Keylume and Typebar compared: two Mac keyboard overlays
Keylume and Typebar cover much of the same ground. Both put a full Apple keyboard on screen and have cheatsheets you can add to, click to type, layers of your own, themes and a theme editor. Both show themselves when you record, and can be driven from links, a command-line tool and a Swift file. The differences are few: Typebar has a keystroke pill that names each shortcut, mouse visuals and typing sounds, none of which Keylume’s page mentions, while Keylume keeps a free mode after its 14-day trial and Typebar has a 24-hour trial and no free mode.
Everything here about Keylume comes from its own page at lowtechguys.com/keylume, as checked on 27 October 2026. Where the table says “not mentioned”, that is all it means: Keylume’s page does not mention it. Check its page for anything that has changed since.
What both do
If you came here because you want a keyboard on screen rather than a line of keys, either app gives you one. According to Keylume’s page, it offers:
- A full Apple keyboard on screen.
- Cheatsheets hand-crafted for most popular apps, and you can add your own.
- Click to type: clicking a cheatsheet shortcut sends it.
- Custom layers, and an app switcher layer with rcmd.
- Many built-in themes, a theme editor and theme sharing.
- Auto-show for recordings.
- A URL scheme, a command-line tool, notifications and a Swift file for developers.
Typebar covers the same ground in its own way. Its cheatsheets come from each app’s own menus, so holding ⌘, ⌥, ⌃ or ⇧ relabels the keys in every app, with 20 hand-made packs on top for shortcuts menus leave out and your own keybindings read from 11 apps’ settings files, including VS Code, Xcode and iTerm2. Click to Type types into the app in front as you click keys on the board, with modifiers that latch for the next key. Layers of your own sit on a key you hold, and the Apps layer puts your running and Dock apps on their first letters.
Where they differ
| Keylume (from its own page) | Typebar | |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard on screen | A full Apple keyboard | MacBook, Magic Keyboard with or without a number pad, tenkeyless; ANSI, ISO, JIS |
| Cheatsheets | Hand-crafted for most popular apps; add your own | Read from each app’s menus; 20 hand-made packs; your keybindings in 11 apps |
| Layers | Custom layers; app switcher layer with rcmd | Your own layers; the Apps layer |
| Themes | Many built in; editor; sharing | 40 built in; Theme Studio; sharing as a file |
| Auto-show for recordings | Yes | Yes, in Settings > Recording |
| Automation | URL scheme, command-line tool, notifications, Swift file | typebar:// links, command-line tool, seven Shortcuts actions, notifications, Swift file |
| Keystroke pill with shortcut names | Not mentioned | Yes, e.g. “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection” |
| Mouse visuals | Not mentioned | Click ripples, drag trail, cursor halo, Spotlight |
| Typing sounds | Not mentioned | Six, off until you turn them on |
| License | One-time, up to 5 Macs | One-time, up to 5 Macs |
| Trial | 14 days, then a free mode | 24 hours, then no free mode |
What Keylume does well
Keylume’s strongest point is its pricing model. A 14-day trial gives you two working weeks to use it in real recordings, and after that its page says it keeps a free mode, so you can carry on without paying. Check its page for what the free mode includes. Typebar has nothing like that: after its 24 hours, it does nothing until you buy it.
The app switcher layer with rcmd is the other thing to weigh. If rcmd is already how you switch apps, that pairing may matter more to you than anything else here.
Beyond that, Keylume’s page describes a full set of the things a keyboard overlay should have: hand-crafted cheatsheets, your own cheatsheets on top, custom layers, a theme editor with sharing, auto-show for recordings and a full set of automation hooks. If those are what you need, it is a strong choice.
Three things Keylume’s page does not mention
These three Typebar features are the ones aimed most at people who record tutorials.
The keystroke pill. Next to the board, or instead of it, the pill shows what you press as keycaps and names each shortcut with its name in the app you are using: “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection”, “⌘K Insert Link”. Names come from the app’s own menus, so they match what your viewers will find. Typing gathers into one chip, and a repeated shortcut counts up as ×2, ×3. Choose Keyboard Only, Pill Only or Keyboard and Pill from the menu bar menu.
Mouse visuals. Left, right and middle clicks each get their own ripple shape, drags leave a trail, a halo can follow the pointer, and Spotlight dims every display except a circle around the pointer. Clicks can show in the pill too, as Click, Right Click or ⌘ Click. How to show mouse clicks in a screen recording on a Mac covers when each helps.
Typing sounds. Six switch sounds, from a soft “Linear” to a crisp “Typewriter”, synthesized on the Mac. They are off until you turn them on, and then play only while the board or pill shows, unless you choose Always.
A few other Typebar features are worth knowing, without any claim about Keylume either way: privacy settings for recordings (typing hidden in password fields and password managers, Hide letters, Pause), Profiles that switch your whole setup by the app in front, a searchable Cheatsheet List, and cheatsheet export as PNG or PDF.
Moving links and scripts from Keylume
If you have Keylume links in Raycast, Alfred or your own scripts, the show and toggle links can usually come with you. Typebar reads Keylume’s link spellings (a:, s:, symtext:, blank=1), so a show or toggle link usually carries over when you change keylume:// to typebar://. For example, Typebar’s own spelling of an arrow-key layer on H, J, K and L is:
open -g "typebar://layer/show?h=s:arrow.left&j=s:arrow.down&k=s:arrow.up&l=s:arrow.right&fill=blank"
“Usually” is the honest word. Change one link, run it, and check the board before you change the rest.
Command-line scripts are a separate job. Typebar’s tool is typebar, installed from Settings > Automation to ~/.local/bin/typebar, with its own commands such as typebar layers list and typebar themes list, so check each script against it. Control a keyboard overlay from Raycast, Alfred or a script has more examples, and Keyboard layers on a Mac covers building layers in Typebar.
Price, trial and free mode
Both are one-time purchases for up to 5 Macs. The difference is what happens when the trial ends.
- Keylume: a 14-day trial, then a free mode, according to its page. Check its page for the current price.
- Typebar: $9 once. Free for 24 hours with everything on and no card, then it does nothing until you buy it or enter a license key. Settings, themes, cheatsheets and layers are kept, and entering a key brings everything back. Refunds within 7 days under the refund policy.
If you want something you can keep using without paying, that settles it in Keylume’s favor. If you want the pill, mouse visuals or sounds, the 24 hours with Typebar are enough to record a test video and decide.
Which to pick
Pick Keylume if a free mode after the trial matters to you, if you want two weeks to decide, or if you use rcmd and want its app switcher layer.
Pick Typebar if your videos need shortcut names your viewers can read, if you want clicks and the pointer shown by the same app that shows your keys, or if you want typing sounds.
If neither keyboard appeals and a free line of keys is enough, A KeyCastr alternative with an on-screen keyboard and shortcut names looks at the free option.
Questions
Can I run Keylume and Typebar at the same time?
Show only one at a time, and quit the other before you record. Two keyboards on screen in one recording only confuse viewers.
Will my Keylume URL links work in Typebar?
A show or toggle link usually does once keylume:// becomes typebar://, because Typebar reads Keylume’s link spellings. Test each one.
Does Typebar have a free mode like Keylume?
No. After 24 hours Typebar does nothing until you buy it. Everything you set up is kept for when you enter a key.