5 free online prompts to read text on screen

Last updated on 5 August 2026

You must record a video capsule for your students, present a project in front of your colleagues or intervene in a training. The text is ready, worked, calibrated. And when you press ‘record’, the thread is lost, hesitations accumulate, and you have to start again a fourth time.

The problem is almost never the content. It is the fact of having to look at the camera and its notes at the same time. Television professionals have settled this issue for a long time with the prompter, the screen that scrolls the text at target level. Good news: there is no longer a need for dedicated equipment. Several free online services do exactly the same work from a simple browser.

Here are five easy-to-handle online prompters, without inscription or installation, with their possible uses for the class.

Five free services that will scroll through a text like a prompter on your computer screen. Five tools to never be afraid of memory holes again when recording a video.

What is an online prompter?

A prompter, or teleprompter, displays text that automatically scrolls on the screen, at a speed you set. You read by keeping your eyes on the camera or your audience, without looking down on a sheet of paper. This is the principle of the blower in the theatre, transposed to the screen.

An online prompter does the same in a browser tab. You paste your text, you adjust the font size and speed, you start scrolling. That’s all. On a laptop under the webcam, or on a tablet next to the smartphone camera, the effect is immediate: the voice arises, the flow becomes regular, and the assembly is reduced to almost nothing.

CuePrompter, the historical reference

CuePrompter turns your browser into a teleprompter, without installing anything. An open field, you paste your text, a click, and the scrolling starts in full screen. The service is free for all purposes, including commercial use, and you only need to keep the address as your favourite to find it the day you need it.

It is the oldest on the list and probably the most used in the world. His great interest today remains his lightness: it runs on tired equipment and poor connection, which is not a detail in many establishments.

What is useful in class

• Have a student repeat an oral presentation by adjusting the speed to their reading level.
• Project to the projector a text that scrolls for a collective diction work.
• Record a live language presentation using a script.

Strengths: no registration, no download, sober and distraction-free interface.

Limits: English interface, dated design, and regular references to the publisher’s paid offer.

Teleprompter, the text scroller made in France

Teleprompter is a free online prompter and entirely in French. The interface is reduced to the essentials: a window where to paste the text, then the font, size, duration and scroll speed settings to stick to your flow rate.

Its distinctive function is the recording of the voice directly in the browser, which avoids opening additional software. Practical for sound a slideshow : you read your comment to the prompter and you recover the audio track in the process. Mirror mode is also available if you use a support with reflective glass in front of the lens.

What is useful in class

• Record the soundtrack of a class capsule or podcast without editing software.
• Sound a slideshow, keeping a steady flow from one slide to another.
• Make expressive reading work out loud with an imposed speed.

Strengths: everything in French, immediate handling, built-in audio recording, no account to create.

Limits: no library of saved scripts, deliberately minimal text formatting.

Promptr, the most comfortable smartphone

Promptr is a free online teleprompter designed for video creators. It works indifferently on computer, tablet and phone, making it the most convenient on the list when filming on smartphone.

The settings cover the essentials: scroll speed, text size and color, left, center or right alignment, mirror display. You paste your text, adjust it in ten seconds, start recording with the camera application of your choice.

What is useful in class

• Turn a capsule to the smartphone with the tablet in a prompter just behind the lens.
• Create a series of short videos of instructions or corrections.
• Accompany a student video project, from script to filming.

Strengths: really comfortable on mobile and tablet, clean interface, free and without account.

Limits: interface in English, and no built-in video recording, it takes a second application to film. Not practical.

EasyPrompter, the most complete

EasyPrompter is without context the richest tool in this selection. Font size, colours, contrast, spacing between letters and between lines, black text on a white or white background on a black background: everything is finely tuned, which counts when you read remotely or on a small screen.

Two options go further than average. The highlighting of words, which makes it possible to mark the passages to be accented, and the chronometer, which displays the elapsed time during playback. On a 10-minute intervention, that is exactly what others lack.

What is useful in class

• Prepare a timed intervention, in pedagogical meeting, defense or training.
• Adapt contrast and interlining for a dyslexic or visually impaired student.
• Make students identify, by highlighting, the words to accentuate in a reading aloud.

Strengths: advanced typographical settings, highlighting, built-in chronometer.

Limits: interface in English and a little more busy, presence of advertising.

VoicePrompter, the prompter that tracks your voice

VoicePrompter changes the usual logic. Instead of scrolling at constant speed, the text moves at the rhythm of your speech and stops when you stop. If you improvise a sentence, skip a passage or go back, it follows. Voice recognition manages French among 34 languages detected automatically.

