A CleanShot X alternative for recording websites
One is the fastest way to capture what is on screen. The other is the way to compose what happens on it.
CleanShot X and Viewport are both one-time-purchase macOS tools, but they solve different halves of the problem. CleanShot X is a best-in-class screenshot and quick-capture utility that also records video. Viewport does not take screenshots at all - it loads a website, frames it to an exact size, and replays a scroll-and-click sequence you built on a timeline.
Viewport vs CleanShot X, side by side
| Comparison criterion | Viewport | CleanShot X |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $9.99 once, no subscription | One-time, with paid update renewals |
| Platform | macOS 13.1+ | macOS |
| How a take is made | Authored on a timeline, replayed identically | Live capture of whatever is on screen |
| Output framing | Exact dimensions or aspect ratio set before recording | Crop selection at capture time |
| Account required | No | No |
| Updates | All future updates included | First year included, renewals optional |
What CleanShot X costs
CleanShot X is sold as a one-time licence that includes the first year of updates; continuing to receive updates after that is an optional annual renewal, and the app keeps working either way. It is one of the few remaining tools in this category with no subscription requirement.
Source: cleanshot.com/buy. Checked . Third-party pricing and limits change; confirm at the source before relying on them.
Which one you should actually use
Choose CleanShot X if…
- Most of what you capture is stills. CleanShot X's annotation, scrolling screenshot and cloud upload are far beyond anything Viewport does.
- You want one utility bound to a keyboard shortcut for every kind of capture, all day.
- You capture native apps, Finder windows and menus - not websites.
- You want desktop-icon hiding, self-timer and OCR, which are CleanShot X features with no Viewport equivalent.
Choose Viewport if…
- The recording is a website scrolling, and it needs to scroll evenly. A hand-driven scroll in any capture tool is never quite even.
- You need to redo the same take after a design change without reperforming it.
- You need the output at 9:16 or 4:3 exactly, framed before the recording rather than cropped after it.
- You want the scroll, click and hover choreography to be editable - move a point, change the timing, re-render.
CleanShot X and Viewport, answered
Try the CleanShot X alternative that authors the take.
Viewport is a macOS screen recorder that builds the take on a timeline instead of asking you to perform it. $9.99 once - no subscription, no account.
Usual price $19.99 founder discount · macOS 13.1 or later
Other comparisons
Viewport is a one-time-purchase alternative to Screen Studio for macOS. Both produce smooth, polished screen recordings, but they get there differently: Screen Studio records a live performance and applies automatic zoom and cursor smoothing afterwards, while Viewport has you place scrolls, clicks and hovers on a timeline and replays them identically every take.
Viewport is a one-time-purchase macOS alternative to Loom for recording websites. Loom is optimised for fast, disposable async messages hosted in its cloud and shared by link; Viewport is optimised for a finished video file you author on a timeline and publish yourself. Loom bills per seat every month, Viewport costs $9.99 once and needs no account.
QuickTime Player is the free screen recorder built into macOS, and for capturing what happens on your screen it is entirely adequate. It has no editing timeline, no control over output dimensions beyond the region you drag, no cursor smoothing and no way to repeat a take exactly. Viewport exists for the recordings where those four things are the whole job.
OBS Studio is a free, open-source broadcasting suite with scenes, sources, filters and streaming built in. Viewport is a small macOS app that does one thing: load a website, frame it exactly, and replay a scroll-and-click sequence you authored on a timeline. OBS can capture anything; it cannot author the motion of a page for you.