CleanShot X for MacBook: A Comprehensive Hands-On Review

CleanShot X for Mac

A screenshot and screen recording tool designed for macOS. Use CleanShot X Coupon Code “WITTYSPARKS” to get a 15% discount on all plans.

Get 15% OFF on CleanShot X Now

Are you tired of the default screenshot functionality on your MacBook? Well, you are not alone! The default functionality is good, but not that great. Option? A lot of them, in fact!

If looking for a powerful and versatile alternative for taking screenshots on MacBook, there are plethoras of tools available.

Today, let’s explore CleanShot X, a cutting-edge screenshot tool crafted exclusively for MacBook users. Boasting a rich set of features, CleanShot X is designed to transform your screenshot experience and elevate your productivity. Ready to discover what makes this app stand out? Let’s dive in!

Introduction to CleanShot X

CleanShot X isn’t just a screenshot tool, it’s the ultimate screen capturing tool designed specifically for Mac users who want more from their workflow.

Packed with advanced features like screen recording, annotation tools, and seamless cloud storage, CleanShot X delivers a comprehensive solution that goes far beyond the basics.

Whether you’re capturing quick screenshots, recording detailed video tutorials, or instantly saving and sharing your work, this app is built to streamline your process and boost productivity.

What sets CleanShot X apart is its user-friendly design and powerful quick access overlay, allowing you to take screenshots, record your screen, or use the scrolling capture feature in just seconds.

The easy editing features and robust annotation tools make it simple to highlight important parts, blur sensitive information, or add notes – perfect for professionals, educators, and anyone who needs to communicate visually.

Plus, with unlimited storage in the cloud, a custom domain for sharing, and the ability to extract text or capture chat history, CleanShot X adapts to every workflow.

Mac users will appreciate CleanShot X’s seamless integration with macOS and Apple Silicon, ensuring top performance and compatibility. The app also supports iOS apps, so you can keep your captures and content in sync across all your devices.

With options for a one-time payment or a free trial, CleanShot X is totally worth it for anyone looking for a feature-rich, user-friendly screenshot and video recording tool.

Whether you’re editing, recording audio, or sharing screenshots with a single link, CleanShot X is the comprehensive solution that makes taking screenshots and managing your content effortless.

Easy Installation and User-Friendly Interface

One of the highlights of CleanShot X is how simple it is to install. Just visit the CleanShot X website, download the app, and follow the straightforward installation instructions. No fuss!

Once installed, you’ll be welcomed by a sleek, intuitive interface that puts all the essential features right at your fingertips. The app seamlessly integrates into your MacBook’s menu bar, ensuring quick and easy access whenever you need it.

CleanShot X is also considered more intuitive and user-friendly compared to alternatives like Shottr.

Capture Your Screen with Precision

CleanShot X offers a wide range of screenshot options tailored to meet every need, making it effortless to capture and record your Mac’s screen with pinpoint accuracy. Here are some of the standout and most frequently used CleanShot X features:

1. Capture Full-Screen: Capture your entire screen with a single click.
2. Capture Window: Select a specific window to a screenshot. CleanShot X intelligently detects open windows and offers a preview, allowing you to choose the right one with ease.
3. Capture Area: Draw a custom area on your screen to capture the exact portion you want. You can even magnify your selection for pixel-perfect accuracy.
4. Self Timer: Use the self timer feature to set a delay before the screenshot is taken, giving you time to prepare or capture the perfect moment.
5. Scrolling Capture: One of my favorite and most used features which allows me to capture scrollable content to a certain scrollable area instead of taking screenshots of the entire scrollable content area.
6. Capture Text: Extract text from images or documents using the built-in OCR feature, making it easy to copy text from various sources without manual typing. CleanShot X includes a built-in text recognition feature for capturing text from images and documents.

Annotate and Edit on the Fly

With CleanShot X’s built-in annotation tools, you can:

• Add arrows, text, and shapes to highlight important details. Customize colors and sizes to make your annotations stand out.
• Blur or pixelate sensitive information to maintain privacy.
• Crop or resize your screenshot to focus on the relevant content. The app’s smart aspect ratio guides make it easy to maintain consistent dimensions across multiple images.
• Add watermarks or logos to personalize your images and protect your intellectual property.

CleanShot X’s annotation tools are among its standout features and prove incredibly handy for users. They enable you to highlight important parts of your screenshots within seconds, making it quick and efficient to emphasize key information.

Additionally, CleanShot X offers several cool features that enhance the annotating and editing experience, making the process both enjoyable and productive.

