// HONEST COMPARISON · CHECKED SEPTEMBER 2026
Overlaid vs
Zoom's built-in annotation
If you share your screen in Zoom, you already have annotation tools: pen, text, stamps, a spotlight pointer and an eraser. They're free, and viewers can annotate too if the host allows it. For a lot of meetings that's enough.
Overlaid is for everything outside that box: Google Meet, Teams, Slack huddles, recordings and in-person talks, plus the keystrokes, zoom and cursor effects Zoom doesn't have.
PICK ZOOM'S BUILT-IN ANNOTATION IF
you only present in Zoom and want viewers to be able to draw on your screen too.
PICK OVERLAID IF
you present in more than one app, record videos, or want keystrokes, zoom and cursor effects.
// AT A GLANCE
THE BASICS.
// CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE
Where Zoom's built-in annotation is better.
It's already there
No install, no purchase. Click Annotate on the share toolbar.
Everyone can draw
Participants can annotate your shared screen if you let them. Overlaid only draws on your own Mac.
Save the annotations
Zoom can save what's been drawn. Overlaid doesn't save anything (take a screenshot instead).
Stamps and named arrows
Stamps like hearts, and an arrow that shows your name, so everyone knows who drew what.
Where Overlaid is better.
+Works in every app
Meet, Teams, Slack, Discord, Webex, OBS, QuickTime, in-person on a projector. Zoom's tools only exist inside a Zoom share.
+Keystroke overlay
Show every shortcut as a keycap.
+Freeze and zoom
Zoom up to 8x and draw on the frozen frame.
+Cursor effects and fading ink
Spotlight, halo, ripples, trail, and marks that clear themselves.
+Shortcut-driven
Every tool is a key away, without opening a toolbar mid-sentence.
// FEATURE BY FEATURE
SIDE BY SIDE.
“Not listed” means we couldn't confirm it from Zoom's built-in annotation's own site or docs either way. It might exist. If it does, tell us and we'll update this.
Choose Zoom's built-in annotation if
- ✓You only ever present in Zoom
- ✓You want viewers to draw too
- ✓You want to save annotations
Choose Overlaid if
- ✓You use more than one call app
- ✓You record tutorials or demos
- ✓You want keystrokes, zoom or cursor effects
// FAQ
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK.
Yes, both now do. Teams uses Microsoft Whiteboard as an overlay on your share and lets you choose whether everyone can annotate. Google Meet's annotation is available to paid Google Workspace users in the desktop app and in Chrome. Both only work inside their own meetings.
Yes. They don't interfere. You could use Overlaid for your own marks and keystrokes, and let participants use Zoom's tools.
Yes, when you share your whole screen. If you share a single window, the overlay isn't part of that window and won't be shown.
// WHERE THIS CAME FROM
SOURCES.
Checked September 2026. Apps change. If something here is out of date or wrong, email us and we'll fix it.
// YOUR NEXT CALL
Don't take our word for it. Try both.
7 days free with every feature. Then a one-time purchase. No account, no subscription.