Webcam teleprompter
A webcam teleprompter
with no rig to mount.
A webcam teleprompter shows your script next to the camera lens, so you can read it while you still look like you're talking to the person watching.
Native Mac app · macOS 14 or later
9:41Here's what we shipped this week.
Short answer
There are two kinds. A hardware rig puts beam-splitter glass in front of the lens and reflects your script onto it. A software teleprompter shows the script on your screen, right under the camera. On a laptop, or with a webcam clipped to your monitor, software is usually enough: text about 2 cm below the lens puts your gaze where viewers read it as eye contact. Cuey is a Mac teleprompter built for exactly that.
Webcam teleprompter:
hardware rig vs software.
Both put your script near the lens. They differ in how close, what you have to buy, and how long setup takes.
| Beam-splitter rig | Software (Cuey) | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Angled beam-splitter glass reflects a screen; the camera shoots through the glass from behind | The script sits on your own screen, just under the camera |
| Where your eyes point | Straight into the lens | About 2° below the lens when the text is right under it |
| What you need | Glass, hood, mount, plus a phone, tablet or built-in screen to show the text | Your Mac and an app |
| Text orientation | Mirrored, so it reads correctly in the glass | Normal |
| Setup | Mount the camera, align the glass, connect the screen | Open the app and paste your script |
| Portability | Extra kit to pack and rebuild at each desk | Nothing extra to carry |
| Best for | DSLR and mirrorless shoots, reading from further away | Laptop cameras, webcams on a monitor, calls and screen recordings |
A rig is the right tool when the camera is a DSLR or mirrorless body, when you stand back from the camera, or when the script is long enough that you want your eyes dead centre on the lens. Prices vary widely. As one example, the all-in-one Elgato Prompter has a built-in 9-inch screen, connects over USB-C and lists at $299.99 on Elgato's US store at the time of writing.
Software wins when you sit at a desk and the camera is already on your screen or on top of it. There is no glass to align, no mirrored text, and nothing to pack when you move to another desk.
Why text under the lens
works on a laptop webcam.
Viewers don't need your eyes exactly on the lens. They need them close enough, and slightly below is best. Check your own setup.
A 2025 study in the Journal of Vision, “Don't look at the camera” by Gao et al., tested gaze positions from 7° above to 7° below the camera at 20–24 inch viewing distances. Perceived eye contact peaked when people looked about 2° below the lens, not straight into it. Earlier work by Chen (CHI 2002) found people are an order of magnitude less sensitive to gaze that falls below their eyes than to gaze left, right or above.
The geometry is simple: offset = viewing distance × tan(angle). At a typical laptop distance of 55 cm:
- 2° below the lens ≈ 1.9 cm. That's the top line of a prompt pinned right under the camera.
- 10° below the lens ≈ 9.7 cm. That's roughly the middle of a 14-inch MacBook Pro screen, where a notes window or a browser tab usually ends up.
So the gap between “reading your notes” and “talking to the camera” is about 8 cm of screen. A webcam teleprompter's whole job is to close it.
Using a teleprompter with
an external or desktop webcam.
Same rule, different lens position. Find where the webcam sits and bring the text to it.
01
Mount the webcam top-centre
Clip it to the top edge of the monitor you look at, centred over the screen. A webcam off to the side pulls your gaze sideways, and people notice sideways gaze more than downward gaze.
02
Switch Cuey to Floating
Floating lets you drag the prompt anywhere on the screen. Under Camera lines up with the Mac's built-in camera, so Floating is the one to use with an external webcam.
03
Drag the prompt right under the lens
Move it as close to the webcam as the screen allows: flush against the top edge, centred under the camera. Every centimetre lower adds angle.
04
Keep it short
Use a compact size and a larger text size so each line sits near the lens instead of spreading down the screen.
Bigger monitors and longer viewing distances change the numbers. If you sit about 70 cm from a monitor, 2° is roughly 2.4 cm, and the middle of a 27-inch screen can be close to 18 cm below a webcam on its top edge, around 14°. That is why a notes window in the middle of a large display looks so obviously like reading. Put your distance and offset into the eye contact calculator to see your angle.
If your webcam sits on a tripod beside the screen or on a second display, the same rule applies: put the text on whichever edge of the screen is nearest that lens. Cuey is just a window on your screen, so it works with whichever webcam your call or recording app is using.
Built-in camera
Teleprompter for
laptop webcam.
On a MacBook the webcam is fixed in the top-centre of the display, so the best spot for your script never moves. Cuey's default Under Camera placement pins the prompt there. On MacBooks with a notch, the Notch placement tucks it around the camera housing. Left of Camera and Right of Camera are there if you'd rather keep the centre of the screen clear.
Pick a size to match the job: Compact for a short call, Medium or Expanded for a longer script, or a Full-width Top Bar. Set the text size and window opacity (60–100%) so the prompt is readable without covering the faces on your call.
Then choose how it moves. Read scrolls at a speed you set. Follow listens through the microphone and moves as you reach each line, waiting if you pause or ad-lib. Notes lets you step through talking points by hand. For a full walkthrough, see putting your script by the MacBook camera, or the setup guide for a teleprompter for Zoom.
Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Keyboard shortcuts work while Cuey is the active app; the same commands are in its menu bar icon.
Questions, answered
What is the best webcam teleprompter?+
It depends on the camera. For a DSLR, mirrorless camera or a webcam you read from a distance, a beam-splitter rig gives you text directly over the lens. For a laptop or a webcam on top of your monitor, software that keeps the script within a couple of centimetres of the lens gets you close enough for natural eye contact, with nothing to mount.
Is there a teleprompter for a laptop camera that needs no hardware?+
Yes. A teleprompter app can pin your script to the top of the screen, just below the built-in camera. On a Mac, Cuey does this by default with its Under Camera placement.
Does a software webcam teleprompter give true eye contact?+
Not exactly on-axis, but close. Research in the Journal of Vision found that perceived eye contact peaks when you look about 2° below the lens, which is where text right under the camera puts your eyes.
Do I need to mirror the text?+
Only for a beam-splitter rig, because the glass reflects the screen. A software teleprompter on your own screen shows normal, readable text.
Does Cuey work with an external webcam?+
Yes. Cuey is a window on your screen, so it works with whichever webcam your call or recording app uses. Switch to the Floating placement and drag the prompt as close to the webcam as your screen allows.
Webcam and eye contact guides
Say it to the camera.
Not to your notes.
Native Mac app · macOS 14 or later