Greenshot vs ShareX
Greenshot and ShareX are both free, open source screenshot tools whose websites present them for Windows, yet they ask very different things of the person installing them. Greenshot is a narrow tool: grab a region, window or full screen, mark it up, then send it to a file, printer, clipboard, email or an Office program. ShareX treats a capture as the start of a chain, with scrolling and auto capture, GIF recording, OCR, custom uploaders and automated after-capture tasks. Only Greenshot lists a Mac build, sold at USD 1.99, and only ShareX names its licence (GPL-3.0) and a developer, the ShareX Team.
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Choose Greenshot ifyou mostly paste annotated captures into email and Office documents and want a short feature list that does not need configuring. You also want a Mac build that costs USD 1.99, which is the only paid item either vendor lists.
Choose ShareX ifyou capture often on Windows and want scrolling shots, GIF recording, OCR or uploads to your own S3 or Cloudflare R2 storage without extra clicks. You are also fine with an editor and a workflow system that take an hour to set up.
Greenshot and ShareX side by side
| Greenshot | ShareX | |
|---|---|---|
| Our screenshot software rank | #2 of 14 | #4 of 14 |
| Established in | Not stated by the vendor | Not stated by the vendor |
| List price, 7 November 2026 | Windows build free; Mac build USD 1.99 one listed price, no paid plans | No price at all: free, no ads, no account, with a Donate link |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Windows users who mostly paste annotated captures into email and Office files | Windows users who want free capture and automatic upload to their own destination |
| Not for | Anyone who needs screen recording or shareable web links | Mac users, or anyone wanting a polished editor |
Both are reviewed in full in our screenshot software ranking: Greenshot and ShareX.
Where they differ
Greenshot 1 · ShareX 4 · open 1- 01
What a capture can turn into afterwards
Greenshot's home page names its exports one by one: save to a file, print, copy to the clipboard, attach to an email, send to an Office program, or upload to Flickr and Picasa, plus unnamed others. ShareX goes further than a list of buttons. Its page describes a customisable workflow system with automated after-capture and after-upload tasks, so a screenshot can be uploaded, copied and converted in one keystroke. ShareX wins on reach here.
Edge: ShareX
- 02
Scrolling pages and moving pictures
Greenshot lists a region, a window and the full screen, along with scrolling capture of whole web pages, but only from Internet Explorer, which is a narrow condition today. It mentions no screen or GIF recording. ShareX captures fullscreen, active window, monitor, region and scrolling pages, offers an auto capture mode, and records the screen as video or as a GIF. For anything beyond still pictures only ShareX qualifies.
Edge: ShareX
- 03
Editing tools on the image itself
Greenshot's page promises two edits: highlighting and obfuscating parts of a screenshot. That suffices for blanking an email address before sending. ShareX bundles an image editor with arrows, text, blur, pixelate, spotlight, redaction, cropping and effects, along with a colour picker, a background remover and a QR code tool. Greenshot keeps the interface smaller, but the ShareX toolbox covers more situations.
Edge: ShareX
- 04
Reaching the Mac and the USD 1.99 question
The Greenshot downloads page lists a Mac version at USD 1.99, described as covering the authors' own costs, while the Windows build stays free. ShareX is offered for Windows only, through its website, GitHub releases (installer, portable and dev build), the Microsoft Store and Steam, and the page shows no Mac or Linux download. If one Mac sits in a mostly Windows office, Greenshot is the only name here that reaches it.
Edge: Greenshot
- 05
Licence, authorship and what an auditor can cite
ShareX can be cited properly: the repository LICENSE file says GPL-3.0, and the site credits the ShareX Team with copyright 2007-2026, though it states no country. Greenshot calls itself completely free and open source with code on GitHub, but nothing on the site names a licence, no developer or company, and no country. For a procurement file that asks who wrote the code and under what terms, ShareX leaves fewer blanks.
Edge: ShareX
- 06
Staying power of the simple route
Neither vendor lists a paid support plan, and neither lists a team plan. Greenshot sends users to a Support us page, plus bug reports and feature requests through GitHub issue templates. ShareX offers a Donate link, needs no account, and lists no paid support either. Greenshot's site says nothing about cloud storage or hosted sharing, and ShareX lists no hosted video library. On support, they land level.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
If you need a more guided editor or vendor-backed help, look past both of these. Flameshot and Snagit are the two alternatives worth checking next, and we list them in the category.
Greenshot or ShareX: questions
3 answersWhich of the two reaches beyond Windows?
Greenshot does, in a limited way: its downloads page lists a Mac version at USD 1.99. ShareX is shown for Windows only, with Setup, Portable, dev build, Microsoft Store and Steam downloads. Neither site mentions a Linux build.
Can either one upload straight to my own storage bucket?
ShareX can: the repository describes custom uploaders and has setup guides for Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage and Cloudflare R2. Greenshot's page lists Flickr, Picasa and unnamed others, and shows no custom uploader. If your own bucket matters, that settles it for ShareX.
Does a donation or a paid tier buy anything with either vendor?
Neither vendor lists a paid plan for the Windows tool. Greenshot has a Support us section and ShareX has a Donate link, and neither site promises that a gift buys guaranteed help. Greenshot's USD 1.99 applies only to the Mac build.
Sources
Checked 7 November 2026- Greenshot home page: Free and open source claim, region/window/full-screen capture, highlight and obfuscate tools, export list, Support us and GitHub issue routes, no named licence or developer.
- Greenshot downloads: Mac version listed at USD 1.99 to cover the authors' costs, Windows build free.
- ShareX home page: Windows-only downloads (Setup, Portable, Dev, Microsoft Store, Steam), capture modes, GIF recording, editor, OCR, QR, workflow system, Donate link, ShareX Team copyright 2007-2026.
- ShareX repository: GPL-3.0 licence file and custom uploader guides for S3, Google Cloud Storage and Cloudflare R2.