A KeyCastr alternative with an on-screen keyboard and shortcut names
KeyCastr is a good, free way to show keystrokes on a Mac, and if your videos only need viewers to see which keys you pressed, there is no reason to leave it. The reason to look elsewhere is wanting a different kind of display: a full keyboard on screen, so viewers see where each key is, with a name for each shortcut, so they know what it did. Typebar is built around both. It lights every key you press on an on-screen keyboard and names each shortcut with its name in the app you are using, such as “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection”.
This is a fair comparison, not a takedown. Everything said here about KeyCastr comes from its own page, as checked on 27 October 2026.
What KeyCastr does well
KeyCastr’s own page says it is free and open source, and that it has been on the Mac since 2009. That alone makes it the first stop for many people who record their screen, and deservedly so.
According to its page, KeyCastr:
- Shows your keystrokes, and lets you choose which: command keys, modified keys, or all of them.
- Shows mouse clicks.
- Comes with three visualizers, Default, Svelte and Minimal, and developers can write their own.
Open source matters more for a key display than for most apps, because a key display sees everything you type, and anyone can read KeyCastr’s code to check what it does with it. Being free means there is nothing to weigh up: install it, choose command keys only, and your shortcuts show in your next recording.
Its page does not mention an on-screen keyboard, cheatsheets, typing sounds, or showing itself automatically when a recording starts. Those are the areas where an alternative has something to add.
Why a keyboard and shortcut names help
A row of key symbols answers one question: what did they press? Viewers following a tutorial usually have two more.
Where is that key? Someone new to the Mac sees ⌥ in the corner of a video and has to work out which key on their own keyboard that is. On a full board the key lights in place, between the keys around it, which is easier to copy than a symbol.
What did that do? “⇧⌘4” tells a viewer what to press, not what it was for. Paired with “Screenshot Selection”, they know what just happened and can find the same command in the menu later. That matters most in apps with hundreds of shortcuts, and in tutorials that jump between apps where the same keys do different things.
Whether that is worth paying for depends on who watches. Experienced Mac users following a coding video may only need the keys. People learning an app for the first time get more from the board and the names.
What Typebar does
- A full keyboard on screen. Every key you press lights the matching key. The board comes in MacBook, Magic Keyboard with or without a number pad, and tenkeyless shapes, in ANSI, ISO and JIS, and it follows your input source, so QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak and Colemak typists see their own keys.
- A keystroke pill with names. Next to the board, or instead of it, the pill shows what you press as keycaps and names each shortcut as the app’s own menus name it, such as “⌘K Insert Link”. Typing gathers into one chip, and a shortcut pressed again counts up as ×2, ×3. Show everything, or only shortcuts, with or without keys like Return and Tab.
- Cheatsheets. Hold ⌘, ⌥, ⌃ or ⇧ for a moment and the keys relabel with what they do in the app in front. 20 hand-made packs add shortcuts that menus leave out, in apps such as Final Cut Pro, Figma, Blender, Photoshop and VS Code.
- Showing up when you record. “Show when a screen recording starts”, in Settings > Recording, makes the overlay appear while your screen is recorded or shared and hide again when it stops.
- Privacy for recordings. Nothing typed shows in password fields, or while 1Password, Bitwarden, Keychain Access or Passwords is in front. Hide letters shows letters as dots while shortcuts still show, and Pause stops everything until you resume.
- Clicks and the pointer. Click ripples with their own shape for left, right and middle clicks, a drag trail, a cursor halo and a pointer spotlight. Clicks can show in the pill too, as Click, Right Click or ⌘ Click.
- Typing sounds, if you want them. Six switch sounds, from a soft “Linear” to a crisp “Typewriter”, off until you turn them on.
- Themes and profiles. 40 themes and a Theme Studio for your own, plus ready-made Recording, Presenting and Learning profiles.
If you are unsure whether you want the board, the pill or both, A full keyboard or a keystroke pill: which reads better in a video goes through it.
Side by side
| KeyCastr (from its own page) | Typebar | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free and open source | $9 once, up to 5 Macs |
| Trial | Not needed | 24 hours with everything on, then no free mode |
| Keystrokes | Command keys, modified keys, or all | Everything, or only shortcuts |
| Mouse clicks | Shown | Ripples, drag trail, halo, spotlight, clicks in the pill |
| Look | Default, Svelte, Minimal; write your own | 40 themes, Theme Studio |
| On-screen keyboard | Not mentioned | MacBook, Magic Keyboard, tenkeyless; ANSI, ISO, JIS |
| Cheatsheets | Not mentioned | Hold ⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧ |
| Auto-show for recordings | Not mentioned | Settings > Recording |
| Typing sounds | Not mentioned | Six, off by default |
“Not mentioned” means exactly that: KeyCastr’s page, as checked on 27 October 2026, does not mention it.
When to stick with KeyCastr
Stay with KeyCastr if any of these is true:
- You want it free, or open source. Typebar is a paid app: after its 24 hours it does nothing until you buy it.
- Your viewers only need the keys. If you teach people who already know the Mac and its apps, a clean line of command keys may be all a video needs.
- You want to write your own visualizer in code. KeyCastr’s page says developers can write their own.
- Your Mac runs something older than macOS 14 Sonoma. Typebar needs macOS 14 or later, so it is not an option there.
Trying Typebar without losing your setup
You can try Typebar without uninstalling anything:
- Quit KeyCastr first, so two overlays are not both drawing keys into the same recording.
- Pick a mode from the Show submenu in Typebar’s menu bar menu: Keyboard Only, Pill Only, or Keyboard and Pill. If you liked a single line of keys, Pill Only, set to show only shortcuts, is the closest match to a command-keys setup.
- Show it when you need it. Press Control-Option-Command-K (⌃⌥⌘K), or turn on “Show when a screen recording starts”. Make a keystroke overlay appear only while you record covers that setting.
- Record a test clip with Command-Shift-5 (⇧⌘5). The overlay appears in recordings like any window, so record the whole screen or an area that includes it; a recording of one other app’s window leaves it out.
The 24-hour trial is long enough to record a real video and compare. If you are also looking at Keylume, which puts a full keyboard on screen too, Keylume and Typebar compared goes through the differences.
Questions
Is KeyCastr still free?
Its own page, checked on 27 October 2026, says it is free and open source.
Can Typebar show only shortcuts, like KeyCastr’s command keys setting?
Yes. Set the pill to show only shortcuts, and choose whether keys like Return and Tab show too.
Does Typebar have a free version?
No. It is free for 24 hours with everything on, then does nothing until you buy it or enter a license key. Your settings, themes and cheatsheets are kept, and there are 7-day refunds under the refund policy.
What permission does Typebar need?
It asks for one, Accessibility, which it uses to see which keys you press, read app menus for shortcut names, and type for you in Click to Type. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.