Don't Upgrade SnagIt Past 2024! Avoid TechSmith's License Gotcha Trap with a Great FREE Alternative!

Jan 26, 2025 @ 12:58 pm

Quit SnagIt TechSmith’s SnagIt is a tool for screen capturing. And I have to say, it’s worked wonderfully for me.

There’s actually a fair amount of subtlety in this niche. For example, do you want to also record webcam and mouse pointer? On some platforms, the native screen recording won’t capture system audio due to copyright concerns. And there’s a never-ending battle to stay on top of OS upgrades, what permissions are required, etc.

SnagIt makes all this easy. If you just want a screenshot or a screenshot, the software is overkill. But if you want to record only a certain region of the screen, have a highlighted pointer, draw on the screen, record your webcam, do some light editing, automate uploading…you get the picture. It’s a power user tool.

TechSmith Is Trying to Trick You

However, the reality is that SnagIt is a very mature product. Other than minor changes to adapt to the next version of Windows or macOS, there aren’t new features that need to be added. What more, really, are you going to do with a screen recording tool? I’ve used the product for a half-dozen years and it’s the exact same product.

The reality is that most customers have little reason to upgrade every year.

TechSmith knows this, and has decided to screw its existing users over.

Starting with the next version, SnagIt is now an annual subscription. If you don’t pay, it’ll stop working.

Even worse, TechSmith has setup a trap for you. If you have an existing SnagIt license, you can continue to use it as long as you pay maintenance. If the maintenance lapses – and you only have a 30 day window each year – your perpetual license is immediately revoked and you are forced into the annual plan.

Can you just keep using it if you don’t pay maintenance? No. SnagIt requires activation to work, and your activation will go away.

This is a licensing “gotcha” and a pretty disgusting greed move.

Let’s Move On…for Free!

I’m BIPOC (Bi-Platform of Choice) and so I look at both Widnows and macOS.

I was delighted to discover ShareX, a fantastic product for Windows that does everything that SnagIt does…and a lot more! It’s also super geek friendly. The first time I saw that it exposes its command-line parms for you to tweak, I fell in love. Especially for our community (but also for any visitors from the Internet who find this article), I highly recommend ShareX.

Another open is PickPick, which is paid (but not subscription!)

For macOS, I’m still looking for a solution. CleanShot is on my radar and as soon as I need this on macOS, that’s what I’ll try.

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raindog308

Dread Lord of LowEnd Content at LowEndBox

I'm raindog308, techno polymath and long-time LowEndTalk community Administrator. My technical interests include all things Unix, perl, python, golang, shell scripting, vintage operating systems such as MVS, and relational database systems such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.

I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308