CleanShot X vs Shottr

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

Shottr

• Designers and front-end developers who measure pixels and colors on screen
• Capturing long pages or chats as one scrolling screenshot
• Buyers who prefer a one-time license to a subscription

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.

Shottr

• Mac only, and the vendor calls a Windows or Linux version unlikely. Its pages disagree on the minimum macOS: 10.15 on the homepage, 12 in the knowledge base.
• The free version asks you to consider buying after 30 days, and commercial use requires a paid license.
• Shottr Cloud uploads are public to anyone with the URL and carry no storage guarantee. Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and FTP are not supported.
• The interface is not localized; the vendor says it is intentionally avoiding other languages for now.

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.

Shottr

Scrolling screenshots

Captures a long web page or chat conversation as one image, in any app or window. A manual scrolling mode covers systems where automatic capture does not work.

Annotations and backdrops

Adds text, arrows, freehand drawings, highlights, spotlights and a magnifier callout, and the Backdrop tool sets a screenshot on a gradient with shadows and rounded corners.

Text recognition and QR codes

A hotkey lets you select an area of the screen; Shottr recognizes the text in it and copies it to the clipboard. The same feature reads QR codes.

Screen ruler and color picker

Arrow keys measure horizontal and vertical distances on a screenshot, and the Tab key copies the color under the cursor. A contrast checker supports WCAG 2.0 and APCA.

Pixelate, erase and pin

Hides parts of an image behind pixelation or removes them, and pins screenshots as floating, always-on-top borderless windows for reference.

Upload and link sharing

Uploads a screenshot to Shottr Cloud or any S3-compatible storage and copies its public URL. Shottr Cloud needs a free access token tied to your email.

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.

Shottr

• Free$0

  Most features with no time limit. After 30 days the app starts asking you to consider upgrading.

• Basic Tier$12

  one-time purchase

  A license for one user on up to five computers. Required for commercial use; the vendor says the activated version gives a better overall experience.

• Friends Club$30

  one-time purchase

  Adds access to experimental features and better support. A Basic license cannot be upgraded to this tier.

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.

Shottr

No public discounts listed.