Free alternative to Screen Studio

What replaces Screen Studio

The main alternative

Snapzy

🟢 Beginner⏱️ ~5 min to installSave €25/mo

Snapzy is a light Mac app that replaces both CleanShot X and Screen Studio. For screenshots: an area, a window, the whole screen or a full scrolling page, the text in an image copied with one shortcut, then you annotate and blur (it spots sensitive info by itself). For video: you record as video or GIF with your Mac's sound, the microphone and your webcam as an overlay. The editor adds zooms that follow your mouse and a background, in vertical format if you want. Link sharing goes through your own Amazon S3 or Cloudflare R2 storage. Snapzy runs on macOS 13 and later, BSD licensed, with no paid version at all. What it does not do yet compared to Screen Studio: smoothing and enlarging the cursor after recording, motion blur, automatic subtitles and audio cleanup.

Loucash’s verdict on Snapzy

8/10

For a free tool, Snapzy does a lot: CleanShot X's annotated screenshots, plus a good part of Screen Studio, with zooms that follow the mouse, backgrounds and the vertical format. Everything stays on your Mac, with no account and no subscription. What I like: it is a real Mac app, light and notarized by Apple, installed with one command. And link sharing goes through your own storage, not their servers. Why 8 and not more: it still lacks what makes Screen Studio magic, the smoothed cursor you enlarge afterwards, motion blur, subtitles and audio clean up. The project is under a year old and moves fast, with releases almost every week. And it only runs on Mac.

Who it is for: You make annotated screenshots and video demos on a Mac, and you no longer want to pay for CleanShot X or the Screen Studio subscription. If you sell very polished videos where the cursor must glide perfectly, Screen Studio keeps an edge.

See the full page →See the tool ↗

• 

  Also in the library

  Cap

  🟢 Beginner⏱️ ~5 min to installSave €25/mo

  Cap is the open source alternative to Loom. It records your screen, your webcam and your mic, and gives you a video to share. In Instant mode, the video uploads while you talk and the link is already copied when you stop, just like Loom. In Studio mode, you record locally, in 4K if you want, then edit: background, automatic zoom on your clicks, blur on sensitive areas, captions, export to a file. Nothing leaves for a server until you ask for a link. There is also a screenshot mode, and a command line so Claude Code can record for you. The web part deploys on your own server with Docker Compose: your videos, your database, your storage. The app runs on Mac and Windows; the Linux version is brand new.

  See the full page →See the tool ↗

Snapzy versus Screen Studio: the match

• Price

  Snapzy

  €0, no subscription

  Screen Studio

  €25/month, or €8/month yearly

• Zooms that follow the mouse

  Snapzy

  Yes, adjustable

  Screen Studio

  Yes, the reference

• Cursor smoothed and enlarged afterwards

  Snapzy

  No

  Screen Studio

  Yes

See 4 more advantages

Screen Studio ↗

VS	Snapzy	Screen Studio ↗
Price	€0, no subscription	€25/month, or €8/month yearly
Zooms that follow the mouse	Yes, adjustable	Yes, the reference
Cursor smoothed and enlarged afterwards	No	Yes
Backgrounds, padding, vertical format	Yes	Yes
Annotated screenshots	Yes, CleanShot X style	No, video only
Link sharing	Through your S3 or R2 storage	Links included
Subtitles and audio clean up	No	Yes, on your machine

The prompt that installs Snapzy

Paste this prompt into Claude: it checks the repository, asks you its questions and installs the tool step by step.

Installe Snapzy sur mon Mac : c'est l'app open source de captures et d'enregistrement d'écran qui remplace Screen Studio et CleanShot X (dépôt GitHub duongductrong/Snapzy, site snapzy.app). Vérifie d'abord que mon Mac est sous macOS 13 ou plus récent. Installe-le avec Homebrew (brew install --cask snapzy) ou, si je n'ai pas Homebrew, télécharge le dernier fichier .dmg depuis github.com/duongductrong/Snapzy/releases et place l'app dans Applications. Guide-moi pour donner les autorisations d'enregistrement de l'écran, du micro et de la caméra dans les Réglages Système, puis relance l'app. Mets l'interface en français et montre-moi les raccourcis utiles : capture d'une zone, capture défilante, texte à copier, enregistrement. Vérifie aussi qu'ils n'entrent pas en conflit avec les raccourcis de captures de macOS. Ensuite, fais avec moi une première vidéo façon Screen Studio : un enregistrement avec les clics mis en valeur, puis, dans l'éditeur, des zooms qui suivent la souris, un fond, des marges et un export au format vertical pour les réseaux. Explique chaque étape simplement, je débute.

Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.

Frequently asked questions

Is Snapzy really free?

Yes. Snapzy is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. Screen Studio, on the other hand, costs €25 a month.

Do I need to code to install Snapzy?

No. The level is beginner and the install takes about 5 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.

How is it different from Screen Studio?

Snapzy does most of what Screen Studio does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.

Do I own my data?

Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

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