ShareX is free, open source, and Windows-only, with no account. Greenshot is the same shape: free, open source, Windows. Lightshot is the one that also says Mac, and the page we fetched does not print a price. CleanShot X and Snagit are published paid tools, so they are not picks on a free page. The category has 78 published tools and 58 with a free path.
Capture without a subscription. Windows has two open source defaults. A Mac free plan is a shorter list.
Screenshot Tools is 78 published tools on Toolradar as of September 22, 2026. 58 have a free path. The raw category is not a shortlist: ranked by score it also surfaces products that are not screenshot tools. This page keeps capture tools whose vendor page we could read.
Two of the three free picks say open source on the vendor site. That is a license claim from the vendor, which is stronger than the string match in open source software statistics. That report counts 370 listings that use the words. It does not audit GPL files. ShareX's GitHub repository states GPLv3. Greenshot's site says completely free and open source.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShareX | Free | 4.8 102 reviews | Windows users who want capture, annotation, and a local save |
| Greenshot | Free | 4.7 168 reviews | People who want region, window, and annotate without a suite |
| Lightshot | Free | 4.7 131 reviews | A fast region shot on Windows or Mac, if you accept the share upload |
ShareX
Free and open source screen capture for Windows, with no account.
- 4.8 on G2 (80 reviews)
- 4.8 on Capterra (19 reviews)
- 5.0 on SourceForge (3 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free
- Free plan
- Free to use
- Rating
- 4.8 (102 reviews)
Best for: Windows users who want capture, annotation, and a local save
- Pro: getsharex.com calls it completely free and open source
- Pro: The GitHub repository states GNU GPL v3
- Pro: No account is required. Upload destinations are optional
- Con: Windows. There is no Mac build on the project description we read
- Con: The feature set is large. Region capture is the job. The rest is optional
ShareX offers an incredibly generous pricing model, as it is completely free and open-source.
Watch out
Potential costs for third-party storage services.
Greenshot
A lighter free and open source capture tool for Windows.
- 4.8 on G2 (164 reviews)
- 4.5 on SourceForge (4 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free
- Free plan
- Free to use
- Rating
- 4.7 (168 reviews)
Best for: People who want region, window, and annotate without a suite
- Pro: getgreenshot.org says Greenshot is completely free and open source
- Pro: Region, window, and full screen, plus annotation
- Pro: Export can be a file or the clipboard, so the image can stay local
- Con: Windows. The site says Windows PC
- Con: Scrolling capture is described for Internet Explorer, which is a narrow claim
Greenshot's pricing is exceptionally fair and generous, as it offers a fully functional screenshot tool completely free of charge.
Lightshot
The free-listed tool that also names Mac.
- 4.7 on G2 (130 reviews)
- 5.0 on SourceForge (1 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free
- Free plan
- Free to use
- Rating
- 4.7 (131 reviews)
Best for: A fast region shot on Windows or Mac, if you accept the share upload
- Pro: The official page says Windows and Mac, plus browser extensions
- Pro: Region capture and an editor are the product
- Pro: The page we fetched does not print a paid plan
- Con: Sharing uploads the screenshot to their server to mint a short link
- Con: The page does not say open source
Lightshot's pricing is extremely generous as it offers a fully-featured screenshot tool completely for free.
What It Is
A screenshot tool grabs a region, a window, or the full screen, then lets you annotate or save. Recording a video is a neighbor, not the same job. Upload-and-share is a second job, and it is the one that sends the image to someone else's server.
Why It Matters
The paid tools in this category, CleanShot X and Snagit, are real products. They are not free, so a free ranking that leads with them is a different page. The failure mode on the free side is the share link: Lightshot's own page says the screenshot is uploaded to the server so you can get a short link.
Key Features to Look For
Region, window, and full-screen capture
Annotation before you save
A local save that does not require an account
A stated platform. Windows-only is fine if the page says so
A share step you can skip when the image should not leave the machine
What to Consider
-
Whether the image stays local. ShareX says no account is required. Lightshot's share feature uploads to its server.
-
Open source versus freeware. ShareX publishes a GPLv3 repository. Greenshot says open source on the site. Lightshot's page does not say open source.
-
Do not pick a screen recorder or a web scraper because it shares the category.
Evaluation Checklist
Take one shot and save it to disk with the network off, if the image cannot be shared
Confirm the OS. Do not install ShareX on a Mac and expect a build
If you need a paid Mac capture tool, look at CleanShot X separately. It is not a free pick
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Price we could read | Platform | Leaves the machine? |
|---|---|---|---|
Free. GPLv3 on the GitHub repository | Windows | No account required. Upload is optional | |
Greenshot | Completely free, per getgreenshot.org | Windows | Save locally. Upload to photo sites is an export option |
Lightshot | No dollar on the page we fetched. Listing is Free | Windows and Mac, plus browser extensions | The share step uploads to their server |
Vendor pages fetched September 22, 2026. CleanShot X and Snagit are paid listings and are not in this table.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Assuming every free screenshot tool is open source. Lightshot's page does not say that
- ×
Assuming ShareX runs on Mac because it is the best known free tool
- ×
Uploading a customer screen by habit because the short link is one click
Expert Tips
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A share button that is the only way to save
-
A category neighbor that is a scraper, a PDF API, or a screen recorder sold as a screenshot tool
-
A free ranking that leads with Snagit
The Bottom Line
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free screenshot tool?
Is there a free screenshot tool for Mac?
Lightshot's page says Windows and Mac. ShareX and Greenshot, as described on their sites, are Windows tools. CleanShot X is a published Mac tool and it is paid, so it is not a pick here.
Does the share link keep the image on my machine?
Not on Lightshot. The official page says the screenshot is uploaded to the server so you get a short link. ShareX says no account is required and upload is a destination you configure. Greenshot can save to a file or the clipboard.
Why are Snagit and CleanShot not ranked?
Both are published, and both are labeled Paid. This page is the free cut. Their prices were not re-fetched on September 22, so they are not given a dollar here either.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Best Free Screenshot Tools in 2026", updated September 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/best-free-screenshot-tools
Sources
Prices and plan details on this page come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker:
- ShareX pricing, checked
- Greenshot pricing, checked
- Lightshot pricing, checked
Spotted an outdated price or a wrong fact? Suggest a correction: we check it against the vendor's own page. Work for one of these vendors? Claim your listing to update it yourself.
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