Screen recording
CleanShot X vs Motion Software compared on 11 fields
- CleanShot X score
- 57/100 (6 of 6 criteria)
- Motion Software score
- 83/100 (5 of 6 criteria)
- Fields won by CleanShot X
- 0 of 7
- Fields won by Motion Software
- 3 of 7
CleanShot X
Motion Software
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
CleanShot X and Motion Software are both screen recording tools. We compared them on 11 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the screen recording tools scorecard CleanShot X scores 57/100 (6 of 6 criteria) and Motion Software 83/100 (5 of 6 criteria) (ranks 19 and 10 in the category).
Of the 7 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), CleanShot X wins 0, Motion Software wins 3 and 4 are ties.
CleanShot X scores clearly higher on verified features.
Motion Software scores clearly higher on free plan or trial and entry price.
Side by side
| Field | CleanShot X | Motion Software | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | $10/month | ✓ $6/month | Motion Software |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | $10/month | ✓ $6/month | Motion Software |
| Free plan | No | ✓ Yes | Motion Software |
| Free trial | No | No | Tie |
| Data export | Recordings can be exported as MP4 video or GIF | MP4 video with customizable frame rate, resolution and quality | No winner: no rule for this field |
| Team access | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Templates | – | Yes | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Camera overlay | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Instant share links | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Built-in editing | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Tie |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: CleanShot X pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026; Motion Software pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026. Each feature value links its own source on the tool's page.
Scorecard, criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | CleanShot X | Motion Software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 26$10/month per seat billed annually on CleanShot Pro; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) | 63$6/month billed annually on Premium; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 0No free plan or free trial shown on the pricing page | 100Free plan (Free) |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 932 of 2 plans have a public price | 932 of 2 plans have a public price |
| Verified features | 15% | 1005 of 9 tracked features verified: team access, camera overlay, instant share links, built-in editing, desktop app | 804 of 9 tracked features verified: templates, instant share links, built-in editing, desktop app |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100documented data export | 100documented data export |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 25% | 65$10 per user per month on CleanShot Pro (team of 3, billed annually) | – |
| Total score | 100% | 57/100 (6 of 6 criteria) | 83/100 (5 of 6 criteria) |
CleanShot X plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CleanShot Basic | $35 once | – | Not stated |
|
| CleanShot Pro | Not offered | $10 | per user |
|
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
Motion Software plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | Not stated | None stated |
| Premium | Not offered | $6 | Not stated | None stated |
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
How we picked
Every one of these screen recording tools is scored by the same 6 criteria (scorecard v1). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to screen recording tools. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other screen recording tools on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $7.61/month or less = 100, $30.44 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $3.60/month or less = 100, $14.40 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 9 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (analytics, team access, templates, ai assistant, camera overlay, automatic captions, instant share links, built-in editing, desktop app). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 5 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 25% | Category | Monthly price per user for a team of 3, on the cheapest paid plan that is priced per seat or states room for at least 3 users.Log scale: $6.16 per user or less = 100, $24.66 or more = 0. Plans that do not state a user limit are not used. No such plan = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is CleanShot X cheaper than Motion Software?
Motion Software starts lower: $6 per month billed yearly on the Premium plan, against $10 per user per month billed yearly on the CleanShot Pro plan for CleanShot X. Check the unit: per-user and per-account prices scale differently.
Do CleanShot X and Motion Software have free plans?
Motion Software has a free plan; CleanShot X does not.
Which is better, CleanShot X or Motion Software?
On our scorecard Motion Software scores higher (83/100 (5 of 6 criteria) vs 57/100 (6 of 6 criteria)). The score weighs every criterion the same way for every tool; check the rows above for the ones that matter to you.