TextSniper review

TextSniper solves one job well: copying text you cannot select on a Mac screen. You press CMD+Shift+2 or pick Capture Text from the menu bar, drag over an area, and the recognized text lands on the clipboard. The vendor lists YouTube videos, PDFs, images, online courses, presentations and webpages as sources, and the Mac App Store listing adds vertical text recognition for Chinese, Japanese and Korean and the option to capture text with an iPhone or iPad camera. It also reads QR codes and barcodes and can speak recognized text aloud. Pricing is a one-time license on the vendor site: $7.99 for 1 Mac, $9.99 for 3 Macs and $11.99 unlimited, with a 7-day money-back guarantee, while the Mac App Store lists it at $9.99. Limits are honest on the FAQ: language support depends on your macOS version, major upgrades cost extra, and text with many symbols, such as code, can be misread. We compared documented features and published prices.

Who it is for

Mac users who copy text from screens, videos and images

Price

$7.99 one time for 1 Mac on the vendor site.

License for 1 Mac – $7.99
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 13, 2026.

Key features

• Press CMD+Shift+2, select an area and the text is copied to the clipboard
• Captures text from YouTube videos, PDFs, images, presentations and webpages
• QR code and barcode reader
• Text-to-speech for recognized text
• Uses an iPhone or iPad camera to capture and transfer text

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: One-time license: $7.99 for 1 Mac, $9.99 for 3 Macs, $11.99 unlimited
• Strength: 7-day money-back guarantee on direct purchases
• Strength: Mac App Store Editors' Choice
• Weakness: Mac only
• Weakness: Language support depends on the macOS version; Catalina reads English only
• Weakness: The vendor says it can misread text with many symbols, such as code

Key facts

• Platform: macOS Catalina or newer
• Price: $7.99 one time for 1 Mac
• Languages: Over 25, depending on macOS version
• Refund: 7-day money-back guarantee

Where it ranks

TextSniper is No. 5 in our Best OCR Apps verdict.