ShareX for Mac: What to Use Instead in 2026
ShareX doesn't run on macOS. There's no Mac build, no beta, and the developers have said for years that a port isn't planned — the app leans heavily on Windows APIs. So if you've just switched machines and typed "ShareX for Mac" into Google, the honest answer is: you need a different tool.
The good news is that the things people love ShareX for — instant capture, annotations, auto-upload, and a link ready to paste — all exist on macOS. Here's what actually replaces it, depending on which part of ShareX you relied on.
What you're really replacing
ShareX bundles four jobs into one app:
- Capture — region, window, full screen, scrolling capture
- Annotate — arrows, boxes, text, blur
- Upload — to Imgur, your own server, S3, FTP, dozens of destinations
- Share — the URL lands in your clipboard automatically
Most Mac screenshot tools do 1 and 2 well. The upload-and-link workflow — the part that makes ShareX feel instant — is where they differ most. Keep that in mind as you compare.
Artex Screens — closest to the ShareX workflow
Artex Screens is built around the same loop ShareX users have as muscle memory: hotkey → capture → the link is already in your clipboard. About two seconds end to end.
What it covers:
- Capture: selected region, any window, visible screen, and full-page scrolling capture of websites (via the Chrome extension or the macOS app).
- Annotate: arrows, boxes, highlights, text, and blur for hiding sensitive data before the file ever uploads.
- Upload: this is the ShareX-like part — you can bring your own S3-compatible storage (AWS, Hetzner, Wasabi, Backblaze, MinIO), and the file bytes go straight to your bucket. If ShareX's custom-uploader flexibility is what kept you on it, this is the closest macOS equivalent.
- Share: clean links like
artexscreens.com/f/yourfile.png, four URL formats, and a custom domain on the Team plan. - Search: OCR runs on your screenshots, so three weeks later you can find one by a phrase that was inside the image.
It's a menu-bar app plus a Chrome extension, with a free plan (500 MB, forever). Screen recording is there too — 1080p on Pro, 4K on Team.
CleanShot X — the polished all-rounder
CleanShot X is the best-known premium screenshot app on macOS, and its capture and annotation experience is excellent. It includes scrolling capture, a built-in editor, and its own cloud for sharing. It's a paid app (one-time purchase, with a subscription for the cloud features). What it doesn't have is ShareX-style bring-your-own-storage flexibility — sharing goes through CleanShot Cloud.
Shottr — fast and nearly free
Shottr is a lightweight, extremely fast capture tool made by an indie developer. Scrolling capture, OCR, pixel measurement, annotations — it punches far above its price. It's the right choice if you mainly need capture + annotate and are happy sharing files manually. There's no automatic upload-to-link pipeline, which is the main gap versus ShareX.
Monosnap — capture with basic cloud sharing
Monosnap offers capture, annotation, and cloud upload with links, with a free tier. Power users tend to outgrow its editor and its upload options, but as a free starting point it covers the basics.
The built-in option: ⌘⇧5
macOS ships with a capable screenshot tool — press ⌘⇧5 for region, window, and full-screen capture plus screen recording. It's free and always there. But there's no annotation beyond Markup, no scrolling capture, and no sharing: you get a file on your desktop, and turning that into a link somebody can open is entirely on you.
Quick comparison
| Need | Best pick |
|---|---|
| The full ShareX loop (capture → link in clipboard) | Artex Screens |
| Bring your own S3 / custom storage | Artex Screens |
| Most polished paid capture + editor | CleanShot X |
| Free, fast capture + OCR, manual sharing | Shottr |
| Zero installs | ⌘⇧5 |
Bottom line
If ShareX for you meant "press a key, get a link", pick a tool built around that loop — that's the part macOS doesn't do natively and most Mac apps treat as an afterthought. If ShareX meant "a powerful capture and annotation editor", CleanShot X or Shottr will feel great. Either way, nobody needs to keep a Windows VM around just for screenshots.
Artex Screens turns a screenshot into a shareable link in about two seconds — try it free (500 MB forever, macOS app + Chrome extension).