Free Online Teleprompters Compared: 6 Tools, No Sign-Up Needed

The best free online teleprompter depends on one question: do you only need the text on screen, or do you also want to record yourself in the browser? For text only, CuePrompter is the classic and costs nothing. To read and record in one tab with no account and no watermark, use Teleprompter.works or the Monty teleprompter. VEED and Kapwing record too, but they are front doors to paid editors, and Teleprompter.com puts a watermark on free recordings.

The short version

CuePrompter: the text-only classic

CuePrompter calls itself 100% free for commercial and non-commercial use, with no sign-up, no downloads and no watermarks. It does one job: scrolls your script at an adjustable speed, with a mirror option for beam-splitter rigs. It does not record. Use it when the camera is a separate device and the laptop or tablet is only the prompter screen.

Teleprompter.works: free, open source, records locally

Teleprompter.works is open source and needs no account. Its recording mode overlays the script on a 16:9 camera preview and saves the video in the browser, speed runs from 10 to 500 words per minute, and it flips the text both horizontally and vertically. Voice commands such as next, pause and restart work while recording. The catch is Apple: on iPhone and iPad its camera mode and voice control require the native app.

Monty teleprompter: built for vertical video

Our free teleprompter keeps the script inside the link, so there is no server and nothing to sign up for. Paste the text on a laptop, scan the QR code, and the same script opens on your phone. Record with camera films you with the front camera and downloads the take with no watermark; the browser picks MP4 where it can and WebM otherwise. Space plays and pauses, the arrow keys change speed, R rewinds, and on a phone a tap pauses while dragging scrubs. Mirror mode flips the text horizontally.

What it does not do: there is no voice-following scroll and no remote control from a second device, and the mirror is horizontal only. If your take needs editing, Monty cuts the pauses and fumbles and adds captions and music, with 3 videos a month free.

The watermark trap

Three tools in this list are free to open but not free to keep. Teleprompter.com's Starter plan records with a watermark and leaves out mirroring; Pro costs $19.99 a month, or $7.50 a month billed yearly. Kapwing's free exports carry its watermark, stop at 720p and 4 minutes, and Pro is $16 a month. VEED's teleprompter page says it is free and needs no account to start, but recording from phones is not supported.

Before your first take

• Put the reading line as close to the lens as you can. On a phone that means the top of the screen, near the front camera.
• Start slower than you think and speed up mid-take with the arrow keys or the on-screen buttons.
• Write the script for speaking: short sentences, one idea per line. Our short video script guide covers the structure.
• Do one throwaway take to check sound. Wear headphones if the tool plays anything back.
• For the reading technique itself, see how to read a teleprompter without looking like it.

Need a single line huge on screen instead of a scrolling script, like a cue card or a sign? The scrolling text tool has a still mode that fills the screen with your words.