PrintScreen.ly vs ShareX — honest comparison
Looking for a ShareX alternative — or specifically a ShareX for Mac? Here's an honest PrintScreen.ly vs ShareX comparison. ShareX is free, open-source, and astonishingly powerful, with many capture modes, automation workflows, screen recording, and GIF — but it is Windows-only and famously complex to configure. PrintScreen.ly runs on Mac and Windows with sane defaults, on-device text grab, and a synced personal library. If you want ShareX's raw power and you're on Windows, ShareX is hard to beat. If you want most of what you actually use, on a Mac, without the setup burden, keep reading.
| At a glance | PrintScreen.ly | ShareX |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $9.99/mo | Free (open-source) |
| Most popular plan | $95.99/yr | Free (open-source) |
| Lifetime license | $399 | Free (open-source, Windows only) |
| Platforms | Mac · Windows · Web · iOS (companion) · Android (companion) | Windows |
Pick ShareX if
- ·Free and open-source with no account ever — maximum capability for $0 if you're on Windows. PrintScreen.ly is a paid app (7-day trial, no free tier).
- ·Animated GIF export and a far deeper recording pipeline. PrintScreen.ly does record screen video to MP4 on Mac and Windows, but it has no GIF export and no after-capture automation.
- ·Many more capture methods, an extensive after-capture task pipeline, scriptable automation workflows, and custom upload destinations. PrintScreen.ly is intentionally simple by comparison.
- ·Rewards deep customization for people who genuinely enjoy configuring their tools — a depth PrintScreen.ly doesn't offer.
Pick PrintScreen.ly if
- +Actually runs on a Mac (and a mixed Mac/Windows shop). ShareX has no Mac build at all — "ShareX for Mac" does not exist; PrintScreen.ly does.
- +Capable capture plus a full 8-tool markup editor and on-device text grab (OCR) with sensible defaults, working in minutes — with a 7-day free trial to start.
- +A synced personal library across devices plus cross-device clipboard, which ShareX has no first-party equivalent for.
- +One tool that behaves the same on Mac and Windows, with a $399 lifetime for the sync layer.
Full feature comparison
Verified 2026-05-16. Source linked at the bottom.
| Feature | PrintScreen.ly | ShareX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99/mo or $399 lifetime | Free (open-source) |
| Mac support | Yes | No (Windows-only) |
| Region / window / fullscreen capture | Yes | Yes |
| Scrolling capture | Yes (Mac + Windows) | Yes |
| Capture-mode breadth | Core (region/window/scroll/full) | Many modes + after-capture pipeline |
| Markup editor | Yes (8 tools) | Yes |
| Screen recording | Yes — MP4 on Mac + Windows (no GIF) | Yes (incl. GIF) |
| OCR / grab text | Yes (on-device) | Yes |
| Automation / workflows | No | Yes (extensive) |
| Custom upload destinations | No | Yes |
| Synced first-party library | Yes (Pro, 2 GB) | No |
| Cross-device clipboard | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Out-of-box simplicity | Yes (sane defaults) | No (heavy config) |
| Mobile companion | Yes (soft-launch) | No |
Bottom line
ShareX is one of the most capable free tools ever made — if you're on Windows and willing to learn it, it does more than PrintScreen.ly ever will (GIF, deep automation, custom upload pipelines), for free. Be honest with yourself about two things, though: it's Windows-only, and it expects configuration. PrintScreen.ly wins for the person who searched "ShareX for Mac" and found out it doesn't exist, or who wants 90% of what they actually use — capture, an 8-tool editor, on-device text grab, and MP4 screen recording on Mac and Windows — with zero setup and a synced library that follows them between machines. We concede GIF, automation, and price; we win on Mac support and simplicity.
FAQ
Is there a ShareX for Mac?+
No — ShareX is Windows-only. PrintScreen.ly is a cross-platform alternative that runs on macOS as well as Windows.
Is PrintScreen.ly as powerful as ShareX?+
No. ShareX has far more capture modes, automation, custom upload pipelines, and GIF export. Both record screen video (ShareX adds GIF) and both do on-device OCR. PrintScreen.ly trades ShareX's breadth for simplicity, Mac support, and a synced library.
Is PrintScreen.ly free?+
No — it's a paid app with a 7-day free trial, then $9.99/mo, $95.99/yr, or a $399 lifetime (which also unlocks 9 other Bravely utilities). ShareX is free and open-source; PrintScreen.ly's case is the polished cross-platform capture, markup, and synced library.
More PrintScreen.ly comparisons
Pricing verified 2026-05-16. ShareX pricing source. Subject to change.