We live in an era in which ‘content is king’, and use text, images, and other media on our computers on a daily basis. It stands to reason that the tools allowing us to capture and manage various types of content are very valuable and deserve to be installed on every computer. With the right snipping tool and a minimum of skill, you can label and improve content pieces to fit the need you have in mind.

Of course, there are a lot of snipping tools for Windows or Mac that can capture content for you so choosing may not be easy. While most such apps are generally similar and capable of performing the same tasks, each has a few unique features that may suit your needs to a greater extent. That’s why it’s prudent to invest a little bit of time to find out more about free snipping tools available right now and their main advantages and disadvantages.

Best Snipping Tool for Windows & Mac

Best Snipping Tool for Windows & Mac

Part 1. List of 18 High-quality Snipping Tools

Gemoo Snap

As a free and lightweight app for taking quick screenshots, Gemoo Snap can provide you with a variety of screenshot needs: quick screenshot, screenshot and feedback, screenshot immediately beautify the image, pin screenshot, screenshot upload to the cloud, etc. Gemoo Snap helps you communicate more efficiently over annotated images. Whether you need to give feedback on a design or assignment, or report a bug, just quickly create a screenshot and annotate your ideas.

Gemoo Snap Interface

Gemoo Snap Interface

Key Features

Pros

Get It Free

Windows Snipping Tool

A built-in snipping tool for Windows is available to all PC users, and this is certainly the simplest way to grab various types of content from the screen. It can be activated quickly from the Start menu or with a shortcut, and it allows users to collect content in different modes and enhance the snip in several ways.

Snipping Tool Choose Screenshot Area

Snipping Tool Choose Screenshot Area

Key Features

Pros

Limitations

Grab

    Mac owners also have a native snipping tool that performs above expectations. This tool is known as Grab, and it can literally grab content from any part of the screen or an app you are running. The snips are saved to the desktop, from where they can be easily retrieved.

    Snipping Tool for Mac - Grab

    Windows Built-in Snipping Tool

    Key Features

    Pros

    Limitations

    Lightshot

      As one of the most popular third-party products that can serve for content snipping on a PC or Mac, Lightshot deserves to be considered as a go-to tool for this task. It is compatible with almost every web browser and can capture content from practically anywhere with almost no restrictions.

      Snipping Tool for Mac and Windows -Lightshot

      Snipping Tool for Mac and Windows -Lightshot

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Snip & Sketch

      This is the latest version of Windows Snipping Tool that is available to those who run Windows 10 on their machines. It represents a clear upgrade over earlier built-in snipping apps, and comes with solid annotation features. At the same time, it remains extremely user-friendly.

      Snipping Tool for Windows - Snip & Sketch

      Snipping Tool for Windows – Snip & Sketch

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      ScreenRec

      This screen recording software can be downloaded to your PC or Mac for free, while its set of features is on par with paid apps. ScreenRec allows for one-click snipping from any portion of your screen, and supports content editing in many different ways. Definitely a good choice for more ambitious users!

      Snipping Tool for Mac and Windows -ScreenRec

      Snipping Tool for Mac and Windows -ScreenRec

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Snagit

      Snagit, this simple tool, will make the process of snipping content completely effortless and fun and is in fact considered to be among the best products in its class. It can extract images or text from a page and is capable of snipping content from any source. Versions are available for both Mac and Windows.

      Snipping Tool for Mac and Windows -Snagit

      Snipping Tool for Mac and Windows -Snagit

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Screenshot Captor

      This app lets users capture any element from the computer screen and improve it with an assortment of dedicated tools. Considering that it’s free for personal use and includes no ads, it could be a smart choice as your primary snipping tool for Windows if you have at least basic knowledge of editing.

      Snipping Tool for Windows - Screenshot Captor

      Snipping Tool for Windows – Screenshot Captor

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      GreenShot

      Anyone looking for the best screenshot app for Mac should pay attention to GreenShot. This is an open-source program that can be easily customized, so it’s perfect for people who like to tweak things and set up their own preferences. At the same time, it is simple enough for anyone to use for basic snipping.

      Best Snipping Tool - GreenShot

      Best Snipping Tool – GreenShot

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      DuckCapture

      Anyone who tried DuckCapture will tell you this app is really simple to master. It can capture snips in any shape and provides users with plenty of tools to annotate and enhance the content. This software is compatible with Windows or MacOS machines and requires no special technical skills.

