The best OCR apps for Mac to copy text from the screen

By Guido Crego · Last updated: October 31, 2026

Eight ways to copy text from your Mac screen, from the free one built into macOS to screenshot suites that also read text. Kirinuki is the app this site sells, so it's listed first; everything about the other seven was checked on their own sites and App Store listings on October 31, 2026.

The short version

How these were picked

Every app here copies text from what's on your Mac screen. PDF suites that only convert scanned documents, and web OCR services you upload files to, are left out. Prices are in US dollars unless noted.

1. Kirinuki

Press ⇧⌘2, every display freezes, drag a box, and the text is on your clipboard with a small confirmation of how many characters it copied. Freezing matters for video: the subtitle stays put while the video keeps playing behind it.

• Price: $4.99 once, taxes included, one license per Mac, 14-day refund. No trial, no subscription.
• Good at: video and anything that moves, code (Code Mode with ⌘K keeps indentation and exact spacing), QR codes and barcodes found inside any capture, stacking several captures with Additive Clipboard, images and PDFs up to 200 pages dropped on the menu bar icon, and two actions for the Shortcuts app.
• Privacy: only Screen Recording permission. It never sends what you capture; it goes online only to activate the license and check for updates.
• Requires: macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
• Not for you if: your Mac runs macOS 14 or older, or you want it from the App Store or Setapp.

2. Live Text (built into macOS)

Free, and already on your Mac since macOS Monterey. Open an image in Preview or Photos, or find one on a web page in Safari, and select its text like any other text. Since macOS Ventura it also reads paused video frames.

• Price: free.
• Good at: photos and images already open in Apple's apps.
• The catch: Apple documents it inside images and paused video, in Preview, Photos and Safari. To copy text from another app's window you take a screenshot, open it in Preview and select there. Apple also says "Live Text isn't available in all regions or languages." If it doesn't respond, see Live Text not working on Mac.

3. TextSniper

The app most people find first. Same ⇧⌘2 default as Kirinuki, with Keep Line Breaks, Additive Clipboard, Custom Words, text to speech, QR codes and iPhone camera import.

• Price: $7.99 for one Mac on textsniper.app (licenses for 3 or unlimited Macs too), $9.99 on the US Mac App Store, or through Setapp. Its FAQ says major upgrades cost extra. 7-day money-back on direct purchases.
• Good at: older Macs (macOS 12 or later on the App Store), Family Sharing on the App Store, and Setapp.
• The catch: its FAQ says it can misread code. Its site doesn't mention freezing the screen.
• Side by side with Kirinuki: TextSniper alternative.

4. Shottr

A small, fast screenshot app with a text capture hotkey that also reads QR codes.

• Price: free to download and use; after 30 days it starts asking you to upgrade. Basic is $12 once and covers up to five computers for one user. A license is required for commercial use.
• Good at: people who want a screenshot app first, with text capture in the same app.
• The catch: it checks the license online and sends telemetry unless you turn it off in its preferences.

5. CleanShot X

A screenshot app, with a paid Pro plan for cloud and team features. Its Capture Text feature copies the text in any area you select, on your Mac, and reads QR codes.

• Price: $35 once with one year of updates, then $19 a year if you want more updates. No trial; 30-day money-back. Also on Setapp.
• Good at: people who take a lot of screenshots and want text capture in the same app.
• The catch: you pay for a whole screenshot app if all you need is text. Requires macOS 13 or later.

6. TRex

Free and open source (MIT license), and maintained: version 2.0.0 came out in February 2026, with a beta in September.

• Price: free from GitHub or Homebrew; $7.99 on the Mac App Store.
• Good at: a command line tool, a URL scheme, capturing several regions at once, and optional cleanup through AI providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama or Apple Intelligence.
• The catch: the free build comes from GitHub or Homebrew; the App Store build costs $7.99.

7. OwlOCR

Grabs text from a screen area, several areas at once, images and PDFs, and can export searchable PDFs.

• Price: the Core version is free. Pro is $19.99 a year, or $49.99 once for a lifetime license to that version.
• Good at: batches of PDFs and files, and a command line tool (Pro).
• The catch: the best parts are in Pro. Requires macOS 13.3 or later.

8. FreezeText

The other app built around freezing the screen: press ⌘⇧7 and any visible text becomes selectable. It cleans up line breaks and hyphenation and keeps a searchable history.

• Price: €19.99 direct (not sold in the United Kingdom) or $17.99 as an in-app purchase on the Mac App Store, with a 14-day free trial. It was free until version 1.18 in September 2026.
• Good at: a history of everything you captured, with export.
• The catch: €19.99 or $17.99 against Kirinuki's $4.99, and it checks the license online.

Questions

Does the Mac have built-in OCR?

Yes. Live Text, in macOS Monterey and later, selects text inside images in Preview, Photos and Safari, and in paused video frames. It doesn't work on any area of the screen, so for text in other apps you take a screenshot first and open it in Preview.

What's the best free OCR app for Mac?

Live Text, if your text is in an image you can open in Preview or Photos. For any area of the screen, TRex is free and open source, and Shottr is free to use with a reminder to upgrade after 30 days.

Which OCR apps for Mac work offline?

Kirinuki, Live Text, TextSniper, CleanShot X and TRex say the text is read on your Mac, and OwlOCR and FreezeText use Apple's Vision framework, which runs on the Mac. Shottr's site doesn't say. Some go online for other things: Shottr, OwlOCR and FreezeText to check licenses, and Kirinuki only to activate its license once and to check for updates.

Which one is cheapest without a subscription?

Among the paid ones, Kirinuki at $4.99 once. TextSniper is $7.99 on its site, TRex $7.99 on the App Store (free on GitHub), Shottr $12 and CleanShot X $35.