shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Greenshot?

Free and open source screenshot tool for Windows - getgreenshot.org

Depends. Individuals and small teams wanting a free, simple Windows screenshot tool should use it happily. Companies and regulated environments should not standardize on it: repeated high-severity CVEs and zero vendor support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources; recent coverage is security-heavy.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Greenshot

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Individual Windows users
  • Bloggers and docs writers
  • Zero-budget teams
  • Open-source-comfortable users

Not for

  • Regulated or data-sensitive orgs needing vendor accountability
  • IT teams requiring SLAs or official support
  • Linux users needing a native tool
  • Anyone unwilling to track security updates manually

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Donation-funded, no company behind it: no SLA, no guaranteed fixes or responses

medium

Users claim updates stalled for years ('hasn't been updated since 2017') — verify you run the latest build

medium

Sysadmins flagged outbound connections to a Cloudflare IP; audit network behavior before corporate rollout

medium

An 'Unofficial' Microsoft Store listing circulates — download only from

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source — no licenses, no cost ever
  • Described as easy to understand and configurable
  • Built-in lightweight OCR for grabbing text from screenshots
  • Sends captures straight to Outlook, Imgur, Flickr, Picasa

Cons

  • Repeated high-severity CVEs in 2025 and 2026
  • Binary hijacking vulnerability CVE-2026-25792 disclosed March 2026
  • Not backed by any company — no vendor support
  • Website reported breached with malware in August 2024
  • Compatibility lagged new Outlook versions in 2024

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/27/2026 - 16 sources - Several high-severity CVEs (2023–2026) and a reported 2024 site breach; fixes have shipped — run 1.3.315+ from the official site.

official x6review x5security x5
  • CVE-2025-59050 (High), High-severity vulnerability disclosed September 2025; emergency fix released September 16, 2025.
  • CVE-2026-25792 — binary hijacking, Binary hijacking vulnerability documented March 2026 in SentinelOne's vulnerability database.
  • CVE-2026-22035 (High), High-severity vulnerability listed January 2026; patch status unclear in reviewed sources.
  • CVE-2023-34634, Listed in NIST NVD in 2023 against getgreenshot.
  • Reported website breach (2024), GitHub issue claimed was breached with malware inside; unverified elsewhere.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 16

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free and open source, donation-funded.
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Easy to understand and configurable, per official site.
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Solid basics plus OCR; less deep than ShareX.
  • Support quality: 2/5. No company behind it; community and FAQ only.
  • Security posture: 2/5. Multiple recent CVEs, though fixes shipped promptly.
  • $0 Price Free and open source
  • Yes Free tier 100% free, donation-supported
  • 1.3.315 Latest security release March 2026 security fix
  • 2+ High-severity CVEs 2025–2026, plus older findings

Pricing

Greenshot

$0

  • Full capture, annotation, and OCR features
  • Open source, donation-supported

Security

Several high-severity CVEs (2023–2026) and a reported 2024 site breach; fixes have shipped — run 1.3.315+ from the official site.

  • CVE-2025-59050 (High)High-severity vulnerability disclosed September 2025; emergency fix released September 16, 2025.³
  • CVE-2026-25792 — binary hijackingBinary hijacking vulnerability documented March 2026 in SentinelOne's vulnerability database.⁶
  • CVE-2026-22035 (High)High-severity vulnerability listed January 2026; patch status unclear in reviewed sources.⁷
  • CVE-2023-34634Listed in NIST NVD in 2023 against getgreenshot.⁸
  • Reported website breach (2024)GitHub issue claimed was breached with malware inside; unverified elsewhere.⁹

What users say

Long-time users call it the best free, simple capture tool; sysadmins question its update cadence and network behavior.

“Greenshot hasn't been updated since 2017”
Reddit, r/sysadmin
“Greenshot Screen Capture - The best”
keyliner.blogspot.com review

Alternatives

Compare Greenshot with each alternative.

  • ShareX

    Free, far more powerful; steeper learning curve.

  • Snagit

    Paid standard; 4.7/5 rating; vendor support included.

  • FastStone Capture

    $19.95 one-time; lightweight Windows capture with editor.

Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources; recent coverage is security-heavy.

Free, simple Windows screenshot tool individuals love — but repeated CVEs and no vendor support give IT teams pause.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources; recent coverage is security-heavy.

Sources

  1. Greenshot official sitegetgreenshot.org
    official
  2. Support us — not backed by a companygetgreenshot.org
    official
  3. Security update September 2025getgreenshot.org
    official
  4. Greenshot 1.3.315 security releasegetgreenshot.org
    official
  5. CVE-2025-59050 high vulnerabilityappsecure.security
    security
  6. CVE-2026-25792 binary hijackingsentinelone.com
    security
  7. CVE-2026-22035 high vulnerabilitythehackerwire.com
    security
  8. CVE-2023-34634 (NVD)nvd.nist.gov
    security
  9. Reported site breach with malware (GitHub issue)github.com
    security
  10. Reddit sysadmin: update cadence and outbound connectionsreddit.com
    review
  11. Reddit sysadmin: screenshot tools for data-sensitive orgsreddit.com
    review
  12. keyliner review: Greenshot Screen Capturekeyliner.blogspot.com
    review
  13. AlternativeTo listing (OCR tool)alternativeto.net
    review
  14. SourceForge download mirrorsourceforge.net
    official
  15. FastStone Capture vs Greenshot pricingsourceforge.net
    review
  16. Microsoft Store unofficial listingapps.microsoft.com
    official

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