CleanShot X
CleanShot X is a Mac-native toolkit for screenshots, screen recordings, editing, and sharing.
What CleanShot X is
CleanShot X is a Mac-native toolkit for screenshots, screen recordings, editing, and sharing. It captures selected areas, windows, full screens, and horizontal or vertical scrolling content. The editor supports annotation, cropping, resizing, blurring, and pixelation. Recordings can include microphone and computer audio and can be saved as MP4 H.264 video or GIF. Its video editor includes smart zooms, cursor adjustments, backgrounds, and landscape, square, or vertical exports. CleanShot Cloud uploads captures and recordings for link sharing, with comments, transcription, access controls, and password-protected links. The Quick Access Overlay lets users save, copy, or drag captures into other apps. On-device OCR supports more than 30 languages and QR codes. CleanShot requires macOS 13.0 or newer. CleanShot Basic is listed at $35 a month with one year of updates and 1 GB cloud storage; optional update renewal is $19 per year. CleanShot says it has ISO 27001 certification and encrypts Cloud data in transit and at rest.
Good
- Captures scrolling content
- Records MP4 or GIF
- On-device OCR for 30+ languages
- Cloud links with access controls
- Annotation and video editing tools
Watch out
- Requires macOS 13.0 or newer
- No free plan
- No free trial
- Listed Basic price is $35 a month
Who it suits
CleanShot X suits Mac users who need screenshots, recordings, annotations, OCR, and share links. It also fits teams using Cloud comments and access controls.
Verdict
CleanShot X combines Mac capture tools with recording, OCR, editing, and Cloud collaboration. Its macOS requirement and paid-only model define the basic fit.
Plans and prices
From CleanShot X's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| CleanShot Basic | $35, paid once | Mac app · One year of updates · 1 GB Cloud storage · Pay once, use forever. |
| CleanShot Pro | $120 a year | Mac app · Always up to date · Unlimited Cloud storage · Custom domain and branding · Team management · SSO and SCIM · $120.00 per user per year (= $10.00 per user/month, billed annually) |
The facts
Each one read from CleanShot X's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Annotation
- Its built-in editor includes tools to annotate, crop, resize, blur and pixelate screenshots.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Capture
- The app captures areas, windows, full screens and scrolling content, including horizontal and vertical scrolling.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Cloud collaboration
- Cloud features include comments, video transcription, file access control and password-protected links.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Cloud sharing
- CleanShot Cloud lets users upload screenshots and recordings and share them through generated links.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Export formats
- MP4, GIFchecked 19 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- The Quick Access Overlay supports saving, copying or dragging captures into other apps.checked 4 Oct 2026
- OCR
- Text recognition runs on-device, supports more than 30 languages and can read QR codes.checked 4 Oct 2026
- OCR text extraction
- Yeschecked 19 Sep 2026
- Product
- CleanShot describes itself as a Mac-native toolkit for screenshots, recordings and collaboration.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Recording
- Screen recordings can be saved as MP4 H.264 video or GIF, with microphone and computer audio capture options.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Scrolling capture
- Yeschecked 19 Sep 2026
- Security
- CleanShot says it is ISO 27001 certified and encrypts Cloud data at rest and in transit.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The pricing FAQ directs users to [email protected] for help.checked 4 Oct 2026
- System requirements
- CleanShot requires macOS 13.0 or newer.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Video editing
- The built-in video editor offers smart zooms, cursor adjustments, backgrounds and landscape, square or vertical exports.checked 4 Oct 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Nochecked 19 Sep 2026
- Plan limit
- Basic includes one year of updates, with optional renewal at $19 per year.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Trial and refund
- CleanShot says it does not provide a trial and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.checked 4 Oct 2026
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