Both CleanShot X and Shottr allow users to annotate and edit images after capturing them.

Scrolling Capture: Tackle Lengthy Webpages with Ease

Ever struggled to capture an entire webpage in one screenshot? No worries! CleanShot X’s scrolling capture feature is the perfect solution. It seamlessly stitches together multiple screenshots to create a smooth, full-length image of any webpage or scrollable content.

Compatible with the most popular browsers, this feature effortlessly saves you time and effort when capturing long articles, chat logs, or social media feeds. Problem solved in seconds!

Record Your Screen and Create GIFs

Who can do without videos and GIFs today? CleanShot X goes beyond just static images, it lets you record your screen and save your recordings as high-quality videos or create engaging GIFs with ease.

With adjustable quality settings and optional audio, CleanShot X makes it effortless to share your screen recordings with colleagues, friends, or social media followers. Its video recording capabilities are robust and reliable, including features such as system audio capture, webcam overlay, and keystroke display for comprehensive and professional recordings.

Its video recording capabilities include options for system audio, webcam inclusion, and keystroke display, making them robust and reliable.

You can even trim your recordings and add annotations to create clear and concise video tutorials or presentations, making it super handy for explaining complex ideas quickly and effectively.

Efficient Workflow with Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts

Don’t like wasting time using trackpads too much? No worries, CleanShot X understands that time is of the essence. That’s why it offers customizable keyboard shortcuts, allowing you to access your favorite features quickly and efficiently.

You can also configure the app to instantly save your screenshots to a designated folder or automatically copy them to your clipboard. This means you can instantly save and share your images by dragging them directly into documents, emails, or image editors without missing a beat.

Users feel that CleanShot X significantly enhances productivity and communication efficiency, especially for tasks like bug reports and tutorials.

Seamless Cloud Integration for Easy Sharing

Sharing your screenshots has never been easier. The CleanShot app integrates with popular cloud storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive, so you can automatically sync your captures across devices.

CleanShot Cloud is an integrated, secure cloud hosting service that allows users to share captures via a link, with options for password protection and expiration. CleanShot X’s cloud storage feature enables users to upload and share screenshots and videos easily, streamlining collaboration.

You can also generate shareable links for your images and videos, making collaboration a breeze. Additionally, CleanShot X supports exporting or sharing screenshots, recordings, or GIFs directly to other apps, demonstrating its versatility.

This feature is especially useful for remote teams or when sharing content with clients who may not have access to your internal storage systems.

Capture History and Quick Access

CleanShot X maintains a history of your recent captures, making it easy to access and manage your screenshots. With the built-in gallery, you can quickly browse, search, and organize your captures without leaving the app. This saves you time and effort when locating a specific screenshot or revisiting past captures for reference.

Optimized for macOS Performance

One of the key factors that set CleanShot X apart from other screenshot tools is its optimization for macOS. The developers have designed the app to work seamlessly with your MacBook, ensuring minimal impact on performance and battery life.

This means you can enjoy all the powerful features of CleanShot X without sacrificing the efficiency and smooth operation you expect from your MacBook.

Dedicated Customer Support

The CleanShot X team understands the importance of customer satisfaction. They offer dedicated support through their website, providing prompt assistance for any issues or questions you may have.

This commitment to customer service ensures that you can make the most of CleanShot X and its features, knowing that help is just a click away.

Pricing Plans for CleanShot X

CleanShot X is a paid application available as a one-time purchase or as part of a subscription, offering flexible pricing to suit different user needs. Many users find the best value in CleanShot X by accessing it through a Setapp subscription, which includes numerous other Mac applications for a single monthly fee.

With all the features included in the paid plans, CleanShot X stands out as a comprehensive screen capture solution.

Here’s a thorough breakdown of the updated pricing options:

App + Cloud Basic

Ideal for users with fundamental needs, this plan features:

• A single payment of $29 for lifetime access
• Permanent ownership of the Mac app with a provided license key for activation
• One year of updates, including enhancements and new features
• 1 GB of Cloud storage to upload screenshots and instantly create shareable links
• Optional $19 yearly renewal for continued app updates or the choice to use the Mac app without renewing (no pressure)
• Students can receive a 30% discount by providing proof of their student status
• Recurring payments are required for additional storage and updates beyond the first year

App + Cloud Pro

Designed for heavy cloud users and teams, this plan offers:

• $8 per user/month when billed annually, or $10/month for monthly billing
• Mac app access for all users, activated using a Cloud account
• Continuous updates with the latest CleanShot features and improvements
• Unlimited Cloud storage to upload captures and create shareable links
• Custom domain and branding: add your own domain and logo for sharing
• Enhanced security options, such as self-destruct settings and password-protected links
• Advanced team management features, including easy team administration and SSO login

Setapp Subscription Option

CleanShot X is also available as part of the Setapp subscription plan for $9.99 per month, which provides access to CleanShot X along with a wide range of other premium Mac applications.

