Flameshot
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 8 screenshot tools
Free cross-platform screenshot tool with powerful markup controls, loved for daily use on Linux, macOS and Windows. Critics most often report problems on Wayland with multiple monitors or scaling.
Free cross-platform screenshot tool with powerful markup controls, loved for daily use on Linux, macOS and Windows. Critics most often report problems on Wayland with multiple monitors or scaling.
63 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 44
- criticize it
- 19
- approval share
- 70%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 5 years
Median of the 6 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 44 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works on Linux, macOS and Windows
“Been using it for years since its cross platform so it works on macOS at home and Windows at work.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “Flameshot is fantastic software. Works great on Linux and gets the job done.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “For what it does, it absolutely works nicely on mac.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” - Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
Reliable for years of daily use
“Did my due diligence for screenshot tools, found it, and never tried anything else again”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “It is and has been a solid screenshot choice for a long time”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “Flameshot is the best! I've been using it for 10+ years.”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” - Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
Powerful markup and annotation controls
“I love flameshot and use it at work all the time for ridiculously marked-up and snarky screenshots”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “Fell in absolute love with the controls though. Way more powerful than windows screenshots.”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “Flameshot with its magnifier is next level.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” Pixelation resists unredaction
“It's a nice mix if optically unobtrusive, algorithmically secure, and pleasant to look at.”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Never Use Pixelation to Hide Sensitive Text (2014)” “uses an interesting variant of pixelation that does protect the text from unredaction”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Never Use Pixelation to Hide Sensitive Text (2014)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Multi-monitor and scaling problems
“I haven't been able to use Flameshot for over a year since switching to Wayland because weird shit happens with my multi-monitor setup.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “Flameshot constantly captures the wrong region or shifts everything by a few pixels on the scaled display.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Xray – A minimal screenshot tool for developers (Rust/Tauri)” “Having the interface run under Xwayland caused a ton of problems with my monitors.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” - Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
- Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
Breaks on Wayland setups
“I haven't been able to use Flameshot for over a year since switching to Wayland because weird shit happens with my multi-monitor setup.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “It stopped working for me after I switched to Wayland”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “Flameshot with sway has been a nightmare for me.”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” - Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Xorg-Server 26.0.99.901”
Gray screen on macOS
“Great little app for taking screenshots on mac, since the macapp is terrible, and the keyboard binding is even worse.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “On my Mac all I see is a gray screen when I'm using the app.”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” Window shrinks or switches desktops
“it somehow switching desktops when you start taking a screenshot”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot” “the window is "shrinking" when a screenshot is captured”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Flameshot”
Other screenshot tools people recommend
The four most recommended other screenshot tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FlameshotThis page | 44 | 19 | 70% | 4 | 5 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| KDE Spectacle | 21 | 7 | 75% | 8 | — | Approved |
| ShareX | 10 | 2 | 83% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Windows Snipping Tool | 7 | 13 | 35% | 5 | — | — |
| CleanShot X | 6 | 2 | 75% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 69 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“flameshot is broken, while the alternatives suck”
“select any area of my screen and the text gets OCRed and pops in a buffer”
“Flameshot constantly captures the wrong region or shifts everything by a few pixels on the scaled display.”
“Having the interface run under Xwayland caused a ton of problems with my monitors.”
“This works for me on PopOS Cosmic (Wayland)”
“For what it does, it absolutely works nicely on mac.”
“Anyone with a website should use this method so they can maximize the use of their hosting.”
“it somehow switching desktops when you start taking a screenshot”
“Flameshot with its magnifier is next level.”
“it completely failed on my multimonitor kde wayland setup”
“Flameshot is my go to on macOS.”
“Flameshot is fantastic software. Works great on Linux and gets the job done.”
“I'm guessing you don't have multiple monitors”
“I haven't been able to use Flameshot for over a year since switching to Wayland because weird shit happens with my multi-monitor setup.”
“This is my go-to screenshot tool for Ubuntu.”
“Great little app for taking screenshots on mac, since the macapp is terrible, and the keyboard binding is even worse.”
“Flameshot is great! I also use it to capture different language text in images”
“i've been using flameshot with wayland the last six months, simply because i didn't know i couldn't”
“This is one of the must have apps on my mac.”
“work flawlessly only on Linux X11 and Windows”
“Been using it for years since its cross platform so it works on macOS at home and Windows at work.”
“It stopped working for me after I switched to Wayland”
“It was number three for me, I stopped looking”
“I’ve been happily using it for years.”
“it seems to work fine as far as I can tell”
“the usability is nothing close compared to Flameshot or Lightshot”
“On my Mac all I see is a gray screen when I'm using the app.”
“it was broken for me with fractional scaling”
“It does a great job for my purposes – describing which buttons to click over email or im.”
“Fell in absolute love with the controls though. Way more powerful than windows screenshots.”
“Flameshot with sway has been a nightmare for me.”
“I've been using for (2) years, ever since I switched to Wayland.”
“I love flameshot and use it at work all the time for ridiculously marked-up and snarky screenshots”
“It is and has been a solid screenshot choice for a long time”
“the window is "shrinking" when a screenshot is captured”
“Did my due diligence for screenshot tools, found it, and never tried anything else again”
“I don't regret switching to Flameshot whatsoever”
“Flameshot is the best! I've been using it for 10+ years.”
“It's a nice mix if optically unobtrusive, algorithmically secure, and pleasant to look at.”
“uses an interesting variant of pixelation that does protect the text from unredaction”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.