Prey or Failshot for personal use on a Mac?
If you're looking at Prey for your own Mac, the real question is what you want to know: where the Mac is, or who unlocked it. Prey is built for locating and recovering missing devices, including whole fleets. Failshot photographs whoever unlocks your Mac. They overlap only in part: both can photograph someone using your device, but Prey does it after you report the device missing and Failshot does it at each unlock. For some people Prey is the better fit.
Quick answer
Choose Prey if you want to locate a lost or stolen device, lock it remotely, or manage several devices, including phones. Prey's own pricing page lists location, screen lock and missing reports for 5 devices on its personal plan. Choose Failshot if you want a photo and short video of whoever unlocks your own Mac while Failshot is on, and an off switch that needs Touch ID or your Failshot PIN and answer, never your Mac password. Like any Mac app, it can still be force-quit, and logging out or restarting the Mac closes it.
What is Prey?
Prey is device security software from Prey Inc. Its pages list support for Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, ChromeOS, iOS and Android, and much of its pricing page is for organisations: business plans priced per device, education and non-profit discounts, and fleet tools such as mass actions, an audit log and a device loan manager.
Its personal plan, Prey Starter, is listed at US$2.99 a month for 5 device slots, excluding taxes, with a discount for yearly subscriptions. Prey's pricing page lists these for Starter:
- Location, with what Prey calls enhanced accuracy.
- Screen lock, a remote alarm and an alert message.
- Front and back camera pictures and screenshots, both opt-in.
- Missing reports every 10 or 20 minutes, in 20 slots that are overwritten when full unless you star them.
- A 24-hour activity log, and marking a device as missing or recovered.
Remote wipe and factory reset are listed from Prey's Protection business plan, not on Starter. Prey's pricing page also says there is no self-service free trial.
When does Prey take photos?
Prey's help centre says pictures are included in the reports you receive when you mark your device as missing on your Prey account. From computers, you get photos and screenshots. So Prey's camera pictures are part of finding a device you've reported missing, not a record of each time your Mac is unlocked. Prey also says the feature can be disabled, for example where a school or company has a stricter privacy policy.
What is Failshot?
Failshot is a Mac app, out now as a download from failshot.app, for macOS 14 or later. With Failshot on, it photographs whoever unlocks your Mac, then records a 5-second video. Failshot Pro, the subscription that switches Failshot on, includes the video. It's on by default and you can switch it off. Sound is off unless you turn it on, and the app warns you that recording someone's voice without their permission is against the law in some places. With a built-in camera, its light comes on. Failshot's window tells whoever unlocked the Mac that the unlock was photographed and, while the video records, that a video is recording.
You don't need to report anything first: every unlock while Failshot is on and running gets a photo, as long as it has camera access. If you turn on email alerts while signed in, an email with the photo, the time and, when it's ready in time, the video follows shortly afterwards, unless you confirm it was you. With alerts on, Failshot also emails you about a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on.
How do Prey and Failshot compare?
Prey's pricing and features-by-OS pages and Apple's support page were checked on 14 October 2026. Prey's help article on photos was last updated on 8 March 2021. Features change, so check each company's current page before you buy.
| Prey Starter | Failshot for Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Locating and recovering missing devices; plans for individuals and organisations | Knowing who unlocked your own Mac |
| Devices | 5 device slots. Prey as a whole lists Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, ChromeOS, iOS and Android, and says features vary by operating system | Mac (macOS 14 or later) |
| Locate a lost device | Yes | No |
| Remote lock | Yes, screen lock | No |
| Remote wipe | On business plans from Protection | No |
| Photos | Opt-in camera pictures in missing reports, after you mark the device missing | A photo of whoever unlocks the Mac while Failshot is on |
| Video | Not listed | 5-second video after the photo, on by default, can be switched off. Sound is off unless you turn it on, and the app warns you that recording someone's voice without their permission is against the law in some places. |
| Alerts | Missing reports every 10 or 20 minutes, once you mark the device missing | Optional email alerts, which you turn on while signed in, for an unlock you don't confirm as yours (with the photo, the time and, when it's ready in time, the video), a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on; approximate location if you turn it on and allow it |
| Price | US$2.99 a month for 5 device slots, excluding taxes, with a discount for yearly subscriptions. No self-service free trial | Free to download; a Failshot Pro subscription is needed to switch it on. Failshot Pro is £3.99 a month or £23.99 a year, VAT included, for as long as you stay subscribed, if you subscribe by 31 October 2026. From 1 November 2026 new subscriptions are £5.99 a month or £35.99 a year. No free trial. One subscription covers every Mac signed in with the same email |
When is Prey the better fit?
