Many Mac users are in need of a highly-rated, multi-use MacBook snipping tool. The knowledge for how to use snipping tool on Mac is important for all users, especially sales or customer service representatives who use screenshots to do product demos or troubleshoot customer problems. Snipping on mac is the easiest way to share your screen with others.
However, Mac users need access to a screenshot app in order to learn how to snip on Mac. While Windows Snipping Tool remains popular for Windows users, Mac users have long wondered how to use snipping tool on Mac.
Thankfully, there are a variety of Mac snipping tool alternatives. Many of these snipping tools for Mac include useful features such as screen recording, cloud storage, markup tools, and integrations with messaging and work productivity apps. Read on to learn how to use snipping tool on Mac with keyboard shortcuts. Then, you can determine which of the 5 best snipping tools for Mac works best for you.
What is the snipping tool for Mac? Actually, there is not a native snipping tool for Mac like Windows Snipping Tool. However, you can take a Mac snip using keyboard Mac snipping tool shortcuts. To snip on Mac, press Shift + Command + 3. This will take a fullscreen screenshot.
To capture a portion of your screen, you can press Shift + Command + 4, then drag the crosshairs over the section of your screen that you want to snip. If you want to snip a window or menu, you can press Shift + Command + 4 + Space bar.
Mac OS Mojave and later also includes a Screenshot app that can be accessed by pressing Shift + Command + 5. On this app, you can view your screenshots and change their destination folder. However, this MacBook snipping tool does not include annotation tools like Windows Snipping Tool, making it a weak Mac snipping tool alternative. If you want a more advanced MacBook snip tool, you will need to download a different snipping tool for Mac. Here are our five suggestions for the best snipping tools for Mac.
Best for businesses and enterprise customers looking for a high-resolution snipping tool that includes cloud storage, enterprise-level security, and screen recording for a low cost.
Droplr is a highly-rated, low-priced snipping tool for Mac that also includes screen recording and GIF creation. Droplr saves screen snips and recordings directly to the cloud and creates a short link for your snip that can be instantly shared with others. All of your screen clippings on Mac are displayed on your online Droplr account and can be sorted using boards and tags. You can also change the privacy settings for your snips, boards, and tags to limit access. Droplr includes enterprise-level security with encryption and SSO.
Droplr includes over a dozen integrations so that you can drop your snips directly into various messaging and productivity apps. For example, you can integrate Droplr with Intercom to drop your snips directly into a chat with a client or with Slack to share Mac screen clippings instantly with co-workers. You can also integrate Droplr with Photoshop if you need more mark-up options then the arrows, emoticons, text, pencil, highlighter, and shapes included with Droplr.
Droplr is available for Mac, Windows, and Chrome Extension; its snipping tool for Mac is especially well-regarded and gets a 4 ½ rating on Capterra. You can access Droplr’s snipping tool shortcut on the menu bar of your screen on Mac. Droplr offers a 3-day free trial so you can learn how to snip on Mac before committing to the software.
Pricing
Droplr’s pricing begins at $6/month and includes all of the above core products along with 1TB of file storage, 500GB/month of bandwidth, and click analytics. Higher-priced plans increase the amount of file storage and bandwidth, add more analytics, and include custom branding. For large businesses that need unlimited file storage and bandwidth, single sign-on (SSO), or custom domains, you can contact the Droplr team for custom pricing.
Best for businesses that use visual instructions to convey information to customers and team members.
Snagit is a snipping tool for Mac and Windows developed specifically for businesses to create visual instructions. It also lets users take panoramic shots that can screen capture scrolling webpages and create videos using screenshots and audio. Snagit can extract the text from a screenshot so that you can paste it in another document. Its mark-up tool features a number of professional annotation tools such as preset and custom templates, step tools, and text editing.
Snagit includes a dozen integrations with products such as Microsoft Suite, Google Drive, and Facebook to allow easy sharing. However, unlike Droplr, Snagit does not integrate with most work productivity apps.
Pricing
Single license pricing for Snagit’s MacBook snipping tool is a $62.99 flat fee that lets you install it on two machines. Discount pricing is available for businesses with several users, education services, and governments and non-profits. Snagit’s 2022 upgrade, which includes webcam recording and integrations with more cloud storage platforms, costs an additional $34.99. Unlike Droplr, all your snips are saved to your local drive with limited free cloud storage that is upgradeable for $99.99 per year via Techsmith Screencast.
