Comparison

CleanShot X or iShowU Instant?

CleanShot X covers most cases. iShowU for long recordings with system audio.

Tool A

CleanShot X

macOS screenshots pushed to the extreme: annotate, record, share in seconds.

Tool B

iShowU Instant

Simple, lightweight macOS screen recording for when QuickTime is not enough.

Criterion by criterion

Criterion by criterion
Criterion	CleanShot X	iShowU Instant
In my stack	Yes	Yes
My rating	4.9 out of 5	4.2 out of 5
What it does better	Video AND screenshot capture, annotations, cloud, all in one	Captures system audio natively, no Soundflower/BlackHole hack
What it does worse	No advanced system audio capture	Largely replaced by QuickTime + OBS for more advanced uses
Entry price	Included in Setapp (~€9.99/month)	Included in Setapp (~€9.99/month)
Plan I would pick	Setapp · ~€9.99/month (Setapp subscription)	Setapp · ~€9.99/month (Setapp subscription)
Works with	macOS	macOS
Where the opinion comes from	Compared from my iShowU Instant review	Based on my iShowU Instant review

Verdict

CleanShot X covers most cases. iShowU for long recordings with system audio.

On CleanShot X, written from my iShowU Instant review