CleanShot X

CleanShot X takes over the screenshot shortcuts and adds the parts macOS never did: scrolling capture for a page that runs past the viewport, single-window capture on a flat background, a self-timer, and an annotation editor with arrows, blur, redaction and numbered steps. Captures appear as a floating tile in the corner rather than landing on the Desktop, so you can mark one up, copy it and discard it without ever creating a file. It records the screen or one window too, with a webcam inset and GIF export.

The $35 is a single payment for the Mac app and the app does not stop working. What it does not buy is a permanent update stream: after twelve months you keep the build you have, and newer builds cost an optional $19 a year. The cloud side is a different product — 1 GB comes with the licence, while unlimited storage, custom branding, SSO and team management sit in the per-seat Pro plan. Uploading is optional throughout.

If you take a handful of screenshots a month, Shift-Cmd-4 and Preview are genuinely enough and this is an expensive habit to acquire. If you are already paying for Setapp, it is included there. The people who get their $35 back quickly are the ones writing documentation, filing bug reports or annotating designs several times a day.