FTPie vs ShareX

Updated July 2026

ShareX is a beloved, free, open-source Windows tool, and it deserves the praise: it captures anything, automates workflows, and can upload to dozens of destinations - including your own FTP server or cloud. If you want maximum control over a capture-and-upload pipeline, ShareX is hard to beat.

So this is not an "own storage vs their servers" story - ShareX can absolutely use your storage. The honest difference is scope and simplicity: ShareX is a dedicated, deeply configurable capture toolkit; FTPie is a full file manager that happens to include capture and one-click sharing, so the screenshots and recordings you take live in the same app where you manage all your files.

Where ShareX shines

ShareX has more capture power than FTPie, full stop: scrolling capture, OCR, GIF recording, a workflow/automation engine, hotkey customization for everything, and a huge list of upload destinations. It is free and open source. For a power user who lives in screenshots and wants to script every step, ShareX is the better dedicated tool - and the price is unbeatable.

The cost of that power is complexity. ShareX's settings are famously deep, configuring a custom uploader can take real effort, and it is purely a capture/upload utility - it does not browse, transfer, or manage the files afterwards.

Where FTPie fits

FTPie's capture tools are simpler by design: capture a region, annotate, or record your screen, and Quick Share returns a link from a cloud account you own. The advantage is that it is one feature of a real file manager - the same app where you browse cloud and FTP storage, transfer between them, edit files and run backups. Capture is part of your file workflow, not a separate utility to wire up.

Side-by-side comparison

Pricing compared (2026)

ShareX is completely free and open source. FTPie's model:

• FTPie Free - up to 3 FTP/FTPS/SFTP connections, free forever
• FTPie Pro - $9/month or $59/year - cloud services and the full tool set
• Lifetime - a one-time license (currently $99 founder pricing), no recurring cost

On price ShareX wins outright. What FTPie's tiers buy is everything around capture: the file manager, cloud accounts, transfers, backups and the zero-config sharing - see the plan comparison.

So which should you pick?

If capture is the job and you want the most powerful, scriptable, free tool for it - and you do not mind configuring it - pick ShareX. It is excellent and we will not pretend otherwise.

If you would rather capture and share as part of a tool you already use to manage your cloud and FTP files - with a far simpler path to a link on storage you own - FTPie is the more convenient home for it. As a ShareX alternative it trades capture depth for an all-in-one file workflow. Many people happily use both.

Common questions

Related comparisons

Comparing capture tools? See how FTPie stacks up against Gyazo and Loom - or take a look at FTPie's own screenshot tool and screen recorder.