Greenshot vs Flameshot

Both are free screen capture & recording tools. Here is how they actually differ.

Greenshot and Flameshot at a glance

Greenshot

Greenshot
Open Source

Flameshot

Flameshot
Open Source
Greenshot compared with Flameshot
FeatureGreenshotFlameshot
DeveloperGreenshotFlameshot
LicenceOpen SourceOpen Source
CostFreeFree
WindowsYesYes
macOSNoYes
LinuxNoYes
MobileNoNo
Source codePublicPublic
Get Greenshot — official site Get Flameshot — official site

Greenshot: what it's good at

Greenshot is a lightweight screenshot tool focused on speed: capture a region or window, annotate and highlight it immediately, then export wherever needed. Ideal for documentation and bug reports.

Flameshot: what it's good at

Flameshot offers a clean capture experience with annotation tools that appear right at the selection — arrows, boxes, blur and text without opening a separate editor. Particularly popular on Linux.

Which should you choose?

Both are free, so the honest answer is that you can install either and decide for yourself — that is the advantage of free software over a paid trial.

Both run on Windows. Only Flameshot supports macOS, Linux. Both are open source, so neither locks you in.

We deliberately do not publish a star rating for either. We have no way to verify a rating that would be honest at scale, and an invented one would be worse than none — so we give you the facts and let you decide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Greenshot better than Flameshot?

Neither is universally better. Greenshot quick, simple screenshots with fast annotation, while Flameshot cross-platform screenshot tool with in-place annotation. The right pick depends on your platform and workflow.

Are both really free?

Greenshot is open source and Flameshot is open source. Both can be downloaded without paying.

Can I install both?

Yes. Since neither costs anything, installing both and comparing them on your own files is usually the fastest way to decide.