Why Greenshot users start looking
Greenshot has been a staple on Windows for years, and for good reason: it is free, light, and its capture-then-edit loop is genuinely quick. Most people who move on are not unhappy with it. They simply hit the edge of what a screenshot-only tool can do.
The wall is almost always video. The moment a bug needs a reproduction, or a colleague needs a walkthrough of a multi-step flow, a stack of annotated stills stops being the right format. Greenshot does not record video, so that job goes to a second tool — and now there are two capture apps, two hotkey sets, and two places screenshots end up.
Pointframe vs Greenshot at a glance
| Task | Pointframe | Greenshot |
|---|---|---|
| Region and window capture | Yes | Yes |
| Annotate screenshots | Directly on the frozen capture | In the separate image editor |
| Hide sensitive data | Blur tool, in stills and video | Obfuscate tool, stills only |
| Screen recording | MP4 and GIF | Not available |
| Annotate while recording | Yes — draw and blur live | Not available |
| OCR text extraction | Built in | Not built in |
| Pin screenshot on top | Yes | Not available |
| Finding an old capture | Library searchable by text inside images | Browse the output folder |
| Export destinations | Clipboard, file, pinned window | Clipboard, file, printer, Office, plugins |
| Cost | Free and open source | Free and open source on Windows |
What you gain by switching
- One tool for stills and video — the same hotkey and the same selection flow produce either a screenshot or a recording
- Live annotations while recording — circle the button you are about to click as you click it, with no editing pass afterwards
- Blur that survives into video — redact a customer name or an API key while the recording runs
- OCR built in — pull an error code out of a dialog that refuses to let you select text
- A searchable capture library — find last month's screenshot by a word that appeared in it, instead of scrolling a folder
- Active releases — installs and updates through winget, Scoop, or a signed installer with background auto-updates
What Greenshot still does better
Greenshot's export plugins are its quiet strength. Sending a capture straight into Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, or a printer is a single step, and Pointframe does not replicate that — it copies to the clipboard or saves to disk instead. Greenshot is also lighter and has years of stability behind it. If your workflow is screenshots into Office documents and nothing more, there is no strong reason to switch.
Moving over from Greenshot
- Install Pointframe with
winget install DimitarRadenkov.Pointframeor the installer from the releases page. - Sort out the hotkey. Greenshot takes over Print Screen by default and so does Pointframe, so change one of them in Settings before running both.
- Point the save folder at the same directory Greenshot uses if you want your capture history in one place.
- Try the recording flow first. It is the part Greenshot has no answer for, and the fastest way to tell whether the switch is worth it for you.
Outgrown a screenshot-only tool?
Pointframe keeps the fast capture and markup loop you already like, and adds recording, live blur, and OCR in the same app.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pointframe free like Greenshot?
Yes. Pointframe is free and open source on Windows, with no account or subscription required.
Can Greenshot record video?
No. Greenshot is a screenshot tool and does not record video. This is the most common reason people look for an alternative, since a short recorded walkthrough often explains a problem faster than a series of stills.
Does Pointframe have an obfuscate tool like Greenshot?
Yes. Pointframe has a blur tool you drag over passwords, tokens, or personal data. It also applies blur live during screen recording, which Greenshot cannot do because it does not record video.
Can Pointframe export to Word, PowerPoint, or an image host?
No. Pointframe copies to the clipboard or saves to disk, which covers pasting into most tools. If you depend on Greenshot's Office and image-host export plugins, keep Greenshot for those specific exports.