Limelight

A QuickTime Player alternative for guided screen recordings

QuickTime Player records your screen for free, but it leaves the recording plain. Limelight adds the live highlights that make it easy to follow.

QuickTime Player is the recorder built into every Mac. It is free, always available, and perfectly fine for capturing a straightforward screen recording when you just need the raw footage.

What QuickTime does not offer is any on-screen guidance. There is no cursor highlight to draw the eye, no display of the shortcut keys you are pressing, and no way to draw freehand over the screen. Limelight is a macOS menu-bar overlay that adds all three, live, while you record. The spotlight follows your pointer, keystroke badges show your shortcuts, and freehand drawing lets you circle and underline anything on screen.

Choose QuickTime when a plain recording is all you need. Run Limelight on top of it when you want that same free recording to feel guided and clear, with a spotlight, visible shortcuts, and annotation layered in real time.

Why Limelight

  • ▸Cursor spotlight (⌃⌥1) QuickTime does not include
  • ▸On-screen keystroke display (⌃⌥2) for shortcut keys as you press them
  • ▸Freehand screen drawing (⌃⌥3, clear ⌃⌥C) over any app
  • ▸Works on top of a QuickTime screen recording, nothing extra to capture it
  • ▸One-time $15, Apple-notarized, runs on Apple Silicon and Intel, macOS 14+
Try it free — download

7-day free trial · no card required · macOS 14+

Or buy now — $15 one-time · See how it works →

One-time payment, no subscription. 7-day free trial, then $15 once. macOS 14+, notarized by Apple.

FAQ

Does Limelight replace QuickTime for screen recording?
No. Limelight is not a recorder. You keep recording with QuickTime and run Limelight on top to add a live cursor spotlight, keystroke badges, and freehand annotation.
Will the Limelight overlay show up in my QuickTime recording?
Yes. Limelight draws on screen, so QuickTime captures the spotlight, keystrokes, and drawing right along with everything else.

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