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This is a different kind of review than most on this site, because the honest first fact is that Jing no longer exists. TechSmith officially discontinued it, and its own website now redirects people toward Snagit. If you searched for a Jing review hoping to download it, the more useful thing this post can do is tell you what happened and where to actually go.
The short version: Jing was TechSmith’s free screenshot and short-recording tool, notable for popularizing the “sun icon” hover-to-capture interface years before it became standard across the category. It’s discontinued. TechSmith’s own recommended replacement is Snagit, though Snagit is paid where Jing was free.
What made it worth using, back when it existed
Jing’s interface — a small sun-shaped icon that appeared when you hovered near the top of your screen, expanding into capture options — was genuinely ahead of its time for ease of access. It captured screenshots and short screen recordings (5 minutes max), exporting recordings to Jing’s own hosted service, Screencast.com, for instant sharing via link — a workflow that, in hindsight, anticipated what Loom does today, years earlier.
Why it actually went away
Jing’s real end came in two steps, and the common “TechSmith just wanted to sell more Snagit” explanation skips the actual trigger. Jing’s screen recordings used the .swf (Flash) format, and when Adobe began retiring Flash, TechSmith rebranded and rebuilt the tool as TechSmith Capture to move off that dependency — not an immediate discontinuation, but a forced technical migration. TechSmith Capture continued for several more years before TechSmith fully retired it and began steering users toward Snagit as the modern replacement. So the honest sequence is: Jing → TechSmith Capture (Flash-driven rebrand) → fully retired → Snagit recommended as successor, not a single clean “we killed Jing to sell Snagit” decision.
What TechSmith wants you using instead
Snagit is the direct successor in TechSmith’s current lineup, inheriting the annotation-focused philosophy but adding templates, more advanced capture modes, and a real price tag. See our full Snagit review for whether that trade-off is worth it for your specific use case.
If you specifically want what Jing offered, free
Screenpresso is the closest modern equivalent to Jing’s original pitch — fast, hotkey-driven capture with a genuinely usable free tier for screenshots. It won’t replicate Jing’s hosted-link sharing model exactly, but it’s the nearest match to “fast, lightweight, mostly free” that Jing represented.
Anyone who used and misses Jing specifically should look at Screenpresso for the closest free experience, or Snagit if the reason you’re here is TechSmith’s own ecosystem and you’re willing to pay for it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jing still available to download?
No, TechSmith officially discontinued it. Attempting to download it from unofficial sources isn’t recommended.
What replaced TechSmith Jing?
TechSmith positions Snagit as its direct successor, though Snagit is a paid product where Jing was free.
Is there a free alternative similar to Jing?
Screenpresso is the closest modern match for Jing’s original fast, lightweight, mostly-free approach to screenshots and short recordings.
Related reading: Snagit review · Screenpresso review · Loom review