Use case · for Skitch refugees
Skitch is gone. PrintScreen.ly is built in the same fast capture-and-annotate spirit, still actively shipped, and cross-platform — not a pixel-for-pixel clone, and we say so up front.
Mac · Windows · web · free local tier · $59.99 lifetime for sync
Skitch is gone, and you're still looking for a Skitch replacement — which tells you everything about how good the original idea was: capture something, drop an arrow and a few words on it, done, free. The reason no perfect replacement exists is that Evernote discontinued Skitch; nothing is a pixel-for-pixel clone, including PrintScreen.ly, and we'd rather say that up front than oversell.
It wasn't a feature list. It was the feel: instant capture, an obvious set of annotation tools (arrow, box, text, blur), zero ceremony, and no cost. PrintScreen.ly is built in that lineage and — critically — it's still actively maintained, so it won't quietly stop working after an OS update the way an abandoned app eventually does.
The capture-and-annotate feel, modernized
Region/window/scrolling/fullscreen capture, then an editor with 8 tools (pen, highlighter, arrow, rectangle, ellipse, text, blur/redact) plus non-destructive crop and unlimited undo. The “slap an arrow on it” workflow Skitch users want, current and supported.
Free, no account, for the core job
Capture, mark up, save locally, copy to clipboard — free on Mac and Windows. The thing Skitch users loved being free is free.
It follows you off the Mac
Skitch was Mac and old iOS. PrintScreen.ly runs on Windows and the web too, with a mobile companion (soft-launch).
An optional private library
If you want your annotated shots in one synced place across devices, that's the Pro layer ($59.99 lifetime, or monthly/annual) — entirely optional.
It is not a 1:1 Skitch clone
The UI, gestures, and exact behaviors are different. If your requirement is literally “Skitch, unchanged,” no successor — ours included — will satisfy that, and we won't pretend otherwise.
No screen recording or GIF
Skitch didn't do these either, but for completeness: PrintScreen.ly is a still-screenshot tool. It does include on-device text grab (OCR), which Skitch never had.
The synced library (Pro) is a fixed 2 GB
The sync layer is paid; the core capture-and-annotate experience is the free part.
Mobile is a companion soft-launch
Not a separately marketed standalone purchase surface — the license is purchased on Mac, Windows, or web and unlocks every device.
The person who misses what Skitch did — fast, clean, low-ceremony capture and annotation — and wants a tool that's maintained, cross-platform, and free for that core job. If instead you only want the exact old Skitch and nothing else, no replacement will feel right, and that's an honest thing to know before you switch.
Free, maintained, cross-platform capture and annotation. Optional synced library: $59.99 once.
Get PrintScreen.lyRelated
PrintScreen.ly vs Skitch
The honest head-to-head: a maintained successor versus a discontinued original.
PrintScreen.ly overview
Capture, the 8-tool editor, the optional synced library — the full feature list.
A lifetime-license screenshot tool
Why buy-once still beats subscription for the right person.
PrintScreen.ly vs Snagit
Lifetime versus subscription — honestly, including where Snagit wins.