ZoomIt for Mac is here.
Where does Pointly fit?

In September 2026 Microsoft released Sysinternals ZoomIt for Mac — free, and very good at zooming and recording. Pointly does a different job: it's built for presenting and teaching live, over any app. Here's an honest look at both.

Choose ZoomIt for Mac if you mainly need to…

• Zoom and live-zoom into the screen, free.
• Record your screen with webcam picture-in-picture and trim the clip afterwards.
• Snip, OCR and stitch — region screenshots, copy text from the screen, scrolling panoramas.

Choose Pointly if you present, teach or demo live

• Laser pointer — a glowing dot with a fading trail, so remote viewers can follow you.
• Spotlight — dim everything except the part of the screen you're talking about.
• Blur brush — paint over an email, token or customer name before anyone sees it.
• Callouts & step badges — labelled boxes and auto-numbered ①②③ markers for walkthroughs.
• Presenter cues — your clicks and keystrokes appear on screen for tutorials and streams.
• The Tool Ring — hold a key and every tool blooms around your cursor; no trip to a toolbar mid-talk.
• Drawings stay put — annotations belong to each display and desktop, so switching Spaces doesn't drag them along.

Side by side

Capability	ZoomIt for Mac	Pointly
Screen zoom & pan	Yes	Yes (Presenter Zoom, Pro)
Live zoom while you keep working	Yes	No
Draw, highlight, arrows, shapes, text	Yes	Yes (free)
Countdown / break timer	Yes	Yes (Pro)
Screen recording & webcam overlay	Yes	No — use any recorder; Pointly's ink shows up in it
Screenshots, OCR, panorama capture	Yes	Export PNG / PDF only
Laser pointer & spotlight	Not listed	Yes (Pro)
Blur brush for private details	Not listed	Yes (Pro)
Callouts & numbered step badges	Not listed	Yes (Pro)
On-screen click & keystroke cues	Not listed	Yes (Pro)
Tool ring at the cursor	Not listed	Yes (Pro)
Price	Free, open source	Free core tools · Pro optional

ZoomIt for Mac column based on Microsoft's App Store listing and the project's README, October 2026. "Not listed" means we couldn't find the feature documented — check Microsoft's page for updates.

Can you use both?

Yes — and plenty of presenters will. Both live in the menu bar and every hotkey is configurable. A common setup: ZoomIt to zoom and record, Pointly for the laser pointer, spotlight and blur while you talk. If a default hotkey clashes, change one in Settings.

What Pointly costs

The core tools — pen, highlighter, marker, text, arrows, shapes and export — are free forever, with no account. The presenting tools (laser pointer, spotlight, blur brush, callouts, step badges, presenter cues and zoom, timer, Tool Ring) are part of Pointly Pro, an in-app purchase on the Mac App Store, yearly or once for life. Your local price is shown in the App Store before you buy.