PrintScreen.ly vs ShareX
Looking for a ShareX alternative that runs on more than just Windows? Here's an honest PrintScreen.ly vs ShareX comparison — what each one does well, and where the other one wins. ShareX is the king of free, open-source Windows screenshot tools and we're not going to pretend otherwise. PrintScreen.ly is the cross-platform alternative for people who use a Mac, an iPhone, or an Android phone alongside their Windows machine.
| At a glance | PrintScreen.ly | ShareX |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $3.99/mo | Free |
| Most popular plan | $24.99/yr | Free |
| Lifetime license | $59.99 | Free (open-source, GPL-3.0) |
| Platforms | Mac · Windows · iOS · Android · Web | Windows |
Pick ShareX if
- ·It's free. Forever. Open-source under GPL-3.0 with 18+ years of active development. Nothing PrintScreen.ly can do beats $0.
- ·Unmatched workflow depth: dozens of upload destinations, scriptable post-capture actions, every output format imaginable, and a hotkey/automation system tuned for power users.
- ·Includes native video and GIF recording (with audio), screen color picker, ruler, OCR, and a long list of productivity tools we do not currently ship.
- ·Mature, stable, trusted by enterprise teams; Microsoft Store and Steam distribution alongside direct download.
Pick PrintScreen.ly if
- +Cross-platform: native Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and a web dashboard — one account, one library. ShareX is Windows-only and there has never been a Mac, iOS, or Android version.
- +Cleaner default experience: capture, mark up, save, share — done. ShareX's UI is famously dense; that's by design for power users, but it scares non-technical people off.
- +Cross-device clipboard: copy a screenshot on Windows, paste it on iPhone or Mac. ShareX has no equivalent because ShareX only exists on Windows.
- +Editor parity across every client — the same 8 tools, same Apple-system color palette, same stroke widths, same text sizes — so an annotation made on iPhone looks identical when re-opened on Windows or web.
Full feature comparison
Verified 2026-05-08. Source linked at the bottom.
| Feature | PrintScreen.ly | ShareX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99/mo · $24.99/yr · $59.99 lifetime | Free (open-source, GPL-3.0) |
| Platforms | Mac + Windows + iOS + Android + Web | Windows only |
| Region / window / fullscreen capture | Yes | Yes |
| Scroll capture | Yes | Yes |
| Video recording | No | Yes (MP4, with audio) |
| Animated GIF recording | No | Yes |
| Markup tools | 8 tools, 8-color Apple-system palette, non-destructive crop, identical on every client | Image effects + annotation editor with extensive options |
| OCR | Yes — on-device, free, every platform | Yes — on-device |
| Color picker / pixel ruler | No | Yes |
| Custom upload destinations / scripting | No — uploads go to your PrintScreen.ly cloud library | Yes — dozens of destinations, scriptable workflows |
| Cloud sync (one account across devices) | Yes (Pro) — Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web | No — uploads to third-party services, no cross-device library |
| Web dashboard for your screenshot library | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Mobile apps | Yes — native iOS and Android | No |
| Cross-device clipboard | Yes (Pro) | No |
| UI complexity | Single-screen capture flow, defaults work out of the box | Dense — settings-heavy by design for power users |
| Free tier | Complete standalone tool — capture, mark up, OCR, save, share | Entire app is free forever |
| Trust + signing | Apple Developer ID notarized + Azure Trusted Signing on Windows | Open-source — GPL-3.0 source available on GitHub |
Bottom line
ShareX is one of the best pieces of free software ever shipped on Windows. If you live on Windows and you're comfortable with a settings-heavy power-user UI, you should use ShareX. We will not beat them on price and we will not beat them on workflow depth. PrintScreen.ly is for the person who works on a Mac and a Windows machine and an iPhone, who wants the same capture-and-mark-up flow on all three, and who will pay $59.99 once for a single license that covers all of it. That's not most ShareX users. It's the part of the screenshot-tool market that ShareX explicitly does not serve.
FAQ
Is ShareX better than PrintScreen.ly?+
On Windows, for power users who want maximum customization at zero cost, yes — ShareX is excellent and we say so on this page. The honest case for PrintScreen.ly is the cross-device part: you have a Mac and an iPhone and an Android phone alongside your Windows machine, and you want one library and one license that covers all of them. ShareX cannot do that because ShareX is Windows-only.
Does ShareX run on Mac?+
No. ShareX is Windows-only and has been throughout its 18+ year history. There is no Mac, iOS, Android, or web version. If a single tool that works on all of those is the goal, ShareX is the wrong tool.
Why pay for PrintScreen.ly when ShareX is free?+
If Windows is your only device, you probably shouldn't. We say that on this page. The $59.99 lifetime price is for the cross-platform parity — Mac, iOS, Android, and a synced web library on the same account — that ShareX doesn't offer. Pay for the cross-device part, not the capture-on-Windows part.
Is PrintScreen.ly's free tier really complete?+
Yes. Free includes every capture mode (region, window, fullscreen, scrolling), the full 8-tool markup editor with the Apple-system color palette, on-device OCR, save to your local folder, copy to clipboard, and share via the system share sheet. Pro only adds what you can't do on a single device — cloud sync, the web library, shareable links, and cross-device clipboard.
More PrintScreen.ly comparisons
Pricing verified 2026-05-08. ShareX pricing source. Subject to change.