Free online teleprompter: paste a script and read it
Paste your script, set the speed in words a minute and read it off the screen while you record, on a phone or a computer. It does not record, listen or follow your voice: you record in your camera app, Zoom or OBS. Your script stays in this page and is never sent or saved.
Showing a sample script. Paste yours in the box. 130 words. At 160 words a minute it takes 49 s to read.
How it looks
Press Play, the space bar, or tap the words.
Keys, once you have clicked the prompter: the space bar plays and pauses, up and down change the speed, left and right move a line, R goes back to the top, F fills the screen, Esc leaves it.
Recorded it? Add the captions
Drop the video in Burncaps. It listens, writes every word as a script, and burns word-by-word captions into the video, in your browser. The video never leaves your browser.
Free: 2 videos every 30 days, each with captions and up to 3 clips, no watermark, no sign-up. Then try Captions + Clips free for 7 days, no card. Captions + Clips is $29 a month for unlimited clips and captions; Captions is $9.98 a month or $49 once.
For YouTube subtitles, TikTok captions or a long video cut into Shorts.
What it does, and what it does not
It does: scroll your script at the speed you set, in words a minute, so the words pass the reading line at that rate whatever the text size or line width. Change the speed while it runs, mirror it for a teleprompter glass, turn it upside down, count down 3, 2, 1 and fill the screen. It pauses by itself if you switch to another tab or app.
It does not: record video or sound, use your camera or microphone, or listen and follow your voice. It scrolls at the speed you set, not the speed you speak, so pause it with a tap or the space bar when you stop. You record in your camera app, Zoom or OBS, then drop the video into Burncaps for captions.
Your script: stays in this page on your device. It is never sent anywhere and never saved, so when you close or reload the page it is gone: keep your own copy.
On phones: where the browser offers it, the screen stays awake while the words scroll and may sleep again when you pause; MDN lists Chrome 84, Firefox 126 and Safari 16.4 and later. Safari on iPhone does not let a page go full screen, so on an iPhone Full screen fills the browser window instead.
Browser support is from MDN's browser compatibility data for the Screen Wake Lock API and for Element.requestFullscreen(), read on 3 November 2026.
How to use a teleprompter with your phone camera
The simplest set-up is two screens: the phone records, and a second device shows the script. That can be another phone, a tablet or a laptop.
- Open this page on the device you will read from, paste your script and press Full screen.
- Put that screen as close to the recording phone's lens as you can, just above or just below the phone. The closer the words are to the lens, the less your eyes look away from it.
- If the script sits below the lens, set Reading line to Near the top, so the line you read is the one nearest the camera.
- Choose a text size you can read from where you stand, start recording on the phone, then press Play or tap the words.
- Tap the words to pause, and again to carry on. Drag them to go back a line.
With the front camera, the phone's own screen shows your picture, so put the second screen right next to it, just above or below the lens. A phone on a stand at eye level, with the script just under it, keeps your gaze level with the camera.
With a laptop or computer webcam
A webcam sits above the screen, so the nearer the words are to the top of the screen, the nearer your eyes are to the lens.
- Set Reading line to Near the top.
- Set Line width to 50 or 60%, so your eyes travel less from side to side.
- Put the browser window at the top of the screen, right under the camera, or press Full screen if your recording app can run behind it.
- Start recording in your camera app, Zoom or OBS, then click the words to start. From then on the space bar plays and pauses, and the up and down arrows change the speed.
On Zoom and other video calls
Put the prompter window right under your camera, with the reading line near the top and a narrow line width, and read as you would talk to the person on the call.
Keep the script private: if you share your screen during the call, share only the window you mean to show, not the whole screen, so the prompter is not shared too.
A slower speed: a call is a conversation, so start at Slow 140 and raise it with the up arrow if it feels slow.
Recording the call: use the call's own recording. Our page on Zoom, Teams and Meet recordings says where each one keeps the file; drop that file into Burncaps for captions or a transcript.
For OBS and YouTube recordings
Open the prompter in a browser window on the screen nearest your camera. In OBS, record your camera and microphone as usual and leave the prompter window out of your scene, so the script does not show in the video.