      Snipping Tool for Windows and Mac - DuckCapture

      Snipping Tool for Windows and Mac – DuckCapture

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Jing Screencast

      This all-in-one screen recorder and editor can serve admirably as a snipping tool on your computer, and it’s completely free to download. Jing lets you capture practically anything that appears on the screen, with native editing tools empowering you to personalize and improve the content.

      Best Snipping Tool - Jing Screencast

      Best Snipping Tool – Jing Screencast

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Screenpresso

      Screenpresso is an all-in-one screen recording and screenshot-taking software. Also, it is the new lightweight screen capture tool with a built-in image editor, user guide generator and sharing options.

      It is a simple and good tool for those who want to simply manipulate screenshots and videos. Because it has some editing tools at the same time. After editing, you can also save your files in the cloud to reduce the chance of losing them.

      Screenpresso Interface

      Screenpresso Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      PicPick

      PicPick is a Windows software dedicated to screenshots. Because of this, it is very powerful for editing beyond screenshots, including inserting text, arrows, lines, shapes, balloons, highlighting tools, resizing, rotating, inverting, grayscale, mosaic etc.

      PicPick Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      SnapNDrag

      As a screenshot software on mac, SnapNDrag‘s entire software function is simple. You can take a screenshot directly without hotkeys, then add a comment and share it to Mail, Finder or any other application that accepts images. Of course, if you want to use it more easily with hotkeys, then you can upgrade to the pro version to enjoy more features!

      SnapNDrag Interface

      SnapNDrag Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Monosnap

      Monosnap is a combination of audio/video recording and screen capture software. And it is currently only available for mac computers. Among the brighter features are that you can use the fuzzy tool to hide sensitive data when adding comments. After editing, you can also save the file in the cloud, which not only saves space on the computer itself but also prevents file loss.

      Monosnap Interface

      Monosnap Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Droplr

      Droplr is not only a software for Mac/windows/Chromebook. Also, it offers differential price to exempt users from not wanting to download it. With it, you can record screens, take screenshots, make GIFs, and after all the operations are done, your images will be automatically saved to the cloud and the links pointing to it will be automatically saved to the clipboard. At this point, you can share the file anywhere as a URL.

      Droplr App Interface

      Droplr App Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      AnyMP4 Screen Recorder

      AnyMp4 is the best HD screen recorder for Windows and Mac. It has powerful recording features. Not only can it record any activity on your computer screen, it can also record video from your webcam, and you can record your phone screen on your computer.

      Moreover, if you are trying to record audio calls and conferences, or record microphone sounds, there is no problem.

      AnyMP4 Interface

      AnyMP4 Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Screen Capture

      Screen Capture is an online video recording software. You don’t need to download or even add a chrome plugin to use it! Moreover, it is fully functional. It offers high quality audio recording capabilities as well as HD quality video recording. Also you can capture audio and video via microphone and webcam when needed.

      Screen Capture Interface

      Screen Capture Interface

      Key Features

      Pros

      Limitations

      Part 2. Snipping Tools Q&A

      What is the difference between Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch?

      These are two different versions of the built-in snipping function on Windows machines. Snip & Sketch is a newer version that comes with Windows 10, and it includes some advanced functionalities such as access to a ruler and better markup tools.

      Is it worth paying for high-end snipping software?

      Considering that the best free snipping tools tend to be very effective, it’s hard to justify spending a lot of money on a premium software suite of this kind unless you have professional needs and have a financial incentive to get the best product available.

      Is there a built-in snipping function on my computer?

      Regardless of which computer you own, it nearly certainly has a snipping function you can use. Both Windows-based and Mac computers have a snipping tool that can be activated from the keyboard and allows you to quickly capture the content of your screen.

      Final Words

      With so many great snipping tools at your disposal, you can truly take control over your media content and isolate the bits you need with amazing speed and simplicity. In addition to built-in snipping tools for Mac and Windows, you could also download any of the applications mentioned above. Depending on whether you want to capture images, text, multimedia, or a combination thereof, you should choose a tool that can best support your ideas without requiring a long learning process.

      author

      The Gemoo Team is committed to building products that help people effectively communicate and collaborate.