Greenshot vs Lightshot (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Greenshot and Lightshot share a 3.0 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on which platforms you need.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Greenshot
Free, open-source screenshot tool for Windows with an editor
Free plan · from $1.99 one-time
Which one is for you
Pick Greenshot if
- Fits if you want a Windows screenshot tool with an editor, at no cost even at work
- Works for teams that attach marked-up screenshots to Jira tickets
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're on Linux, as there's no version and the FAQ says none is planned
- Not for you if you're on a Mac and want the full thing, since the $1.99 Mac app has fewer features and dates from June 2020
- Too light for capturing long scrolling pages, which is only documented for Internet Explorer
- Watch out: the OCR plug-in depends on Microsoft Office Document Imaging, an optional part of Office 2003 and 2007
- Not for you if you want it on a phone or in a browser, since there are no phone apps or web version
Pick Lightshot if
- Fits if you want a free screenshot tool that makes a link
- Works for people who take a screenshot a few times a day
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: sharing uploads your image to the vendor's server
- Not for you if you want screen recording, as none is listed
- Skip it if you use Linux, as no app is listed
- Watch out: the footer shows 2009 to 2022, which suggests updates are rare
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAGreenshotVery good | 3.0GPALightshotVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree on Windows under the GNU GPL, for private and commercial use, as a plain download. The Mac app is $1.99 once on the Mac App Store, priced to cover the team's costs. | AFree on Windows and Mac, under 60% of the category's cheaper quarter. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe full Windows app costs nothing, at home or at work, and there's no trial clock. Only the Mac version is paid. | AFree outright with no cap listed and nothing locked. |
| Features | CThe still screenshot is covered: region, window and full screen, an editor with arrows, text, highlighting and blur, and export to a file, the clipboard, a printer, email, Office or Jira. The gaps are in the listing: scrolling capture is documented for Internet Explorer only, and OCR needs a part of Office 2003. | CArea capture, quick edit, upload with a short link and similar-image search. There is no listed scrolling capture or screen recording, so it covers a narrow job. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating is on record, but there's nothing to set up: press the Print key, drag, and the capture opens in the editor. Only sending shots to Jira needs configuring first. | BNo rating on record. You press a key, drag, and save or share. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows and Mac, but both are computers and that's the whole list: no phone apps, no web version. The Mac app is a separate, thinner one last updated in June 2020, and the FAQ says no Linux version is planned. Jira, Office and Flickr are the only things it talks to. | CWindows, Mac and browser extensions. All computers, with no phone app and no listed integrations. |
| Best for | free Windows screenshots with a built-in editor | quick area screenshots shared as a link |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Greenshot and Lightshot. How we grade
Where they differ
- Greenshot is open source, according to its own site.
- Lightshot also covers file sharing.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSScreenshots
At a glance
| Greenshot | Lightshot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $1.99 one-time for the Mac version (US Mac App Store) | Free |
| Free plan | Greenshot for Windows is free and open source under the GNU GPL, at no charge for private or commercial use. Only the Mac version is paid. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Thomas Braun, Jens Klingen and Robin Krom | Skillbrains |
| Price read from | getgreenshot.org | app.prntscr.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Greenshot
- The full version is for Windows. The Mac app costs $1.99, was last updated in June 2020 and has fewer features, per its App Store listing.
- There is no Linux version, and the FAQ says none is planned.
- Capturing a complete scrolling web page is documented only for Internet Explorer.
- The OCR plug-in depends on Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI), an optional component of Office 2003 and 2007.
Lightshot
- Sharing uploads the image to the vendor's server.
- The site's footer shows a 2009-2022 copyright, which suggests updates are infrequent.
- No Linux app is listed on the page.
Key features
Greenshot
- Region, window and fullscreen capture
- Captures a selected region, the active window or the whole screen with the Print key and its modifiers, and can capture the last region again.
- Image editor
- Opens each capture in an editor for drawing rectangles, ellipses, lines, arrows and freehand lines, adding text, cropping and enlarging the image.
- Highlight and obfuscate
- Highlights text or an area, turns the surroundings to grayscale or magnifies a selection, and hides sensitive details by pixelizing or blurring them.
- Export destinations
- Saves to a file, copies to the clipboard, prints, attaches the image to an email, sends it to Office programs or uploads it to photo sites.
- Jira upload
- Can be configured to upload screenshots to a Jira Server or Jira Cloud instance, and lists recently viewed tickets in the destination picker.
- Mac version
- A separate Mac app captures a region, window or the full screen, annotates and obscures parts of the image, and exports to a file, the clipboard or email.
Lightshot
- Area capture
- Select any region of the desktop and capture it in two clicks.
- Instant edit
- Edit a capture while taking it, or later in the online editor.
- Upload and short link
- Uploads the image to the vendor's server and returns a short link right away.
- Similar image search
- Select an image on screen to find similar images.
- Gallery
- A signed-in My Gallery page keeps your uploaded screenshots.
- Browser extensions
- Extensions for Chrome and Firefox are linked from the site, alongside the desktop apps.
Plans
Greenshot
Greenshot for Windows$0
The full Windows app, free and open source under the GNU GPL for private and commercial use.
Greenshot for Mac$1.99
one-time purchase (US Mac App Store)
A separate macOS app, priced to cover the team's costs. Its listing warns that it has fewer features than the Windows version.
Lightshot
Lightshot$0
The download page offers the app for free on Windows and Mac.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Greenshot or Lightshot?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Greenshot starts at $1.99 one-time for the Mac version (US Mac App Store), and Lightshot is free.
Which has a free plan, Greenshot or Lightshot?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Greenshot and Lightshot have a free plan.
Which platforms do Greenshot and Lightshot run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Lightshot lists a browser extension. Both list macOS and Windows apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.