Limelight
A screen recorder that shows your keystrokes on Mac
Most Mac recorders capture the result but never the keys you pressed, so viewers have to guess which shortcut you used. Limelight is a screen recorder that shows your keystrokes on screen — and bakes them right into the video.
When you record a coding tutorial or a software demo, the keyboard does the work — ⌘⇧P, ⌘C, ⌥↑ — but a normal recorder shows none of it. Viewers see something happen and have no idea which shortcut caused it. The usual fix is bolting on a separate tool like KeyCastr and hoping your recorder captures it. Limelight builds it in.
Press ⌃⌥2 and every shortcut you hit appears on screen as a clean badge, and because Limelight records too, those keystrokes are baked straight into the video — no second app, no overlay drift. Hit record and it also auto-zooms into every click and smooths the cursor, while you add a glowing cursor spotlight (⌃⌥1), drawing (⌃⌥3), or on-screen text (⌃⌥5) as needed. To keep recordings clean it shows shortcut combinations and special keys, not your normal typing.
When you stop, you trim and adjust speed in a built-in editor and export to mp4 or a 9:16 vertical for shorts and reels. Everything runs fully offline on your Mac. This is the recorder built around one wedge: it shows your keystrokes, so your shortcuts are visible without a separate KeyCastr.
Why Limelight
- ▸Shows the keys you press (⌃⌥2) and bakes them into the recording — no separate KeyCastr
- ▸Auto-zooms into every click and smooths the cursor as you record
- ▸Cursor spotlight, drawing, region spotlight, and text, all on hotkeys
- ▸Built-in editor: trim, speed, export mp4 or 9:16; one-time $34, fully offline
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
- Is there a Mac screen recorder that shows keystrokes?
- Yes. Limelight shows the keys you press on screen with ⌃⌥2 and bakes them into the recording, so you do not need a separate tool like KeyCastr.
- Will it show everything I type?
- No. It shows shortcut combinations and special keys, not your normal typing, so passwords and prose stay off screen and recordings stay clean.
- Does it record, or just overlay the keys?
- It records. Hit record and Limelight captures the screen with auto-zoom and bakes the keystrokes, cursor spotlight, and any drawing into the exported mp4 or 9:16 video.
- Is it a subscription?
- No. The cursor spotlight is free forever, and the full recorder with keystrokes is Pro — a one-time $34 lifetime purchase (or $2.99/mo).