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Capso

Capso

Free open-source screenshot & screen recorder for Mac

Website awesomemacapp.com
Overview

What it is

Capso is a free, open-source screenshot and screen recording app for Mac (Apple Silicon), built entirely in Swift. ✨ Features: • Screenshot (area, window, fullscreen) • Screen recording • Annotation tools • OCR (text from images) • Image beautification Think CleanShot X or Cap — but completely free and open source. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no telemetry. Just a clean, native Mac app that does everything you need.

Intent

I need it when

Record screen activity with video or GIF format including audio and webcam overlay

Capso records MP4 video or GIF with system audio, microphone input, and configurable webcam picture-in-picture (4 shapes available) with pause/resume/restart controls, enabling users to create professional screen recordings and tutorials at no cost.

Capture and annotate screenshots quickly for documentation or communication

Capso provides area, window, and fullscreen capture modes with a full annotation editor (arrows, shapes, text, freehand, pixelate, counters, highlighter) and beautification tools (gradients, padding, rounded corners, shadow) to create polished visuals for sharing—all free and native to macOS.

Extract text from screenshots or images using OCR

Capso includes OCR text recognition that lets users select an area to instantly copy text, with visual mode highlighting detected text blocks for selective copying—useful for digitizing content from screenshots without manual retyping.

Find a free alternative to paid screenshot tools like CleanShot X

Capso delivers feature-parity with CleanShot X (area/window/fullscreen capture, annotation, recording, OCR, beautification, pin to screen) but completely free and open source, built with Swift 6 and SwiftUI for native macOS performance.

Pin screenshots to screen as always-on-top reference overlays

Capso allows users to float captures as always-on-top windows with lock mode for click-through reference overlays, enabling persistent visual references while working on other tasks.

Drop

Not a fit when

  • User requires commercial support or cloud features (Capso is community-supported open source only)
  • User needs macOS versions below 15.0 Sequoia (Capso requires macOS 15.0 or later)
  • User wants to fork and sell Capso as a competing commercial product (BSL 1.1 license prohibits this)
  • User requires advanced video editing capabilities beyond basic MP4/GIF recording
  • User needs integration with cloud storage or team collaboration features
Commercials

Pricing

Free, open-source, no trial, no feature gating, no subscription View pricing