Then the captions: drop the recording into Burncaps. It writes every word as a script you can correct, then burns captions into the video or gives you an SRT file to upload in YouTube Studio; the YouTube subtitle generator page has the steps.
A long recording: long video to Shorts finds the best moments of a talk and cuts them into captioned 9:16 clips.
For TikTok, Reels and Shorts
Short videos take short scripts: at 160 words a minute, about 80 words fill 30 seconds and about 160 fill a minute. Record in the app's own camera or your phone's camera app, with the script on a second screen next to the lens, as above.
| Video length | Slow, 140 a minute | Steady, 160 a minute | Fast, 180 a minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 s | 35 | 40 | 45 |
| 30 s | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| 1 min | 140 | 160 | 180 |
| 2 min | 280 | 320 | 360 |
| 3 min | 420 | 480 | 540 |
Paste your script and the box under it says how long it takes at your speed; the speech time calculator has the 1 to 60 minute table. Each app's length limit is on video length limits, and what its buttons cover is on the safe zone checker. Then drop the video into the TikTok caption generator for word-by-word captions.
What speed should a teleprompter be?
140 to 180 words a minute: a published review of reading rates says audiobooks are spoken at this rate and that other estimates of speech rate are of similar magnitude. The teleprompter starts at 160, the middle, which is our choice and not a figure from the review.
183 words a minute: the review’s average for reading aloud, across 77 studies and 5,965 participants. Type it in the speed box if you read briskly.
Your own: the right speed is the one at which the words arrive as you need them. Start the prompter and press the up or down arrow until the line you are saying stays at the reading line. The speech time calculator also works out your pace from a timed reading.
The source: Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047, read in full on 3 November 2026. Its figures are for English. The review says other languages need more or fewer words for the same message, so a word count means something different there.
Tips for reading from a teleprompter naturally
Write it the way you talk. Short sentences and everyday words sound like talking; long written sentences sound read.
One thought to a line. Start a new line where a thought ends. An empty line shows as a gap, so you can see where to breathe. The prompter does not stop at a gap, so tap to pause if you need longer.
Read it aloud once first. Change any sentence you trip over before you record.
Start slow. It is easier to speed up with the up arrow while it runs than to catch up with words that have already gone.
Keep the words near the lens. A narrow line and the reading line close to the camera mean your eyes travel less.
Look up between thoughts. When you know the next few words, look at the lens, then come back to the line.
Keys and controls
| Key or gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| Space bar | Play or pause |
| Up and down arrows | Faster or slower by 10 words a minute, or by 1 with Shift |
| Left and right arrows | Back or on by one line |
| Page Up and Page Down | Back or on by most of a screen |
| Home or R | Back to the top, paused |
| F | Full screen, and back |
| Esc | Leave full screen, or stop the countdown |
| A tap or click on the words | Play or pause |
| Drag, mouse wheel or trackpad | Move the words back or on; it carries on from there |
The keys work while the prompter or a button under it has the focus, and always in full screen; typing in the script box is never taken as a key. On a phone, a swipe over the prompter scrolls the page, and in full screen it moves the words.
Recorded it? Add the captions
A script is the start. Once you have recorded it, Burncaps writes every word of the recording as a script you can correct, then burns word-by-word captions into the video in 60 styles, or finds the clips in a longer talk: about one clip for every two minutes of talk, so a 10 minute talk gives about five. Each free video exports up to 3 clips, and Captions + Clips exports every clip, unlimited.
What it costs
Free: 2 videos every 30 days, each with captions and up to 3 clips, no watermark, no sign-up. Then try Captions + Clips free for 7 days, no card. Captions + Clips is $29 a month for unlimited clips and captions; Captions is $9.98 a month or $49 once.
Questions, answered plainly
Is this online teleprompter free?
Yes. It is free, with no sign-up and no limit on how often you use it. It runs in your browser, so there is nothing to install.
Does the teleprompter record video or follow my voice?
No. It does not record, listen or follow your voice, and it never asks for your camera or microphone. It scrolls at the speed you set in words a minute. Record in your camera app, Zoom or OBS, then drop the video into Burncaps for captions.
