spot in your menu bar. I will show you exactly what to install. ## Free alternatives 1. [Shottr](https://bundl.run/apps/shottr) — Screenshot measurement and annotation tool `brew install --cask shottr` 2. [Screenshot](https://bundl.run/apps/screenshot) — Built-in macOS screenshot and screen recording utility for capturing your screen. `brew install --cask screenshot` ## Verdict I spent a month trying to justify my old CleanShot X subscription. I failed. The paid app is undeniably polished, but the free alternatives caught up. Shottr handles static images flawlessly. Kap handles video recording better than CleanShot ever did. By combining a few lightweight, specialized tools, you get a superior workflow for exactly zero dollars. I uninstalled my paid software. I am not going back. ## FAQ ### Why did CleanShot X switch to a subscription model? CleanShot X originally launched as a one-time purchase. The developers realized that maintaining cloud hosting for image links cost them monthly server fees. They also needed to fund ongoing development for new macOS updates. They shifted to a model where the app costs $29 upfront, which includes one year of updates. You must pay $29 every subsequent year to receive new features and bug fixes. If you stop paying, your current version keeps working, but it will eventually break when Apple updates macOS. ### Is Shottr completely free to use? Shottr started as a completely free application. The developer recently introduced a paid "Basic" tier for $8.00 as a one-time purchase. The free version remains fully functional. It occasionally shows a popup asking you to buy the developer a coffee or upgrade. You can dismiss the popup and continue using the app. The free tier still includes the scrolling screenshot tool and the text erasure features. ### How do I take scrolling screenshots on a Mac for free? You need a third-party application to take scrolling screenshots on a Mac. Apple's built-in tools cannot stitch pages together. I recommend installing Shottr. You press the dedicated scrolling hotkey, click the window you want to capture, and let go of your mouse. The app automatically scrolls down the page, takes multiple pictures, and stitches them into a single long PNG file in about two seconds. ### Can I map a new screenshot tool to Command Shift 4? Yes. You must first disable the default Apple shortcuts. Open your Mac System Settings. Go to Keyboard, then click Keyboard Shortcuts. Select Screenshots from the left menu. Uncheck the boxes next to the default shortcuts. You can then open your new application, like Shottr or Xnip, and assign Command-Shift-4 in their specific preference menus. ### Does Kap record internal Mac audio? Kap cannot record internal system audio out of the box. Apple severely restricts how third-party apps capture sound playing from other applications. Kap can easily record your microphone input. If you need to record a YouTube video's audio or a Zoom call's internal sound using Kap, you must install a virtual audio driver like BlackHole. You route your system audio through BlackHole and select it as the microphone source in Kap. ### What is the best open source alternative to CleanShot X? Flameshot is the most capable open-source alternative for static screenshots. The code is entirely public on GitHub. It handles annotations and uploads without any proprietary tracking. If you need to replace CleanShot's video recording features, Kap is the best open-source choice. I run both applications side-by-side to cover all my capture needs without relying on closed-source software. ### How do I completely uninstall CleanShot X? Dragging the CleanShot X icon to the Trash does not remove everything. The app leaves behind preference files and cloud cache data. You should use a free uninstaller utility like AppCleaner. Drag the CleanShot X application into the AppCleaner window. It will locate the hidden PLIST files in your Library folder and the cache data in your Application Support folder. Click remove to delete all associated files. ### Do any free Mac screenshot apps have OCR? Optical Character Recognition allows you to highlight text in an image and copy it to your clipboard. Most free third-party apps do not build this in because Apple actually added OCR natively to macOS. You can take a standard screenshot using Command-Shift-4. Open the image in Apple Preview. You can click and drag your cursor directly over the text in the image. The Mac will recognize the text automatically so you can copy it. ### Is Skitch still supported by Evernote? Evernote technically still hosts the download file for Skitch. They push minor compatibility updates every few years when a new macOS version completely breaks the app. They do not actively develop new features. The app operates as abandonware. It works fine on macOS Sonoma, but a future Apple Silicon update could render it permanently unusable. ### How do I blur text in screenshots on a Mac? Apple's built-in Preview app lacks a dedicated blur tool. You have to draw a solid black box over text to redact it natively. If you want a professional blur effect, you need an app like Shottr or Xnip. In Shottr, you capture the image, select the pixelate tool from the top menu bar, and drag a box over the sensitive information. The app scrambles the pixels instantly. ## Sources - [Shottr Official Website](https://shottr.cc/) - [Kap GitHub Repository](https://github.com/wulkano/kap) - [Apple Support - Take a screenshot on your Mac](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201361) - [Flameshot Official Documentation](https://flameshot.org/docs/) - [Evernote Skitch Download Page](https://evernote.com/products/skitch) - [Monosnap Pricing Page](https://monosnap.com/pay) - [Xnip Mac App Store Page](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xnip-screenshot-annotation/id1221250572) - [Lightshot Official Website](https://app.prntscr.com/en/index.html) - [CleanShot X Pricing](https://cleanshot.com/pricing) - [CleanShot X Buy](https://cleanshot.com/buy) - [Flameshot](https://flameshot.org/) - [Monosnap](https://monosnap.com/) ## Related - [Shottr vs CleanShot X](https://bundl.run/compare/shottr-vs-cleanshot) - [Shottr vs Flameshot](https://bundl.run/compare/shottr-vs-flameshot) - [Screenshot vs CleanShot X](https://bundl.run/compare/cleanshot-vs-screenshot) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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