Frostshot vs CleanShot X
CleanShot X is the best-known screenshot app for Mac, and it does a lot: screenshots, scrolling capture, screen recording, a video editor and its own cloud. Frostshot does less, on purpose. It’s built for one job: capture something, mark it up, press Return, and it’s on your clipboard. Here is an honest side-by-side so you can pick the right one.
The short answer
- Pick CleanShot X if you record your screen, need scrolling capture, or share through cloud links.
- Pick Frostshot if you mostly take screenshots and paste them somewhere, want auto-blur for private details, and like paying once with no subscription.
Side by side
| Feature | Frostshot | CleanShot X |
|---|---|---|
| Area, window and full-screen capture | Yes | Yes |
| Capture, then Return to copy | Yes, Return copies to the clipboard | Copy from the Quick Access Overlay |
| Copy text from the screen (OCR) | Yes, Copy Text | Yes, Text recognition |
| Blur and redaction | Blur tool, plus optional auto-blur of emails, API keys, phone and card numbers and IP addresses (off by default) | Blur and pixelate tools |
| Keep captures for later | Keep for Later shelf in the notch, plus the Recent Captures history | Capture history |
| Combine captures | Yes, plus Join seamlessly for two overlapping captures of one page | Yes, drag and drop into Annotate |
| Scrolling capture | No | Yes |
| Screen recording and video editor | No | Yes |
| Cloud sharing | No. Nothing leaves your Mac | Yes, CleanShot Cloud |
| Requires | macOS 26 | macOS 13.0 or newer |
| How you pay | Pay once, no subscription, on the Mac App Store | Basic: pay once with one year of updates, optional yearly renewal. Pro: subscription with Cloud |
What Frostshot does differently
Return and it’s copied
Press ⌥⇧1, drag, and a glass island rises under your selection with the arrow, box, highlighter, text and blur tools. Press Return and the shot is on your clipboard. No preview window to close and no file on your desktop.
Private details can blur themselves
Turn on auto-blur and Frostshot finds emails, API keys, phone and card numbers and IP addresses in each capture and blurs them before you share. It’s off by default and runs on your Mac.
Keep for Later, in the notch
Not ready to deal with a capture? Press ⌥Return and it slips into the notch. Kept for Later never expires, and ⌥⇧S brings it back.
Built for macOS 26
Frostshot is made for macOS 26, with an editor in Liquid Glass.
What Frostshot doesn’t do
Frostshot has no scrolling capture and no screen recording. If you need either, CleanShot X is the better choice. Join seamlessly is not scrolling capture: you take two captures of the same page yourself, and Frostshot offers to join them when they overlap exactly.
FAQ
Is Frostshot a CleanShot X alternative?
For screenshots, yes: capture, mark up, copy text, blur and keep for later. For screen recording or scrolling capture, no. Frostshot doesn’t do those.
Does Frostshot have scrolling capture?
No. Join seamlessly can join two overlapping captures of the same page that you take yourself, but Frostshot doesn’t scroll for you.
Is Frostshot a subscription?
No. You pay once on the Mac App Store, with no subscription.
Does Frostshot upload my screenshots?
No. Frostshot has no cloud and no account. Captures go to your clipboard or to a folder you choose.
When is Frostshot available?
It’s coming soon to the Mac App Store. Follow @frostshotapp on X to hear the day it’s out.
More comparisons and guides
Frostshot is coming soon to the Mac App Store. See how it works at frostshot.app and follow @frostshotapp for the launch.
Follow the build on X. New features, previews and launch day, as they happen. Or leave your email and we’ll write once, on launch day.
Follow @frostshotapp