An honest comparison
A free, open source Smartmockups alternative
Smartmockups spent years as the default device mockup tool, then Canva acquired it and switched it off. Today smartmockups.com redirects to Canva's mockup pages, and the old library of over 1,600 device mockups is gone. Canva is a fine home for photo scenes and brand mockups. If what you actually made there was App Store and Play Store screenshots, this is a free, open source home for those
Facts checked against smartmockups.com, which now redirects to canva.com, on August 16, 2026
Side by side
The two tools, honestly
| Open Screenshot Generator | Smartmockups (now Canva) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Actively developed, open source | Shut down as a standalone product, smartmockups.com redirects to canva.com/mockups |
| Price | Free, no paid tier exists | Part of Canva, which has free and paid plans |
| Account | None | Canva account required |
| Device mockups | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and tablet frames, flat or in 3D poses | The old library of over 1,600 mockup pages is gone, Canva's mockup tool covers photo scenes and brand mockups instead |
| App Store screenshot preset | The whole tool is the preset, every artboard starts at store dimensions | None, you create custom dimensions yourself |
| Store size export | One click renders every size both stores require | No store size export workflow, each device tier is exported by hand |
| App preview videos | Yes, MP4 exported locally in Chrome, Edge or the desktop app | Canva edits video, but there is no app preview workflow |
| Photo scenes and brand mockups | Not offered, this tool stays focused on store screenshots | Genuinely strong, and the best reason to follow the redirect |
| Where your work lives | Your browser storage, on your machine | Canva's cloud |
| Open source | Yes, full source on GitHub | No |
Credit where due
When Canva is the better pick
- You want photo scenes and brand mockups. Apparel, packaging, print, phones held in real hands in real places. That breadth was Smartmockups' whole strength, and Canva absorbed it for a reason
- Your team already lives in Canva. Brand kits, shared folders and the rest of the design suite sit right next to the mockup tool, and a separate screenshot editor is one more tab to justify
- You want one tool for every marketing asset. Social posts, ads, decks and mockups in one place is a real convenience, and nothing here tries to compete with that
The other side
When Open Screenshot Generator wins
- You came to Smartmockups for store screenshots. This tool does nothing else. Templates start at store dimensions and one click exports every size Apple and Google require
- You do not want another account. No signup, no cloud, no email. Open the editor and start, and your work stays in your browser on your machine
- You want device mockups with real depth. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and tablet frames, plus 3D poses for the phone, watch and Mac, with your screens clipped to the glass whatever the angle
- You want preview videos from the same tool. Drop a screen recording into a frame and export an MP4 in Chrome, Edge or the desktop app, sized to what App Store Connect accepts
- You have been burned by a shutdown once already. Smartmockups users lost their tool to an acquisition. This one is open source, so the code stays runnable even if the site ever went away
Questions
Fair questions, straight answers
What happened to Smartmockups?
Canva acquired it and shut it down as a standalone product. As of August 2026, smartmockups.com redirects straight to canva.com/mockups, and its individual device mockup pages, over 1,600 of them, are gone from the web
Can Canva make App Store screenshots?
You can design at any pixel size in Canva, so technically yes. What it lacks is a preset for App Store screenshots and an export workflow for store sizes, so you set up every dimension yourself and export each device tier by hand
Is Open Screenshot Generator really completely free?
Yes. There is no paid tier at all. No account, no watermark, no export limits, no gated device sizes. The full source code is public on GitHub
Does it do device mockups the way Smartmockups did?
Partly. You get iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and tablet frames, plus 3D poses for the phone, watch and Mac, which covers the device side well. What it does not try to replace is the photo scene library, the hands holding phones in real places. For those, Canva's mockup tool is the honest recommendation
Can it make app preview videos too?
Yes, in Chrome, Edge or the desktop app, where video export has WebCodecs. Drop a screen recording into a device frame and export an MP4 sized to what App Store Connect and Google Play accept
Keep reading
Related pages
Give your screenshots a stable home
The editor is free, the source is public, and no acquisition can reach into your browser. If Canva fits your work better, it is one redirect away