How do I use a teleprompter with my phone?
Record on your phone and open this page on a second screen: another phone, a tablet or a laptop. Put that screen as close to the phone's lens as you can, just above or just below it, paste your script and press Play.
Can I use it with my laptop webcam or on a Zoom call?
Yes. Set the reading line to Near the top, make the line width narrow and put the window just under your camera, so your eyes stay close to the lens. If you share your screen on a call, share only the window you mean to show, so your script stays private.
What speed should a teleprompter be?
A published review of reading rates (Brysbaert, 2019, Journal of Memory and Language) says audiobooks are spoken at 140 to 180 words a minute and that other estimates of speech rate are of similar magnitude. This teleprompter starts at 160, the middle of that range, which is our choice. Change it while it scrolls until it matches your voice.
Can I change the speed while it scrolls?
Yes. Press Faster or Slower, or the up and down arrow keys, and the new speed starts at once from the word you are on, with no jump. Drag or scroll the words, or press the left and right arrows, to go back or on a little, and it carries on from there.
How do I mirror the text for a teleprompter glass?
Switch on Mirror and the words flip left to right, so they read the right way round in the glass. Upside down flips them top to bottom, for rigs that need it. The buttons under the prompter are not flipped.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes, in the phone's browser. Safari on iPhone does not let a page go full screen, so there Full screen fills the browser window instead. Where the browser offers it, the screen stays awake while the words scroll.
How long will my script take to read?
The box under your script shows the number of words and the time at the speed you chose. At 160 words a minute, 160 words take a minute and 800 words take 5 minutes. The speech time calculator has the full table.
Is my script saved or sent anywhere?
No. The script stays in this page on your device: it is never sent anywhere and never saved, so when you close or reload the page it is gone. Keep your own copy. You can check in your browser’s network tab on a computer: paste a script and press Play, and no request is made. The page sends only anonymous step counts, such as that the page was opened, never the script (see the privacy policy).
Burncaps facts, checked 3 November 2026
What it is: a browser tool that burns animated word-by-word captions into a talking video, or finds the best moments of a talk, podcast or interview and gives them back as ranked, captioned 9:16 clips.
Price: free for 2 videos every 30 days, each one recording with its captioned video and up to 3 clips, no mark and no sign-up; then the free 7-day Captions + Clips trial, no card (your email only); then Captions + Clips, $29 a month, gives unlimited clips and captioned videos, or Captions, $9.98 a month or $49 once, gives unlimited captioned videos. Captions paid once is not a subscription.
Privacy: the video never leaves your browser. The sound goes only to our speech service, on a phone unless you switch it off, on a computer only if you choose it. Because the video never reaches us, we cannot keep it or train AI on it, and we train no AI on anything you make.
Files: MP4 or MOV in, MP4 out. Captions on the whole video: up to ten minutes. Clips: up to three hours, on a phone or a computer. SRT, VTT, ASS and text files are free without limit for recordings up to ten minutes; a longer recording, up to three hours, gives its script and those files (the first ten minutes free, all of it as one of your free videos, in the trial or with Captions + Clips or Captions) and its clips (every one found and shown before you sign up; up to 3 from each free video exported free, every one in the trial or with Captions + Clips).
Clips: about one clip for every two minutes of talk, up to 30, ranked, the ones we would post first circled, each showing the words it opens and ends on and the reason it was chosen; each cut to 9:16 with ums and dead air removed, an opening card and captions, framed on whoever is talking. Every clip of the whole recording is found and shown, free and with no sign-up; each free video exports up to 3 of them, and the 7-day trial and Captions + Clips export every clip, unlimited.
Languages and styles: captions in the language spoken, twelve Indian languages heard on your device, translation into 59 languages, 60 caption styles.
After it listens: correct any word (one click changes it everywhere), add or cut words, one to six words at a time, position, size, text and highlight colours, and names this browser remembers, all free and without listening again.
Made by: Jordan Labs Ltd, UK company no. 17358646.
Against other tools: sixteen caption tools compared, from the vendors' own pages.