Carnac is a utility that allows you to display keystrokes on screen. It's useful for presentations, screencasts, and live demos.
Best Input Overlay Alternatives ranked by AI · updated Aug 2026
Input Overlay is an open-source OBS plugin that renders keyboard, mouse, and controller input as a stream overlay. It is aimed at streamers, game broadcasters, and creators who need input visualization directly inside OBS.
Top 6 Input Overlay alternatives
KeyCastr is an open-source keystroke visualizer that shows your keystrokes in an overlay on your screen. It is useful for presentations, screencasts,...
3
Key-mon
Jasper Lievisse Adriaanse
Key-mon is an open-source keyboard and mouse visualizer for Linux. It displays pressed keys and mouse actions on screen, making it useful...
Pros
- Lightweight GTK interface with low resource usage
- Shows both keyboard and mouse activity
- Free and open source
Cons
- Linux-focused, unlike cross-platform alternatives
- Older interface and fewer customization options than newer tools
- Limited integration with streaming software
Screenkey is a Linux tool that displays your keystrokes in an overlay. It offers various customization options and supports different Linux distributions.
Pros
- Linux support
- Customizable themes
Cons
- Limited Windows/Mac support
- Complex setup
5
NohBoard is a keyboard visualization program that enables customization and display of keyboard inputs on screen.
Pros
- Customizable keyboard layouts
- Real-time key detection
Cons
- Not designed for splitting keyboard inputs
6
Keyviz
Rahul Mula
Keyviz is an open-source keystroke and mouse visualizer for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It targets streamers, educators, and demonstrators with customizable overlays...
Pros
- Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux while QiPress is Windows-only
- Displays keyboard and mouse activity with modern animated overlays
- Open-source code allows community review and customization
Cons
- Has fewer mature configuration options than some Windows-focused tools
- May require more setup than QiPress for a polished streaming layout
- Some platform features can vary between operating systems
Free, open source
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