Limelight

A screen recorder for coding tutorials on Mac

The hard part of a coding tutorial is that you move fast and the keyboard is invisible: a viewer sees a result but never the ⌘⇧P or ⌥↑ that caused it. Limelight records your screen and bakes the keystrokes, cursor, and auto-zoom straight into the video — so every shortcut is on screen, no KeyCastr, no editing.

A great coding tutorial teaches the workflow, and most of a dev workflow is keyboard: multi-cursor edits, command palette, jump-to-definition, refactors. If the viewer cannot see the keys, they cannot reproduce the move. The usual fix is a chain of tools — QuickTime or OBS to record, KeyCastr for keystrokes, then a separate editor to zoom into the right pane — and the keystroke overlay and the recording have to be lined up by hand.

Limelight collapses that into one native macOS app. Hit record and it auto-zooms into every click so the relevant pane of your editor or terminal fills the frame, smooths the cursor so it is calm instead of jittery, and shows the on-screen keystroke display (⌃⌥2) for every shortcut you press — all baked into the recording, not a live overlay you have to capture separately. Add a cursor spotlight (⌃⌥1) to track yourself across a dense editor and draw-on-screen (⌃⌥3) to circle a function or underline a bug.

When you stop, you trim and adjust speed in the built-in editor and export to mp4 or a 9:16 vertical for shorts — everything fully offline, no account, no upload. This is the part that matters versus a tool like Screen Studio: Screen Studio is excellent at auto-zoom but does not show your keystrokes, so you still bolt on KeyCastr. Limelight shows the keys natively. The cursor spotlight is free forever; Pro (keystrokes, recording, the full editor) is a one-time $34 lifetime license, or $2.99/mo.

Why Limelight

  • ▸Keystrokes baked into the video — replaces KeyCastr, no separate tool to sync
  • ▸Auto-zoom into every click so the right editor/terminal pane fills the frame
  • ▸Cursor spotlight and draw-on-screen to track yourself and circle code
  • ▸Trim, speed, and export mp4 or 9:16; fully offline. Cursor spotlight free, Pro a one-time $34
Try it free — download

Cursor spotlight free · from $2.99/mo or $34 lifetime · macOS 14+

Or get Pro — from $2.99/mo · See how it works →

free to start, then go Pro from $2.99/mo or a $34 one-time lifetime license. macOS 14+, notarized by Apple.

FAQ

Does it show the shortcuts I press, like KeyCastr?
Yes — and it is built in, so you do not need KeyCastr. Press ⌃⌥2 and every shortcut (⌘/⌥/⌃ combos and special keys) is shown on screen and baked into the recording. It hides normal typing, so your code and passwords are not exposed.
How is this different from Screen Studio for coding tutorials?
Screen Studio does auto-zoom well but has no on-screen keystroke display, so you still add KeyCastr. Limelight does the auto-zoom and shows your keystrokes natively in one app, then exports the finished file.
Does it auto-zoom into my code editor?
Yes. It zooms toward wherever you click, so the active pane of your editor or terminal fills the frame without you setting keyframes. You can fine-tune the timing in the built-in editor afterward.
Is the recording stored locally?
Yes. Recording, editing, and export all run fully offline on your Mac — no account, no cloud. You get an mp4 or 9:16 file you own.

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