Should you build your own Shotomatic?
Automated Mac screenshots, website batches, guides, and local exports
A personal timed screenshot loop is a realistic weekend build. Matching reliable capture across Mac apps, permission recovery, website batches, guide editing, and polished exports is a much larger product.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build me a local macOS screenshot automation app covering Shotomatic's basic loop.
Requirements:
- Use SwiftUI and ScreenCaptureKit in a native macOS 14+ app with no third-party packages.
- Provide a source picker for one display or one visible window, with thumbnail previews.
- Let me set an interval in seconds and stop after a screenshot count or elapsed duration.
- Show a three-second countdown, live running status, captured count, and a clear Stop button.
- Save every capture as PNG or JPEG in ~/Pictures/Capture Sessions/<timestamp>/.
- Keep a local session list with thumbnails; open a session in Finder or delete it with confirmation.
- Add one optional keypress after each capture using CGEvent so paged content can advance.
- Check Screen Recording and Accessibility permission before starting; explain how to grant each.
- Never upload files, add accounts, or collect telemetry. The app must work fully offline.
- Handle a display or window disappearing mid-session without losing images already captured.
- Include a small unit-tested state machine for idle, countdown, running, stopping, and failed states.
- Include a README with build, permission, and signing notes plus a manual smoke-test checklist.
- Out of scope: custom-area capture, website batches, guide editing, annotations, PDF/ZIP/MP4 export.
- Produce an Xcode project that builds and runs, then run the unit tests before finishing.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running.
What would building your own look like?
Pick a display or window, capture it on an interval, keep the session local, and export the ordered images.
What you will need
- macOS 14 or later
- Xcode command line tools
- Screen Recording permission
- Accessibility permission for optional keypress automation
They want repeatable capture across Mac apps without maintaining native permission handling, automation edge cases, session history, and several export pipelines themselves.
xpolished display, window, and custom-area selection
xreliable macOS permission setup and recovery
xAction Capture guide editing and annotations
xbatch website capture with per-URL settings
xintegrated PDF, ZIP, and MP4 export workflows
How much does Shotomatic cost?
- Monthly billing
- $12/mo$12/mo
- Per year
- $144/yr$144/yr
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$62.71/moR$753/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on Shotomatic’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| pro monthly | $12≈ $12 | - | Up to 3 Macs; unlimited screenshots per session. |
| pro yearly | - | $4.08≈ $4.08 | Up to 3 Macs; unlimited screenshots per session. |
| pro lifetime | custom | - | Up to 3 Macs; unlimited screenshots per session. |
Free tierno free tier
Billing termsMonthly + annual + one-time lifetime license; no permanent free plan.
Additional costsThe lifetime purchase is a separate one-time entitlement rather than an annual subscription; the public page offers a 14-day money-back period.
Price historyPro Monthly, month-to-month: $7.99 → $12 (2026-10)
verified 2026-10-20 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy Shotomatic?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (weekend). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild Shotomatic?
Kinda. The core of Shotomatic is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: polished display, window, and custom-area selection, reliable macOS permission setup and recovery. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does Shotomatic cost?
Shotomatic costs about $12/mo (Pro Monthly, checked 10/20/2026), which is $144 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Shotomatic?
Honestly: polished display, window, and custom-area selection; reliable macOS permission setup and recovery; Action Capture guide editing and annotations; batch website capture with per-URL settings; integrated PDF, ZIP, and MP4 export workflows. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Shotomatic?
Yes: Flameshot (mature cross-platform screenshot capture, but not a timed Mac automation workflow). Using prior art is also vibecoding; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.