For more information about Snagit and Screencast pricing, read our review.
Best for businesses and enterprise customers who are looking for a snipping tool alternative that integrates with the work apps they already use.
Like Droplr, CloudApp is a cloud-based snipping tool for Mac, screen recorder, and GIF maker. CloudApp uploads your Mac screen clippings and recordings to your personal cloud account and creates a shareable URL that you can send to grant access to them. It also includes mark-up tools such as arrows, emoticons, basic drawing tools, and blurring tools for sensitive information.
CloudApp integrates with over 30 apps including Zapier, Trello, Sketch, and WordPress. You can use CloudApp to snip on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Linux, and as a Chrome extension. CloudApp includes a free version with the above features and 1 minute limit for screen recordings, 15 second limit for GIFs, 100 MB/file upload size, .5 GB/link/day bandwidth, and 25 drop limit.
Pricing
CloudApp’s paid plans begin at $9.95/month for unlimited video recording and drops, 1 minute GIFs, 1 GB/file uploads, 2 GB/link/day bandwidth, and custom branding.
Best for Mac OS and iPad users who need a simple snipping tool or businesses that use Evernote.
Skitch is a free snipping tool for Mac available on the Mac App Store that lets you take screenshots, edit them, and share them with others. Skitch keeps things simple with an interface that launches quickly and is made up of large, easily identifiable icons representing each of its tools. Skitch’s mark-up function features seven tools: arrows, text, a color palette with eight colors, shapes, a highlighter, a pixelater for blurring, and cropping tools. You can then drag and drop your file into emails or messaging apps.
Pricing
Most of Skitch’s functions are free, though an Evernote premium account is required if you want to markup PDFs and save files to Evernote instead of your desktop or phone. PDF markups are particularly useful for business emails and conversations with clients so that you can quickly highlight important information. An Evernote premium account costs $7.99/month and includes integrations with Gmail, Outlook, Salesforce, Google Drive, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. However, even without an Evernote account, Skitch is among the best free snipping tools for Mac.
Best for freelancers and small businesses that take screenshots daily.
Apowersoft’s Screen Capture Pro includes a Mac snipping tool, screen recording, image editing, cloud storage, and scheduled screenshots. Screenshots can be taken from a fixed region, window, or fullscreen and then saved as a PNG, JPG, BMP, or PDF file. Videos can likewise be saved in a variety of file formats such as MP4, WMV, AVI, and FLV.
After taking your screen snip on Mac, you can annotate it instantly with tools such as lines, text, arrows, a highlighter, and blurring, or you can open the image in the app’s professional image editor that adds cropping, resizing, rotating, and image effects. Finally, after marking-up your image, you can save it to the cloud, upload it directly to social media, or generate a copyable link in direct link, image link, HTML link, or BB-code link format.
Apowersoft is unique in that it provides a screenshot scheduler that can be used to schedule screenshots ahead of time. For example, if you need to take a screenshot at a certain time every day, you can configure the scheduler to do so automatically. The scheduler can also be used to determine the type of screenshot and output folder for the shot ahead of time.
Pricing
Apowersoft Screen Capture offers personal and business packages with lifetime, yearly, and monthly paying plans. The best deal for each is the lifetime plan, which costs $79.95 for personal use and $159.99 for businesses and includes free updates and support service. The personal license is for personal use only, while the business license can be used commercially for profit-making enterprises. Screen Capture Pro is available for Mac and Windows.
There are many available snipping tools for Mac, but the screen grab tools listed above are the best due to their enhanced features and accessibility. Any of them will let you snip on Mac, make annotations, and share your screenshot with others. However, there are differences between the snip tools. Use the table below to compare the 5 best snipping tools for Mac and determine which is best for your needs.
| Price | Security | Integrations | Mark-ups | Other Features |
| Droplr | Low price | High security | 12 integrations | Basic tools | Screen recorder, cloud storage |
| Snagit | High price; flat fee | Medium security | 12 integrations | Advanced tools | Screen recorder, added fee for cloud storage |
| CloudApp | Medium price | High security | 30 integrations | Basic tools | Screen recorder, cloud storage |
| Skitch | Medium price | Medium security | 6 integrations | Basic tools | No special features |
| Apowersoft | High price; flat fee option | High security | Few integrations | Basic tools, advanced image effects | Screen recorder, cloud storage |