Premium screen-capture utilities offer a wide range of helpful image tools, but their paid, professional-quality features can feel overkill for casual users. Conversely, free screen-capture tools grab images just fine, but lack the many advanced features that power users need. ScreenPal bridges the gap between the two extremes with a robust free version and a subscription tier that features a powerful video editor, OCR, and other useful tools. Paid ScreenPal doesn't top Snagit, our Editors' Choice winner for premium screen-capture utilities. However, ScreenPal's no-cost plan is terrific, making it the Editors' Choice winner for free screen-capture software.

Plans and Prices

Competing screencap apps, such as Ashampoo Snap and Snagit, offer free trials. ScreenPal, on the other hand, has a basic version that's free to use forever—and it includes unlimited cloud storage (something that those rival apps lack). With it, you can take and edit screenshots and share clips online, but you'll encounter limitations. For example, video recordings are capped at 15 minutes (with unlimited clips), and the editing tools aren't as robust as in the premium version.

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Upgrading to the Solo Deluxe tier ($4 per month, billed annually) unlocks numerous additional features, including unlimited video recording time. Solo Max ($10 per month, billed annually) adds advanced video viewership analytics, 4K playback, and AI tools for generating content, such as titles, summaries, and quiz questions. The Team Business plan ($10 per user per month, billed annually) includes additional useful tools, such as enhanced team collaboration options, learning management system (LMS) integration, and priority access to live support.

Still, even without paying, ScreenPal's free video recording alone is a helpful perk. Microsoft's free Windows Snipping Tool only recently received the feature. Education customers receive a discount, as do organizations that purchase multiple licenses for team members.

For comparison, a feature-packed Snagit subscription costs $39 annually, which is a lower price than a year of premium ScreenPal. However, ScreenPal's free tier is superior to Snagit's, with its unlimited cloud storage that makes file sharing a breeze.

ScreenPal is compatible with Mac and Windows. Like Snagit, ScreenPal has companion apps for Android and iOS, so you can sync your mobile and desktop captures. However, its handy cloud storage means you don't need to download a third-party syncing app.

Image and Video Editing

ScreenPal's menu gives you four options: Take Screenshot, Launch Recorder, Open Editor, and Open Uploads. You also get quick access to your recent screenshots and recordings.

Taking a screenshot is as simple as dragging the cursor over the desired area and releasing it. The handy editing options let you crop and resize an image, blur and highlight its different sections, or add graphics and text. You can easily delete any alterations. Even better, paid users have capturing options that rival Snagit's, such as capturing scrolling windows or grabbing text with OCR recognition. In my tests, these features proved convenient, adding more depth, flexibility, and usefulness to something as seemingly simple as taking screenshots.

The video recorder is similarly intuitive. You can record your screen, your webcam, or both. Paid users can record computer audio, but adding narration via a microphone is free of charge. The app lets you adjust the size of the recording window according to your PC's resolution. ScreenPal recommends 720p, presumably to manage file sizes, but I recorded my full 1080p laptop screen without issue.

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Free users can trim recordings, write captions, add animated text and video effects, and include a limited number of music tracks before publishing their content. Upgrading to the proper video editor turns ScreenPal into a powerful professional tool that impressed me during testing. You can zoom in and draw during the recording for live lesson annotations, create captions with speech-to-text functionality, make GIFs (great for social media laughs), or apply visual effects, such as blur or adding shapes to videos.

Subscribers can combine recordings, use a green screen filter, or animate overlays. Premier users gain access to a comprehensive library of assets. For context, Snagit users must download the separate Camtasia app, Techsmith’s $250 education-focused recording software, to leverage similar options. 

Even if you don't need all of them, this wealth of features positions ScreenPal as a terrific app, not just for media capture, but for editing. They help justify the potential ongoing investment and turn ScreenPal into an indispensable part of your workflow.

ScreenPal now supports exporting image files in more formats: BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, and TIFF. However, other services still support a wider range of file types. Snagit exports to 19 different formats, Ashampoo Snap supports up to eight, and Windows Snipping Tool lets you choose between PNG, JPG, and GIF. For video, you can export clips as AVI, FLV, or MP4 files. However, transitioning from the capture and editing tools back to the browser isn't always smooth.

Image Sharing, Video Sharing, and AI Tools

ScreenPal allows all users to share images and videos to the following locations: Dropbox, email, Facebook, Google Drive, Twitter, Vimeo, or YouTube.

Likewise, ScreenPal's file hosting service is available to everyone. Using the browser app, you organize and publish captures, and it features a 25GB monthly data transfer limit. Once your files are uploaded, you can easily add titles, write descriptions, and sort them into different custom channels. Just make sure your firewall doesn't block the app. ScreenPal's integrated cloud hosting ecosystem is another cool differentiator. After all, Snagit and Windows Snipping Tool must rely on third-party cloud storage like Google Drive and OneDrive.

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Like YouTube, ScreenPal lets you make uploads public, private, or unlisted. There are detailed analytics to see how your content performs. The capable video player features 10-second fast-forward/rewind buttons and adjustable playback speed. Premier users can brand their video pages and custom players, and upload videos longer than 15 minutes (with an expanded 100GB of monthly data transfers). This video welcome, easy-to-use functionality goes a long way toward making ScreenPal feel like meaningful software, not just a replacement for a built-in screenshot button.

While testing and researching ScreenPal, I encountered numerous examples of users hosting public videos on the native platform. Mostly, I saw educators using the tool to share video lessons, which is particularly useful for remote learning. The free version includes teacher-friendly LMS integration and support for Google Classroom. 

The education sector is also likely where some ScreenPal's AI features are most effective, as they let you quickly generate quiz questions or transcribe spoken lectures into written documents—ideal for instructors. ScreenPal's AI primarily focuses on video editing, which is beneficial if you lack experience in adding chapter breaks or audio descriptions. However, considering how easy it is to perform other actions, such as adding video titles and descriptions, the AI features sometimes feel superfluous, verging on bloat.