This subscription is a popular choice for users seeking ongoing access to all the features of CleanShot X and additional software value.

All prices are in USD, and applicable taxes may apply. CleanShot X is compatible with macOS 10.14 or newer. Cloud plans are subject to a fair use policy.

Risk-Free 30-Day Guarantee

CleanShot X stands behind every purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not content with your investment for any reason, simply inform the team, and they’ll arrange a refund.

CleanShot X: Pros and Cons

CleanShot X offers a range of features that make it an appealing choice for content creators, designers, developers, and other professionals. However, no software is perfect. Let’s find out the pros and cons of CleanShot X, as well as some alternatives to consider.

Pros of CleanShot X

1. Intuitive Interface: CleanShot X offers a user-friendly interface, making it easy to navigate and use for users of all experience levels.
2. Feature-Rich: With powerful features such as customizable keyboard shortcuts, annotation tools, scrolling capture, and cloud integration, CleanShot X provides a robust solution for capturing, editing, and sharing screenshots and screen recordings.
3. High-Quality Recordings: The software is capable of recording high-quality videos with audio, making it suitable for tutorials and presentations.
4. Quick Access Overlay: The Quick Access Overlay allows users to quickly access CleanShot X’s tools and features without interrupting their workflow.
5. Customization: CleanShot X offers a range of customization options for both screenshots and screen recordings, including the ability to add watermarks, choose file formats, and adjust video quality.

Cons of CleanShot X

1. macOS Exclusive: CleanShot X is designed specifically for macOS, making it inaccessible to Windows or Linux users.
2. Paid Software: Unlike some alternatives, CleanShot X is not a free tool. Although it offers a comprehensive set of features, the price tag may be a barrier for some users.
3. No Built-in Video Editor: While CleanShot X offers a range of tools for editing screenshots, it lacks a built-in video editor for more advanced editing of screen recordings.

CleanShot X Alternatives

CleanShot X is an exceptional software, but if you are not satisfied with what it offers or are worried about its price tag (which is extremely affordable and totally worth it in my opinion), here are a few CleanShot X alternatives you should definitely try:

1. LightShot: A lightweight and easy-to-use screenshot tool available for both Windows and macOS. LightShot offers basic annotation tools and a user-friendly interface but lacks some of the advanced features of CleanShot X.
2. Snagit: A powerful screen capture and editing software available for both Windows and macOS. Snagit offers advanced features similar to CleanShot X, as well as a built-in video editor, but comes with a higher price tag.
3. ShareX: A free and open-source screen capture tool for Windows that offers a range of features, including customizable workflows and the ability to capture scrolling web pages. However, ShareX does not offer native macOS support.
4. Greenshot: An open-source screenshot tool for Windows that offers basic screen capture and annotation features. Greenshot is a more lightweight option but lacks some of the advanced features found in CleanShot X.
5. Skitch (by Evernote): A free screenshot and annotation tool for macOS and Windows. Skitch offers basic annotation tools and easy sharing options but lacks the advanced features and customization options of CleanShot X.

CleanShot X Coupon Code

Use coupon code WITTYSPARKS for 15% off.

Final Verdict: Is CleanShot X Worth It?

Using CleanShot X in your workflow consolidates multiple screenshot and screen recording functionalities into a single, efficient tool. As a screenshot app, it offers everything you need to create professional and engaging visual content, including precise screen captures, annotation tools, scrolling capture, and screen recording.

One standout feature is the ability to hide desktop icons and hide clutter on your desktop, ensuring your screenshots maintain a clean and professional appearance.

CleanShot X also provides a background tool that lets you add customizable backgrounds to your screenshots, whether you prefer a custom wallpaper or a plain color for a distraction-free look. The drag feature allows you to quickly drag screenshots or recordings directly into other apps for seamless sharing and workflow integration.

Despite initial skepticism about its price, users agree that CleanShot X is absolutely worth the investment due to the significant time saved and the high quality of output.

Its seamless integration with cloud storage services, customizable keyboard shortcuts, and optimized performance make it an invaluable tool for MacBook users of all skill levels. Moreover, you can enhance your MacBook’s performance with these amazing MacBook Pro accessories!

FAQs