Free Snagit Alternative for Mac in 2026: 5 Options

For a free Snagit alternative on a Mac, start with what macOS already includes: Shift-Command-4 to capture a region and Markup to annotate it. Add Shottr if you want scrolling capture and OCR, Flameshot or ksnip for open-source annotation, and Cap if you also need free screen recordings. Snagit itself costs $39 per user per year, so each of these saves that subscription.

What matters when replacing Snagit for free

According to TechSmith's store page, Snagit Individual is $39.00 per user per year, billed yearly, non-transferable, with a 14-day money-back guarantee and no free trial mentioned. It lists macOS 14 and later. TechSmith's product page also lists scrolling capture, Step Capture, Smart Redact, themes and a searchable library.

Five criteria decide the swap:

1. Cost and terms. Is it free for your use, personal or work?
2. Annotation. Arrows, text, blur and redaction.
3. Scrolling capture and OCR, for long pages and copying text from images.
4. Screen recording, if you used Snagit for video.
5. Maintenance and Mac support. Some free tools are Windows-first.

No single free app copies all of Snagit. The realistic setup is one capture tool plus, if needed, one recorder.

macOS built-in Screenshot and Markup

macOS can capture and mark up screens without any install. Apple's guide lists Shift-Command-3 for the full screen, Shift-Command-4 for a portion, Space after Shift-Command-4 for a window, and Shift-Command-5 for the Screenshot panel, which also records the screen. Holding Control with a shortcut copies the capture to the clipboard.

After a capture, a thumbnail appears; clicking it opens markup tools, and for a recording it lets you trim the video. Screenshots are saved as PNG and recordings as MOV. Apple's guide does not list scrolling capture, OCR or a library of past captures, which Snagit offers. Skip it if you regularly capture long web pages or need those features.

Shottr

Shottr is a macOS-only capture tool. According to its website, it can be used for free as long as you want, most features are available to free users, and the app periodically asks you to buy it. A pay-what-you-want option lets you enter $0. It lists scrolling captures, text recognition (OCR) that also reads QR codes, markup tools and an on-screen ruler for measuring, and it runs on macOS Catalina 10.15 and later.

This page does not cover Shottr's terms for commercial use, so check with the developer before using it for company work. Skip it if you need screen recording or a team library; it is a screenshot tool.

Flameshot

Flameshot is an open-source screenshot tool for Windows, macOS and Linux. According to flameshot.org, annotation tools include arrows, text, blur or pixelate, freehand drawing, borders and counters. It is licensed GPL v3, installs on macOS through Homebrew or a .dmg, and has a command-line interface for scripting.

The step counters and blur make it a good fit for documentation screenshots. Skip it if you want OCR or scrolling capture; neither is among the features its site lists. It also is not a video recorder.

ksnip

ksnip is an annotation tool released under GPL-3.0. Its GitHub README lists Windows, macOS and Linux, with pen, marker, shapes, text, stickers, cropping and blur or pixelate. It does not mention screen recording.

Two cautions come from the README itself. It lists known issues for macOS, and the maintainer says the project has only one developer and is looking for co-maintainers. The current version shown is v1.11.0. Skip it if you want a tool that is actively fixed on Mac; Flameshot or Shottr are safer choices for daily use.

Cap

Cap is for the recording half of Snagit. According to Cap's pricing page, the Free plan is $0 for personal use. Shareable links are limited to 5 minutes. The page says local recordings have no time limit but its comparison table lists unlimited local recordings as not included on Free, so confirm that before relying on it.

Commercial use is not included on Free. A Desktop License is $29 per license per year or $58 once for a lifetime licence. Downloads are listed for macOS, Windows and Linux. Skip it if you only take screenshots; use Shottr instead. For more recorders, see free screen recorders and Loom alternatives.

What about Greenshot?

Greenshot is a name that comes up for free screenshots, but it is free mainly on Windows. Per its downloads page, the Windows version is free and open source, while the Mac version is $1.99 on the Mac App Store. It is cheap, but not free, so it is left out of the main picks.

How the options compare

How to choose

You take occasional screenshots and add an arrow or two. Stay with the built-in tools. Nothing to install, and markup is one click away.

You write documentation or support articles with long pages. Install Shottr for scrolling capture and OCR, and add Flameshot if you want step counters and blur. See free screenshot tools and open-source screenshot tools for more.

You record tutorials or bug reports. Use Shift-Command-5 for short clips and Cap for longer ones. If you prefer a fully open-source setup, ksnip and Flameshot cover images only, so pair them with a separate recorder from the same list.