Tools for capturing part of your screen and adding arrows, boxes, text or blur. First decide whether you need full-screen, window, selected-area or scrolling-page capture.
Good to know: Free-use terms vary by tool and plan. When a card lists no tool-specific limit, check quotas, watermarks and export terms on the official page.
Better Shot is a free, open-source app for macOS 26 and later that takes screenshots, marks them up with arrows and text, polishes them and records the screen.
Screenshots & Annotation
Good to know: Requires desktop installation.
ShareX is a free, open-source Windows tool that captures and annotates screenshots, records the screen, makes GIFs and can upload the result to destinations you choose.
Screenshots & Annotation
Good to know: Requires desktop installation.
Flameshot is a free, open-source screenshot tool for Linux, Windows and macOS that lets you add arrows, text, highlights and blur to a capture and save it.
Screenshots & Annotation
Good to know: Requires desktop installation.
Greenshot is a free, open-source, lightweight screenshot tool for Windows that captures a selected region, window or full screen and lets you annotate and export it.
Screenshots & Annotation
Good to know: Requires desktop installation.
Shottr is a lightweight screenshot and annotation app for macOS with area, window and scrolling capture, OCR, pixel measuring and a color picker; most features are free.
Screenshots & Annotation
Good to know: Requires desktop installation.
Snow Shot is an open-source tool for Windows and macOS that captures and annotates screenshots, extracts text from images, records the screen and pins images on top of the screen.
Screenshots & Annotation
Good to know: Requires desktop installation.
Capture the kind of screen you plan to share and try the arrow, numbered-step, highlight and text tools. After blurring sensitive details, open the exported file and confirm they are truly unreadable; editable project files can keep the original layers.
Verify scrolling capture, text recognition (OCR), cloud sharing and keyboard shortcuts on the platform you use; desktop apps and browser extensions may offer different features. Check export, storage and sharing limits for the free plan on the official page.
Is the built-in tool enough? Windows, macOS, Android and iOS include their own screenshot tools; try them first for simple capture and cropping. A separate tool can help when you annotate often, need scrolling capture or share with a team.
Is this the right tool for extracting text from an image? Screenshot tools capture and annotate; some also offer text recognition. If your main job is turning text into editable copy, compare image-to-text (OCR) tools.
This comparison is based on published official documentation. It is not a hands-on test or a quality ranking. Unknown features are not treated as verified.
| App name | Where will you use it? | Free output | No account needed | No watermark | Works offline | Batch processing | Content language | Good to know / Sources and review date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Shot | Desktop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. Available features may vary by device and access method. Sources and review date |
| ShareX | Desktop | Yes | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. Available features may vary by device and access method. Sources and review date |
| Flameshot | Desktop | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. Available features may vary by device and access method. Sources and review date |
| Greenshot | Desktop | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. Available features may vary by device and access method. Sources and review date |
| Shottr | Desktop | Yes | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. Available features may vary by device and access method. Check each tool’s plan separately; one feature’s allowance does not cover another. Sources and review date |
| Snow Shot | Desktop | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Requires desktop installation. Available features may vary by device and access method. Check the official page for current quotas and output conditions. Sources and review date |