Synapse review
A Mac screenshot tool with essential free markup and a $29.99 lifetime upgrade.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Synapse is a macOS screenshot capture and annotation app for solo users and small teams that want to mark up images on a Mac. It captures a selected screen region and opens it in an editor with pen and highlighter tools, arrows, rectangles, ovals, text callouts and numbered stamps. Users can copy a screenshot to the clipboard or drag it out to share, and the standalone editor can also work with existing images. The app requires macOS 13 Ventura or later and supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
The two plans keep the purchase choice simple. Synapse Free costs $0 and includes essential tools for a daily Mac workflow and a basic screenshot and edit studio. Synapse Pro Lifetime costs $29.99 as a one-time payment and adds the full screenshot annotation suite, unlimited clipboard and OCR, plus a lifetime license. That makes the free tier a practical starting point for occasional, basic markup, while the Pro option is aimed at people who want the broader annotation toolkit without a recurring subscription. The published product information also describes clipboard history, OCR, QR scanning and screen recording as bundled utilities.
The fit is deliberately narrow: this is a desktop app for macOS, not a browser-based or cross-platform annotation workspace. Team collaboration and a browser extension are not part of its offering, so teams that need shared review workflows or users working across other operating systems should look elsewhere. For Mac users who mainly need to capture a region, add clear visual notes, and pass the result along, Synapse's focused toolset and free entry point are the strongest reasons to consider it. Pick Pro when the expanded suite and unlimited clipboard and OCR matter; stick with Free for basic use.
Synapse pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Captures a selected screen region for focused markup
- Includes pen, highlighter, shapes, callouts and numbered stamps
- Shares via clipboard or drag-and-drop; edits existing images too
- Where it doesn't
- Runs only on macOS 13 Ventura or later
- No team collaboration or browser extension
- Free tier lacks the full annotation suite and unlimited clipboard and OCR
Synapse fact sheet, pricing and score →
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