ScreenshotEdits vs Awesome Screenshot (2026)
A native Mac app vs a Chrome extension that tries to do everything. One opens in 0.3 seconds. The other needs your browser, your internet connection, and your patience.
Quick verdict
Awesome Screenshot is a browser extension that does screenshots, recording, and team sharing. It's slow and cluttered. If you want fast local editing on Mac, ScreenshotEdits opens in 0.3 seconds and your files never touch a server.
Feature comparison
Side by side, no spin. Green where we win, honest where we don't.
| Feature | ScreenshotEdits | Awesome Screenshot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free / €19 one-time | Free tier + $6/mo |
| Platform | Mac (native app) | Chrome/Edge extension + web |
| Screenshot editing | Yes | Yes |
| Gradient backgrounds | Yes | No |
| Screen recording | No | Yes (paid) |
| Cloud storage | No (local only) | Yes |
| Team sharing | No | Yes (paid) |
| Works offline | Yes | Limited |
| Privacy (local processing) | 100% local | Cloud-dependent |
| Editor speed | ~0.3s native | 1-3s browser-based |
| Learning curve | Minutes | Minutes (but cluttered UI) |
Feature-by-feature breakdown
Screenshot editing
Both tools let you annotate, crop, and add text. The difference is where it happens. Awesome Screenshot opens a browser-based editor in a new tab. Every action—drawing an arrow, adding text, applying blur—goes through Chrome's rendering engine. On large Retina screenshots, the lag is noticeable. ScreenshotEdits opens your image in 0.3 seconds as a native Mac app. No loading spinner, no "connecting to server." Just your image, ready to edit.
Screenshot beautification
Awesome Screenshot doesn't do this. You get basic annotation—arrows, text, boxes—but no gradient backgrounds, no shadows, no device frames, no rounded corners. If you want a screenshot that looks polished in a blog post or on social media, you're exporting to Figma or Canva. ScreenshotEdits turns a flat screenshot into something presentable in one click. That's the whole point of the app.
Screen recording
Awesome Screenshot includes screen recording in its paid plans. Record a tab, a window, or your full screen. It works, but quality depends on your Chrome setup and connection speed. ScreenshotEdits doesn't record video at all. If screen recording is part of your workflow, use Awesome Screenshot or a dedicated tool like OBS or Loom.
Cloud and team sharing
This is Awesome Screenshot's main pitch. Capture something, get a shareable link, send it to your team. For remote QA teams or designers reviewing pages together, it's a real workflow. The trade-off: every screenshot you take goes through their servers. ScreenshotEdits keeps everything on your Mac. You share files however you want—AirDrop, Slack, email, clipboard.
Privacy
Awesome Screenshot routes your captures through cloud infrastructure. Their privacy policy exists, but that's not the same as "your files never leave your machine." If you screenshot internal dashboards, customer data, or financial tools, cloud-dependent capture should make you pause. ScreenshotEdits processes everything locally. Zero network requests. Zero uploads. Zero trust required.
Browser performance
Awesome Screenshot is a Chrome extension. Chrome extensions consume memory and CPU, and Awesome Screenshot isn't light. Users report browser slowdowns, especially with many tabs open. The bloated feature set—recording, annotation, cloud sync, team management—all runs inside your browser process. ScreenshotEdits is a standalone Mac app. It doesn't touch your browser or eat RAM in the background.
Who should use Awesome Screenshot?
- Your team needs shared screenshot workspaces with links
- You record your browser tab or screen regularly
- You work on Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS
- You need full-page scrolling capture of web pages
Who should use ScreenshotEdits?
- You want fast local editing without browser overhead
- You need gradient backgrounds and shadows for polished screenshots
- Privacy matters—your screenshots stay on your Mac
- You don't want another $6/mo subscription draining your wallet
Pricing: cumulative cost
Awesome Screenshot's monthly plan adds up fast. Here's what you'd pay as of March 2026.
| Period | ScreenshotEdits | Awesome Screenshot |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | €0 (free) or €19 (license) | $72 ($6/mo) |
| Year 2 | €0 or €19 (still) | $144 |
| Year 3 | €0 or €19 (still) | $216 |
The math: Three years of Awesome Screenshot costs $216. Three years of ScreenshotEdits costs €19 at most. And your screenshots stay on your computer the entire time.
The verdict
Awesome Screenshot tries to be everything—capture, record, annotate, share, collaborate—inside a Chrome extension. The result is bloat. The editor is slow. The UI is cluttered with features most people never touch. And every screenshot passes through their cloud, whether you asked for that or not.
If your team genuinely uses shared workspaces and cloud links, Awesome Screenshot earns its $6/month. For everyone else—especially solo Mac users who just want their screenshots to look good, fast—ScreenshotEdits does it better, locally, for free.
Frequently asked questions
Is Awesome Screenshot free?
Awesome Screenshot has a free tier with limited captures and storage. Paid plans start at $6/month for screen recording, cloud storage, and team features. ScreenshotEdits is completely free for core features with an optional one-time €19 license.
Does Awesome Screenshot work outside the browser?
Primarily no. Awesome Screenshot is a Chrome/Edge extension. They have a desktop app, but the core experience is browser-based. ScreenshotEdits is a native Mac app that works offline and captures anything on screen.
Is Awesome Screenshot safe for sensitive screenshots?
Awesome Screenshot uploads captures to their cloud servers for sharing and storage. If your screenshots contain sensitive data, this matters. ScreenshotEdits processes everything locally — nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Can ScreenshotEdits replace Awesome Screenshot?
For screenshot editing and beautification on Mac — yes. ScreenshotEdits handles blur, annotations, gradient backgrounds, and export. It cannot replace Awesome Screenshot's browser-based capture, screen recording, cloud sharing, or team collaboration.
Does ScreenshotEdits upload my screenshots?
No. ScreenshotEdits runs 100% locally on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded to any server. Your screenshots never leave your computer.
Which is faster for editing screenshots?
ScreenshotEdits opens in about 0.3 seconds as a native Mac app. Awesome Screenshot's browser-based editor has noticeable lag, especially with larger screenshots or slower connections. If you edit screenshots frequently, the speed difference adds up.
Skip the extension bloat
Free to start. Make screenshots look good in seconds. No account, no cloud, no $6/month.
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