ScreenBrush and Capnot both let you draw over anything on your Mac screen, and both highlight the cursor. They overlap more than most tools in this space — so the choice comes down to two things: price and captions.
The short version: ScreenBrush is cheaper and can export your annotations as image files, which is great if you mark up screenshots. Capnot adds live captions, a magnifier, and a laser pointer, which matters if you're recording demos or presenting. Here's the full comparison.
Key Takeaways
- Both draw on screen (freehand, shapes, text) and highlight the cursor with a halo and spotlight.
- ScreenBrush is cheaper (free, with a $6.99 Plus upgrade), exports annotations to PSD/PNG/PDF, and runs on very old macOS.
- Capnot adds live captions/speech-to-text, a magnifier, and a laser pointer. macOS 13+, $12.99 one-time with a 7-day free trial.
What they share
The annotation basics are close to identical. Both give you freehand drawing, shapes (arrow, line, rectangle, ellipse), and text over any app. Both also emphasize the cursor — ScreenBrush has a "Cursor Halo" and a spotlight (flashlight) tool, and Capnot has a cursor highlighter ring and Spotlight mode. Neither records your screen; you pair either with QuickTime, OBS, or Loom.
If all you need is to draw on screen and ring the cursor, both do it well.
Where ScreenBrush wins
- Price. ScreenBrush is free to start, with a one-time $6.99 "Plus" upgrade. Capnot is $12.99.
- Snapshot and export. ScreenBrush can capture the screen with your annotations and export to PSD, PNG, or PDF — handy if you mark up screenshots for docs or feedback. Capnot is a live overlay, not an image editor.
- Old macOS support. ScreenBrush's App Store listing goes back to macOS 10.11; Capnot needs macOS 13 or later.
Where Capnot wins
- Live captions and speech-to-text. This is the big one — ScreenBrush has no captions at all. Capnot adds a subtitle bar, a dialogue panel, cursor-anchored Bubble Chat, and on-device Live Captions. See how to add live captions to a Mac screen recording.
- Magnifier. Capnot's magnifier follows the cursor to zoom small UI or code; ScreenBrush doesn't have one.
- Laser pointer. A glowing dot with a fading trail for live demos, which ScreenBrush lacks.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Capnot | ScreenBrush |
|---|---|---|
| Freehand + shapes + text | Yes | Yes |
| Cursor highlight | Yes | Yes (Cursor Halo) |
| Spotlight | Yes | Yes (flashlight) |
| Magnifier | Yes | No |
| Laser pointer | Yes | No |
| Live captions / speech-to-text | Yes | No |
| Snapshot + export (PSD/PNG/PDF) | No | Yes |
| Platform | macOS 13+ | macOS 10.11+ |
| Pricing | $12.99 one-time + 7-day trial | Free / $6.99 Plus |
Features and pricing retrieved 2026-08-27 from each tool's App Store listing.
Which should you pick?
- Pick ScreenBrush if you want the cheapest capable annotation tool, you export marked-up screenshots to image files, or you're on an older Mac.
- Pick Capnot if you need captions, a magnifier, or a laser for recordings and live demos.
Both are solid annotation tools; the deciding factor is whether you need captions and the extra pointer tools. If you do, try Capnot free for 7 days, then $12.99 once. For the wider category, see our roundup of Mac screen annotation tools, or another comparison in Capnot vs Presentify.