CleanShot X vs Screen Studio

CleanShot X

• Mac users who take and annotate many screenshots
• Buyers who prefer a one-time license to a subscription
• Support and product teams sharing quick captures by link

Screen Studio

• Product demos and launch videos recorded on a Mac
• Makers who want zooms and cursor polish without manual editing
• Developers showing iPhone or iPad apps inside device frames

CleanShot X

• macOS only, requiring macOS 13.0 or newer. The vendor says there are no plans for a Windows version.
• There is no free trial; purchases are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• The $35 Basic license includes one year of updates; later updates need an optional $19 per year renewal.
• Unlimited cloud storage, custom domains, team features, SSO and SCIM need the Pro subscription.

Screen Studio

• macOS only, requiring Ventura 13.1 or later. The vendor says there are no near-future plans for Windows.
• Subscription only: one-time licenses are no longer sold, though earlier purchases remain valid.
• Paying monthly costs $29 per month, more than three times the $9 per month yearly rate.
• The site does not mention a free trial, and the terms state that fees are non-refundable.

CleanShot X

Screenshots and scrolling capture

Capture an area, a window, the full screen or scrolling content in either direction, with a self-timer, crosshair and magnifier.

Screen recording

Record to MP4 or GIF with microphone and computer audio, a camera overlay, and keystrokes and clicks shown on screen.

Built-in video editor

Add zooms, refine cursor movement and adjust backgrounds on a screen recording without leaving the app.

Annotation and backgrounds

Highlight or hide parts of a screenshot, add annotations, and place captures on styled backgrounds from 20 presets.

Text recognition

Copy text out of any image and read QR codes, with on-device recognition in more than 30 languages.

CleanShot Cloud

Upload a capture to get a share link with password protection, self-destruct timers and video transcription. Basic has 1 GB; Pro is unlimited.

Screen Studio

Automatic zoom

Zooms are added automatically as you record and can be edited, added by hand or turned off afterwards.

Smooth cursor movement

Cursor motion is smoothed and given motion blur and click effects, and the cursor can be hidden in chosen sections.

iPhone and iPad recording

Record an iPhone or iPad screen and present the footage inside a device mockup.

Webcam layouts

Camera footage can appear fullscreen, in a split screen, as an overlay or as a cutout.

Captions and transcripts

Generates a transcript of the recording and adds automatic captions.

Export and shareable links

Export MP4 at up to 4K and 60 fps or a GIF, or publish a shareable link at 1080p and 60 fps for videos up to 30 minutes.

CleanShot X

• CleanShot Basic$35

  one-time payment; optional update renewal at $19 per year

  The Mac app to keep, with one year of updates and 1 GB of CleanShot Cloud storage. A license is active on one Mac at a time.

• CleanShot Pro$10

  per user / month, billed annually

  Always up to date, with unlimited cloud storage, custom domain and branding, team features, SSO and SCIM.

Screen Studio

• Yearly$9

  per month, billed yearly

  All features: export up to 4K at 60 fps, shareable links, cloud transcript and project sharing.

• Monthly$29

  per month, billed monthly

  The same features as the yearly plan, paid month to month.

CleanShot X

• Lifetime license

  One-time license for $35

  CleanShot Basic is a pay-once license that keeps working indefinitely. It includes one year of updates, and renewing updates afterwards is optional at $19 per year.

• Annual discount

  17% off Pro with yearly billing

  The pricing page marks yearly billing for CleanShot Pro as 17% cheaper than monthly, at $10 per user per month billed annually.

• Education

  30% educational discount

  Entering a university-issued email address gives 30% off. For Cloud Pro or update renewals, CleanShot asks students to email from their university address.

• Other savings

  20% off for PixelSnap customers

  Existing PixelSnap 2 customers get 20% off CleanShot, according to the pricing page.

• Other savings

  Included with Setapp

  CleanShot is also available through a Setapp subscription, which bundles it with more than 200 other apps.

Screen Studio

• Annual discount

  Save 69% with yearly billing

  Screen Studio lists the yearly plan at $9 per month, which it labels a 69% saving over the $29 monthly plan.

• Education

  40% off for students and educators

  Students and educators get 40% off by using an email address from an educational institution or sending proof of student status.