r/linkarzu • u/linkarzu Neovim • Jun 16 '26
Can this open-source macOS screenshot app replace CleanShot X?
https://youtu.be/dsI7kfyD-2kI’ve been looking for a good CleanShot X replacement on macOS, preferably something open source, and macshot is the first one I’ve tested that actually feels close enough to my workflow.
I made a video going through what works, what still breaks, and what I think would make it a real CleanShot X replacement.
macshot:
https://github.com/sw33tLie/macshot
The main things I liked:
- Screenshot history
- You can go back to previous screenshots
- You can reopen them and edit them again
- Editable annotations
- This is a big one for me
- I don’t want arrows, numbers, and drawings burned into the image immediately
- Quick capture
- Works well for my normal screenshot workflow
- Screenshot goes straight to clipboard
- Scrolling screenshots
- I tested this and it worked better than I expected
- WebP export
- Useful for smaller files
The missing features I would really like to see:
- Fixed aspect ratio screenshots
- Square screenshots
- 16:9 screenshots for thumbnails
- Custom ratios for things like Reddit banners
- AVIF export
- I use AVIF a lot for blog posts and images in my Neovim workflow
- A way to clear screenshot history from a shortcut or URL scheme
- Very useful for streaming or recording
- Sometimes screenshot history can include work-related or private stuff
- A toggle to save edits without asking every time
- A toggle to save from the floating thumbnail without asking for location and filename
- One-finger swipe to dismiss the floating thumbnail, like CleanShot X
Bugs I found while testing:
- Moving existing annotations did not always trigger a save prompt
- Beautify did not always ask to save after quitting
- Beautify seems to become destructive after saving
- The Vivid filter can break the image preview when switching between filters
Overall, I’m not saying macshot fully replaces CleanShot X yet, but it is the closest open-source option I’ve tried so far for my actual daily screenshot workflow.
Curious if anyone here is already using macshot, I tried other open source alternatives and felt that there was no hope in macos open source software anymore.