The web version is free, free, and requires no account or installation. It offers mirror mode, voice commands to go back or resume at the beginning, a built-in video recording, and can even be installed as an offline application. Important point for school use: scripts remain on the device and voice recognition can be done locally in the browser.

What is useful in class

• Accompany a student who hesitates or reads slowly, without ever pressing him.
• Record a capsule where it is allowed to reformulate live.
• Working oral in a modern language, with a text that awaits pronunciation.

Strengths: voice-driven scrolling, free and open source on the web side, no accounts, data remaining on the device, built-in video recording.

Limits: interface in English, requires the authorisation of the microphone, and native mobile applications are limited to three scripts before payment.

Which tool to choose according to your needs?

Prompters for your smartphone or tablet

The above five services also work in a mobile browser. But there are dedicated, more ergonomic applications, often used with the phone or tablet on the second screen. Please note that they are usually paid for in addition to a trial version.

Here is a short list for iOS and Android:

1. BIGVU : BIGVU is a versatile application for content creators, offering prompter functionality as well as video editing tools. It is designed to simplify video production by allowing users to read their script while recording.
2. PromptSmart Pro : This app stands out for its voice recognition technology, which allows the prompter to automatically scroll to the rhythm of your speech. PromptSmart Pro is available for iOS and Android, making your recordings more fluid and natural.
3. Parrot Teleprompter : Specifically designed as a teleprompter application, Parrot Teleprompter offers a simple interface and convenient features for reading scripts. Although it does not support recording and editing videos directly, it is highly appreciated for its ease of use on Parrot Teleprompter on Android and iOS.
4. Teleprompter Premium : Recognised as one of the best Teleprompter Apps for iOS, Teleprompter Premium offers great flexibility in customizing text and scrolling. It offers a free version with basic features, as well as subscription options for advanced features.

Five concrete pedagogical uses of prompters in education

1. Course video capsule. A two-minute script, a prompter under the webcam, and the capsule is looped in one take.
2. Preparation of oral presentation. The student writes his text, scrolls it at slow speed, then gradually reduces the support until he does not need it.
3. Expressive reading. The imposed speed forces to work the breath, the bonds and the breaks.
4. Oral in living language. Scrolling supports production without turning the exercise into recitation by heart.
5. Web radio or classroom podcast. The emission driver scrolls during recording, avoiding leaf noise.

An implementation board: The prompter is an excellent transition tool. It secures the first speeches and then voluntarily reduces the amount of text displayed until only keywords are left. The aim remains oral autonomy, not perfect reading.

Write well for a prompter

A text intended to be read aloud is not written as a text intended to be read with the eyes.

• Short sentences, one idea per sentence.
• Words you pronounce naturally, no overly written vocabulary.
• Returns to the line where you want to breathe.
• A scrolling speed set to your actual pace, never the other way around.
• One or two blank tests before recording are almost always sufficient.

Points to check before using an online prompter

These services are simple, but some reflexes are worth recalling, especially with student texts.

• Confidentiality. Check whether the text is processed locally in the browser or sent to a server. Avoid including personal data, student names or assessment elements.
• Lack of account. A tool that does not require registration mechanically limits data collection. This is a good criterion for sorting in a school context.
• Economic model. Most of these services are based on advertising or the sale of a premium offer, or even prompter material. Nothing shocking, but it deserves a spotting before a session with students.
• Digital sobriety. These tools are lightweight and do not require installation. A tablet already present in the class is enough, without additional material to buy.
• Continuity. Always keep your script in a document of your own. An online service can close or become paid, your text must survive it.

Questions You May Be Asking About Online Prompters

How does an online prompter work?

The text scrolls through a window, at the speed you set. Font, size, color and interlining are adjusted to limit eye movements during playback.

Why use one?

Because it makes it possible to appear natural in front of a camera, even on a long or technical subject, and not to forget anything important. We then work on intonations and pauses rather than memorization.

How to choose the right one?

Four criteria: compatibility with your material, the functions you really need, the simplicity of the interface, and the language of the tool if you work with students.

Is there a need for special equipment?

No, no. A computer, tablet or phone is enough. The support with reflective glass, useful for reading battery in the axis of the lens, remains optional.

By way of conclusion

Five tools, five uses. CuePrompter for robustness and lightness. Teleprompter to stay in French and record his voice in the process. Promptr to turn to smartphone. EasyPrompter when legibility and timing matter. VoicePrompter for a text that advances to the rhythm of the voice.

None of them require installation, none require an account, and all of them test in less than five minutes. This is probably the best ratio between the time invested and the comfort gained for anyone who regularly records pedagogical video.

What about you? Have you ever used an online prompter with your students? Your feedback is welcome in the comments.