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ScreenFloat alternative: DejaShot compared
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ScreenFloat is a capture tool: it takes screenshots and recordings, floats them above your windows, and keeps them in a Shots Browser you can search by their text. DejaShot captures nothing. It reads the screenshots you already have, so you can search them by their text, and new ones by source app. Many people can use both.
If you searched for a ScreenFloat alternative, the first question is what you want to replace. ScreenFloat is an app for taking screenshots and recordings, keeping them in view while you work, and finding them later in its own library. DejaShot does one part of that, finding screenshots, across every folder you choose on your Mac.
This page sets the two side by side, using what ScreenFloat and its developer say about it. Its site, its Mac App Store page and the developer’s guide were checked on 1 October 2026, and every price below is as of that date. For the wider picture of searching screenshots on a Mac, see the guide to searching the text in screenshots.
What is the difference between DejaShot and ScreenFloat?
ScreenFloat, from Eternal Storms Software, describes itself as a capture tool first. Its pages list screenshots, timed screenshots, screen recording with audio, GIF creation, annotation and editing. Its best-known idea is the floating shot: a capture that stays above all your windows, across spaces and full-screen apps, so you can keep a reference in sight while you work.
Around that sits a library. The Shots Browser lets you organize, name, tag, rate, favorite and search your shots, and ScreenFloat lists iCloud sync across your Macs and Spotlight indexing. It also lists text recognition, which can pull out text, barcodes, emails, phone numbers, links and addresses from a shot.
DejaShot is narrower. It doesn’t capture, annotate or record anything. It reads the screenshots that macOS or any other tool already saved into folders you choose, recognises the text in them on your Mac, and, for screenshots taken while it’s running, notes which app and window were in front. Then one search panel finds any of them.
| Feature | ScreenFloat | DejaShot |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A capture tool with floating shots, recording, editing and a Shots Browser | A search app for screenshots you already have |
| Capturing | Yes. Screenshots, timed screenshots and screen recordings | No. Keep using ⌘⇧4, ScreenFloat or any other tool |
| Search inside screenshots | Text recognition on shots, and a Shots Browser that finds shots by their titles, tags, notes and detected text. Shots can also be indexed for Spotlight | Reads the text in every screenshot in your chosen folders, including ones saved before you installed it, and searches all of it, in 31 ms on a library of 20,000 screenshots |
| Source app recorded | Yes. Its developer’s guide lists the app a shot was taken in, for shot titles and Smart Folder rules | Notes the app, and with the optional Accessibility permission the window title, for screenshots taken while it’s running. A strong hint, not a certainty |
| Where it runs | macOS Monterey 12.3 or newer | macOS 14 or later, with no account and nothing uploaded |
| Price model | $17.99 one-time on the Mac App Store, as of 1 October 2026. Also sold on its website and through Setapp | One-time, one Mac at a time, every 1.x update included. See pricing |
Does ScreenFloat search the text inside screenshots?
It does. ScreenFloat’s site says you can extract recognised text during capture by holding Command and Control, copy lines of text from a floating shot, and view or save barcode contents.
ScreenFloat’s site says the Shots Browser finds shots “not only by the attributes you give them, but also their contents, like lines of text”, and you can index shots for Spotlight too. So inside its own library, ScreenFloat searches by the words in a shot. The real difference is which screenshots that library holds.
ScreenFloat’s library holds the shots it captured or imported. Its Mac App Store notes say it can import screenshots taken with the macOS tools automatically, and other files can be dragged in or imported. DejaShot reads the folders you pick where they are, so screenshots from the system shortcut, from other tools and from years ago all land in one search without moving or copying a file.
Both can record the source app. ScreenFloat’s guide lists the app a shot was taken in, and DejaShot notes the app for screenshots taken while it’s running, whichever tool took them. Screenshots from before you installed DejaShot have their text in it, but no app.
Choose ScreenFloat if…
- You want one app to capture, record, annotate and share. DejaShot does none of those.
- Floating a screenshot above your work is the feature you came for. DejaShot has nothing like it.
- You record the screen, make GIFs, or want trimming and audio tools.
- You like organizing by hand with tags, ratings, notes and favorites, and finding shots by those and by their text, in a browser built around your captures.
- You want Smart Folders that gather shots by rules such as the app they were taken in or the text they contain.
- You want iCloud sync of your shots between Macs. DejaShot keeps its library on one Mac.
- You are on macOS 12.3 or 13. DejaShot needs macOS 14.
Choose DejaShot if…
- You already take screenshots with the system shortcut or several tools, and want them all in one search, left in the folders where they are.
- You remember a word from the screenshot, or, for ones taken since you installed DejaShot, the app or window it came from, and want to type that.
- You have a large pile of old screenshots in folders and want them all searchable by their text, newest first, without importing or copying them.
- You want one search panel, opened with a keyboard shortcut from any app, that covers every folder you chose.
- You want to rename the screenshot files in bulk from their date, app or text, with a live preview and undo.
Neither list says one app is better. Both search the text in screenshots. ScreenFloat does it inside the library of a capture app, and DejaShot does it across the folders you choose. For many people the honest answer is the next section.
Can you use both?
Yes. They overlap on search, but each is built around a different job. Take your screenshots with ScreenFloat, or with the macOS shortcut, and let DejaShot read the folder they land in. ScreenFloat gives you the floating reference while you work, and DejaShot gives you one search over everything in your screenshot folders months later.
One thing to check is where ScreenFloat saves files, since DejaShot can only read folders you choose and ScreenFloat’s own library is its call. If your shots stay inside ScreenFloat’s library and not in a folder you picked, DejaShot won’t see them. Where macOS saves screenshots explains how to point things at one folder, and the guide to finding an old screenshot shows the built-in options. If you are weighing capture tools instead, there is also a CleanShot X comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is DejaShot a ScreenFloat replacement?
Only if the part of ScreenFloat you use is finding old screenshots by their text. DejaShot doesn’t capture, record, annotate or float anything. If you rely on those, keep ScreenFloat, and add DejaShot if you also want one search across every screenshot folder on your Mac.
Does DejaShot work with screenshots taken by ScreenFloat?
It reads any screenshot file in a folder you choose, whichever app made it. Whether ScreenFloat’s files sit in such a folder depends on your ScreenFloat settings, so check that before you rely on it.
Is DejaShot cheaper than ScreenFloat?
It depends on when you buy. ScreenFloat was $17.99 on the Mac App Store as of 1 October 2026. DejaShot is a one-time purchase for one Mac. The current price is always on the pricing page.