KeyCastr
shows every keystroke on screen while you record
Open source
To broadcast keystrokes it has to receive every key event from macOS, which means granting Input Monitoring (Accessibility on older releases) — a permission worth thinking about for a cosmetic overlay, even on an open-source app you can read the source of. It only displays keys: there is no screen recording and no editing, so it sits alongside whatever capture tool you already use. Volunteers maintain it, so fixes arrive when someone has time; the most recent release, v0.11.1, landed in September 2026.
If you make screencasts or tutorials for a keyboard-driven app, KeyCastr stops you having to narrate every shortcut. Each keystroke appears as an overlay in a corner of the screen, so the viewer reads the chord at the moment the palette opens rather than listening to you spell it out. Live demos benefit for the same reason: nobody in the back row can see your hands.
The useful setting is the filter that shows only keys pressed with a modifier. Left on full display it renders everything you type, which turns a demo into a typing test and leaks anything you paste into a search field. The minimal visualiser, which draws just the modifier stack, is the one most people settle on.
It is free under a BSD licence with no tier above it, and it has been around since 2009, which is the reassuring part. The price you pay is a permission: KeyCastr only works if macOS is handing it every key event, so it needs Input Monitoring access. That is a reasonable trade for a recording session and an odd thing to leave switched on permanently — quit it when you are done.
Skip it if your recordings are mouse-driven, or if your capture tool already draws keystrokes.
What it looks like
What it does
- On-screen overlay of every keystroke as you record
- Several visualiser styles, including a minimal modifier-only mode
- Can show only shortcuts instead of all typing
- Mouse clicks can be displayed alongside keys
- BSD 3-Clause licence, full source on GitHub
Also bought outright in capture
The facts
- Price
- Free
- Licence
- Free and open source
- What you get
- No licence to buy, and the source is public.
- Details
- Free and open source under the BSD 3-Clause licence. No paid tier, no account, donations not required.
- Free trial
- No
- On Setapp
- No
- Minimum macOS
- not stated
- Developer
- KeyCastr contributors
- Source
- Repository
- Price checked
- 2026-09-22
Check it yourself - Price band
- Free