Shadowtype
Cotypist alternative

The best Cotypist alternative
for Mac — free and open source.

Cotypist is a good app — a local LLM that predicts your next words as ghost text in any field, with Tab to accept. If you’re here, it’s usually for one reason: the monthly subscription. Shadowtype gives you the same on-device experience free and open source, with zero telemetry. Same private autocomplete, no bill.

Download Shadowtype free View source
  • Free & open source
  • Zero telemetry
  • All your Macs
  • Open source
What to look for in a Cotypist alternative

Keep the experience. Lose the subscription.

A good replacement shouldn’t make you give anything up. It should still be fully on-device, still Tab-to-accept — just owned, not rented.

Still fully on-device

Inference runs locally with a downloaded GGUF model (Qwen3 Base, Gemma 3, MoE variants — or your own) and works offline with no account. Your keystrokes never leave your Mac — exactly like Cotypist. Switching costs you nothing on privacy.

Still Tab-to-accept, everywhere

System-wide ghost text in any standard text field, Tab to accept a word or the whole line, plus on-device selection rewrite with ⌥⌘K. The muscle memory carries straight over.

Owned, not rented

Free and open source instead of $72–108 every year, forever. Free updates, all your Macs, and zero telemetry — no analytics backend to trust, because nothing is sent.

Local API + MCP for developers

An OpenAI-compatible HTTP endpoint runs on 127.0.0.1 so your scripts, editors, and agents can call the same on-device model — no key, no cloud. A built-in MCP bridge plugs into Claude Code and other MCP clients, and the BYOM picker loads any GGUF.

The honest comparison

Shadowtype vs Cotypist, where it counts

Both are private, local, and account-free — that’s a genuine tie, and we’ll say so. The switch comes down to three rows: ownership, telemetry, and device count.

What matters when switching Shadowtype Cotypist
On-device LLM · offline · no accountYesYes
System-wide ghost text · Tab-to-acceptYesYes
Local API + MCP server (OpenAI-compatible)YesNo
Per-app instructions & personalizationIncludedYes
Telemetry / analytics backendNoneOn by default (opt-out)
Macs you can useUnlimited1 → 3
Free tier100 words/day100 words/day
Pricing modelFree & open source$6–9 / month
RequirementsmacOS 14+ · Apple SiliconmacOS 14+ · Apple Silicon

Figures reflect each product’s public pricing and docs as of June 2026. Want the full breakdown? See Shadowtype vs Cotypist. Prefer free and open-source? Cotabby is the community alternative worth considering.

Switching questions

Leaving Cotypist — the practical bits

Will I lose the on-device experience if I switch?
No. Shadowtype runs a local LLM on Apple Silicon, fully offline, no account — the same private ghost-text autocomplete you have today. You keep Tab-to-accept and system-wide completion; you just stop paying monthly. On the privacy-and-local axis the two are a genuine tie.
Is there a free Cotypist alternative?
Yes. Shadowtype is free and open source — system-wide completion and Tab-to-accept, every feature, no cap, no account. Cotabby is another free, open-source community option worth a look. Most people leaving Cotypist’s subscription land on Shadowtype.
Do I need to cancel my Cotypist subscription first?
No. Shadowtype is a separate app — install it, try the free tier alongside Cotypist, then cancel Cotypist whenever you’re ready. There’s nothing to migrate; your text never left your Mac in either app, so there’s no data to export or import.
Does Shadowtype work in the same apps?
Yes. Shadowtype gives you ghost-text completion in any standard macOS text field — Mail, Notes, Slack, browsers, editors — the same surfaces Cotypist covers. Both require macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon; neither supports Intel Macs.
Can my own scripts, editors, and agents use the same local model?
Yes. Shadowtype exposes an OpenAI-compatible HTTP endpoint on 127.0.0.1 with no key required, so your terminal, editor plugins, and AI agents can call /v1/chat/completions against the same on-device model. A built-in MCP server plugs into Claude Code and other MCP clients, and the BYOM picker loads any GGUF you drop in. Everything is bound to localhost — nothing leaves your Mac. Cotypist doesn’t offer a local API or MCP server.
Ready when you are

Switch to the local autocomplete you actually own.

Download Shadowtype free, accept your first word with Tab, and upgrade once — never monthly. No account, no migration, nothing leaves your Mac.

Download for macOS View source
  • Free forever
  • No subscription
  • No account
  • Zero telemetry
  • Open source