Prey is the better choice if any of these matter more to you than knowing who unlocked your Mac:
- You want to find a lost or stolen laptop on a map. Failshot can't do that.
- You want to lock a device remotely, or wipe it from a business plan.
- You want one plan covering several devices, including phones and Windows PCs.
- You manage devices for a school, charity or company. Prey's business plans, discounts and fleet tools are made for that.
On a Mac, Apple's Find My also locates, locks and erases a lost Mac, and you may want it on whatever else you use.
When is Failshot the better fit?
Failshot suits you if your worry is the person at your Mac, not the Mac's location: whoever unlocks it while you're away from it, or after it's taken. It photographs each unlock while it's on and running, without you having to report anything first. Switching it off, or quitting it from its menu, takes Touch ID or your Failshot PIN and answer, never your Mac password. Like any Mac app, it can still be force-quit, and it closes without asking for Touch ID or your Failshot PIN when the Mac restarts, shuts down or logs out, and the first login after that isn't photographed. While it's running and on, the photo is taken as soon as the Mac unlocks. If you want both, Apple's Find My locates, locks and erases a lost Mac, and Failshot photographs whoever unlocks it. We haven't tested Failshot alongside Prey.
Please use either tool only on your own devices. If your worry is about a partner or someone you live with, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, is on 0808 2000 247, and you can contact your local police.
Where Failshot fits
Failshot photographs whoever unlocks your Mac while it's on, then, by default, records a 5-second video. With a built-in camera, its light comes on, and Failshot's window tells whoever unlocked the Mac that the unlock was photographed. If you turn on email alerts while signed in, they carry the photo, the time and, when it's ready in time, the clip, unless you confirm it was you. With alerts on, Failshot also emails you about a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on. If you turn on location in Settings and allow it, each alert email says roughly where the Mac was when it was unlocked, when a location can be found. Photos are kept on your Mac. They leave it only in your alert emails, if you turn them on, and in an encrypted web vault, yours or an organisation's you choose to share with, which you can open from any browser. Switching it off, or quitting it from its menu, needs Touch ID or your own Failshot PIN plus your answer, never the Mac password. Like any Mac app, it can still be force-quit. A wrong Failshot PIN or answer takes another photo. If you confirm it was you, with Touch ID or your Failshot PIN and answer, before an alert email has gone, and no wrong PIN or answer was entered, the photo of your own unlock is deleted.
It doesn't photograph a wrong password at the macOS login or lock screen. It doesn't photograph the first login after a restart or a log out, and unless you've set it to start at login, it stays off until you open it again. It doesn't locate a lost Mac and has no remote lock or wipe. Failshot isn't affiliated with Prey Inc. Prey is a trademark of its owner. Find My, Mac, macOS and Touch ID are trademarks of Apple Inc.
Questions people also ask
Is Prey free?
Prey's pricing page lists its personal plan, Prey Starter, at US$2.99 a month for 5 device slots, excluding taxes, and says there is no self-service free trial. Check Prey's own site for current terms.
Is Failshot free?
Failshot is free to download, but switching it on needs Failshot Pro, and there's no free trial. Failshot Pro is £3.99 a month or £23.99 a year, VAT included, for as long as you stay subscribed, if you subscribe by 31 October 2026. From 1 November 2026 new subscriptions are £5.99 a month or £35.99 a year. One subscription covers every Mac signed in with the same email.
Does Prey take a photo every time someone unlocks my laptop?
Prey's help centre says pictures are included in the reports you receive after marking a device as missing. It doesn't describe a photo on every unlock. Failshot photographs whoever unlocks your Mac each time while it's on and running. It can't photograph the first login after a restart or a log out, and it needs camera access.
Can Failshot find my lost Mac?
No. Failshot doesn't locate a lost Mac and has no remote lock or wipe. Email alerts are optional. With alerts on, Failshot emails you about an unlock you don't confirm as yours, a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on. If you turn them on, and turn on location in Settings and allow it, each alert email says roughly where the Mac was when it was unlocked, when a location can be found. To find a lost Mac, use Apple's Find My or a locating service such as Prey.
Can I use Prey and Failshot together?
They do different jobs: Prey for location, locking and missing reports, Failshot for a photo and video of whoever unlocks your Mac. We haven't tested them together, so check each app's requirements before installing.
Does Prey work on a Mac?
Yes. Prey lists macOS among the six operating systems it supports, alongside Windows, Ubuntu, ChromeOS, iOS and Android. Its pricing page notes that available features may vary by operating system.