Highlight Studio is a native macOS screen recorder with a full multi-track editor built in. No Electron pure Metal GPU rendering. Smart Zoom watches your clicks and generates zoom keyframes automatically. Add cursor effects, brand kits, device frames, AI subtitles, annotations, and speed ramps — all in one app. 40+ CLI commands let AI agents record and edit programmatically. Under 100 MB. Lifetime access is $55 during launch.
I built Highlight Studio because every screen recorder I tried was either too simple (no editing) or too complex (full NLE for a 2-minute demo). I wanted one app that records, edits, and exports something polished — without switching tools.
What it does:
- Smart Zoom — AI watches your clicks and generates zoom keyframes automatically. No manual keyframing. - Virtual backgrounds with custom images - Camera branding - Cursor effects — 3-level smoothing, post-recording resize, click sounds, and visual highlights. - Brand kit — Logo, colors, fonts, watermarks, and 6 animated intro/outro templates. Set once, apply everywhere. - Device frames — 27+ pixel-perfect Apple devices with real finish colors. Record your iPhone via USB and wrap it instantly. - AI transcription — Word-level subtitles in 50+ languages. - Multi-track editor — Trim, split, speed ramp, freeze frame, annotations, blur masks. Separate tracks for video, camera, audio, subtitles. - AI agent support — 40+ CLI commands over TCP. Works with Claude Code and any AI agent framework.
Everything runs on the GPU. Under 100 MB app size.
It's native Swift, renders on Metal, and the entire editing pipeline is GPU-accelerated. Smart zoom alone saves me 20+ minutes per video.
Lifetime access is $55 during launch (60% off). No subscription required.
Highlight Studio offers extensive Help Center with AI chat bot that will answer all of your question about product features and how-tos.
Video has been recorded, and edited only using Highlight Studio it self.
Native Swift + Metal rendering, under 100MB, no Electron — you're speaking my language. I'm building a Mac-native video editor with the same stack (Swift + Metal + Rust core) and the GPU-accelerated pipeline makes all the difference for real-time playback. Smart Zoom from click tracking is clever — that's the kind of feature that only works well when you have direct access to system-level events, which is exactly why native beats web wrappers. Great launch.
We had a codesign issue, so permissions for Microphone and Camera were never properly asked.
New release is out with a fix and little extra. Zoom now supports target Canvas or Video. Depends on what you want.
Join our discord community at highlightstudio.app/community
Newest release can be found:
https://github.com/NFxAI/highlig...
I like all the personalisation for interactions. It seems a lot more in depth and user friendly than previous screen recorders I've used! I'm building marketing videos for a product I'm working on and always end up frustrated by the polish gap between "raw screen recording" and "finished clip."
Does Highlight bridge that, or is it still more of a recording tool than an editing one?
Really like this: the native Metal approach + no Electron makes a big difference for video workflows, and keeping it under 100 MB is impressive. Smart Zoom based on user interaction is also a great touch — exactly the kind of automation screen recording tools need.
We launched on Product Hunt yesterday as well — building Ogoron, an AI system that generates and maintains test coverage as products evolve. Different space, but very aligned in spirit of automating the tedious parts :)
The Smart Zoom feature alone would save me so much time, I've been manually keyframing zoom on every app demo I record for social.
As an indie iOS maker about to launch, I need exactly this: record, edit, and export without juggling 3 tools.
Two questions: how does it handle portrait mode recordings for iPhone app demos, and does the device frame work when recording directly from Xcode simulator?
How are you finding the balance between automation (like smart zoom and AI edits) and giving users control, especially for people who want more precise editing?
I built Highlight Studio because every screen recorder I tried was either too simple (no editing) or too complex (full NLE for a 2-minute demo).
I wanted one app that records, edits, and exports something polished — without switching tools.
What it does:
- Smart Zoom — AI watches your clicks and generates zoom keyframes automatically. No manual keyframing.
- Virtual backgrounds with custom images
- Camera branding
- Cursor effects — 3-level smoothing, post-recording resize, click sounds, and visual highlights.
- Brand kit — Logo, colors, fonts, watermarks, and 6 animated intro/outro templates. Set once, apply everywhere.
- Device frames — 27+ pixel-perfect Apple devices with real finish colors. Record your iPhone via USB and wrap it instantly.
- AI transcription — Word-level subtitles in 50+ languages.
- Multi-track editor — Trim, split, speed ramp, freeze frame, annotations, blur masks. Separate tracks for video, camera, audio, subtitles.
- AI agent support — 40+ CLI commands over TCP. Works with Claude Code and any AI agent framework.
Everything runs on the GPU. Under 100 MB app size.
It's native Swift, renders on Metal, and the entire editing pipeline is GPU-accelerated. Smart zoom alone saves me 20+ minutes per video.
Lifetime access is $55 during launch (60% off). No subscription required.
Highlight Studio offers extensive Help Center with AI chat bot that will answer all of your question about product features and how-tos.
Video has been recorded, and edited only using Highlight Studio it self.