The short answer
Start with an app. Buy glass when you want real eye contact. A teleprompter app on its own is free and good enough for short videos and quick takes. A hardware teleprompter, with angled glass in front of the lens, is what makes you look straight into the camera while you read.
What hardware changes
With an app alone, the script sits on a screen next to or just above the lens. You read from it, and your eyes drift slightly away from the camera. Viewers can often tell. With a beam-splitter teleprompter, the text shows on glass in front of the lens, so reading it means looking at the camera. How a beam-splitter teleprompter works.
When an app is enough
- Short videos. A 30-second clip doesn't need much eye contact, and the text sits right at the top of the screen.
- Vertical social videos. You hold your phone and read at arm's length. Use your phone as a teleprompter.
- Online calls and webinars. Put the script near the webcam. Teleprompter for Zoom.
- Trying it out. EasyPrompter's teleprompter is free, with no account, so you can learn the reading speed and layout before you spend anything.
When to buy a hardware teleprompter
- Interviews and talking-head videos. Eye contact is what makes a presenter look at ease.
- Longer scripts. Reading a few minutes of text from the glass is easier than from a phone held up high.
- Presenters who aren't used to a camera. A prompter that doesn't look like reading helps them relax. Practice links let them rehearse before the shoot.
- Regular filming. If you record every week, a rig you set up in a minute pays for itself in time.
Which one?
- Phone filmers, travel, small budget: the Ulanzi RT02, from about $50.
- Camera and a tablet, big text: the NEEWER X12B.
- Filming at your computer: the Elgato Prompter.
All three work with EasyPrompter: mirror the text, pick a big size and press play.
Watch
Best Teleprompter UNDER $50!! (Ulanzi Universal Teleprompter Review), Ralph Mayhew Photography, October 2023. What an inexpensive teleprompter does, with a phone, a laptop and a camera.
Best Teleprompter for YouTube // Ulanzi RT02 Universal Teleprompter, ROAM it RALPH, September 2024. Talking-head segments went from about an hour to about 20 minutes.
Thumbnails are stored on our site. A video loads from YouTube only when you press play.
Where to buy
Ulanzi RT02
See price on Amazon
NEEWER Basics X12B
See price on Amazon
Elgato Prompter
See price on Amazon
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About our reviews and guides: they bring together the makers' specifications and independent video and written reviews, checked on 20 October 2026. We haven't tested these products ourselves.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a teleprompter app without buying hardware?
Yes. EasyPrompter is free in any browser and as an iPhone, iPad and Mac app, with no account. Put the text close to the lens and read at a steady speed.
What does a hardware teleprompter add?
Eye contact. The text shows on glass in front of the lens, so reading it means looking at the camera.
How much does a hardware teleprompter cost?
About $50 for the Ulanzi RT02 at its maker's US store. Bigger ones cost more: $119.99 for the NEEWER X12B at its maker's US store.