An open-source alternative to CleanShot X for macOS. Capture, edit, and enhance your screenshots with professional quality.

Better Shot is a fast, lightweight screenshot tool built with Tauri + React. It provides a powerful yet simple workflow for capturing screenshots, editing them with backgrounds/effects/annotations, and exporting quickly.

• Better Shot
  • Table of contents
  • Background
  • Features
    • Capture Modes
    • Image Editing
    • Annotation Tools
    • Workflow
  • Install
    • Download a release (recommended)
    • Homebrew (macOS)
    • Build from source
      • Requirements
      • Required permissions
  • Usage
    • Quick Start
    • Auto-apply workflow
    • Keyboard Shortcuts
      • Capture Shortcuts
      • Editor Shortcuts
  • Development
    • Desktop app (Tauri)
    • Landing site (Next.js)
  • Contributing
  • License
  • Star history

Clean screenshot workflows usually need three things: capture fast, polish fast (background/shadow/roundness), and annotate fast (arrows, labels). Better Shot is a macOS-native app that keeps everything local and lightweight.

• Region capture: Select any area of your screen (⌘⇧2, enabled by default)
• Fullscreen capture: Capture your entire screen (⌘⇧F, enable in Preferences)
• Window capture: Capture a specific window (⌘⇧D, enable in Preferences)
• OCR Region: Extract text from a selected region using macOS Vision framework - automatically copies recognized text to clipboard (⌘⇧O, enable in Preferences)

• Background library: Curated wallpapers, Mac assets, and mesh patterns
• Custom backgrounds: Solid colors and transparent checkerboard
• Effects: Blur + noise controls
• Shadow + roundness: Tune depth and corner radius
• Export: Save at high quality for docs, decks, and social

• Shapes: Circle, rectangle, line, arrow
• Text: Add text with adjustable size
• Numbered labels: Auto-incrementing badges for step-by-step callouts
• Editability: Select, move, and delete annotations
• Styling: Colors, opacity, borders, alignment

• Global shortcuts: Capture from anywhere, even when hidden
• Auto-apply: Apply default background and save without opening the editor
• Quick Overlay: Preview captures in a floating overlay that automatically fades and hides after 5 seconds
• OCR text extraction: Extract and copy text from screenshots using native macOS Vision framework
• Clipboard: Copy to clipboard after capture/export
• Preferences: Save directory, defaults, and shortcut settings persist
• Menu bar: Accessible from the menu bar
• Native performance: Rust + Tauri

1. Go to Releases
2. Download the appropriate DMG file:
   • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4/M5): bettershot_*_aarch64.dmg
   • Intel: bettershot_*_x64.dmg
3. Open the DMG and drag Better Shot to Applications
4. Launch Better Shot from Applications
5. Grant Screen Recording permission when prompted in System Settings

Install via Homebrew:

brew install --cask bettershot

Requirements: macOS >= 10.15

git clone https://github.com/KartikLabhshetwar/better-shot.git
cd better-shot

pnpm install

pnpm tauri build

The installer will be located in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

• Node.js: 18+
• pnpm
• Rust: latest stable

On first launch, macOS will request Screen Recording permission:

1. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording
2. Enable Better Shot
3. Restart the application if needed

This permission is required for the app to capture screenshots of your screen.

1. Launch Better Shot from Applications (or use the menu bar icon)
2. Capture:
   • Default: ⌘⇧2 (region)
   • Optional (enable in Preferences): ⌘⇧F (fullscreen), ⌘⇧D (window)
3. Edit (background/effects/shadow/roundness)
4. Annotate (shapes, arrows, text, numbered labels)
5. Export: ⌘S to save, ⇧⌘C to copy to clipboard

For faster workflows, enable Auto-apply background on the main screen:

1. Toggle on "Auto-apply background" on the main page
2. Set your preferred default background in Preferences
3. Capture a screenshot - it will automatically apply the background and save instantly
4. A Quick Overlay window appears showing the capture preview
5. The overlay automatically fades out and hides after 5 seconds
6. No editor needed - perfect for quick captures with consistent styling

Capture shortcuts are customizable in Preferences.

This repo contains:

• The desktop app (Tauri + Vite) at the repo root
• The landing site (Next.js) in bettershot-landing/

pnpm tauri dev

Other useful commands:

pnpm lint:ci
pnpm test:rust
pnpm tauri build

cd bettershot-landing
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting a pull request.

This project is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License - see the LICENSE file for details.