Still fully on-device
Inference runs locally with a downloaded model (Gemma 4 / Qwen3.5) and works offline with no account. Your keystrokes never leave your Mac — exactly like Cotypist. Switching costs you nothing on privacy.
Cotypist alternative
The best Cotypist alternative
The best Cotypist alternative
for Mac — own it, don’t rent it.
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 as a one-time purchase, with zero telemetry. Same private autocomplete, owned instead of rented.
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 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
One $79 payment (less during the Founders beta) instead of $72–108 every year, forever. Free updates, up to 5 Macs, and zero telemetry — no analytics backend to trust, because nothing is sent.
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 account | Yes | Yes |
| System-wide ghost text · Tab-to-accept | Yes | Yes |
| Per-app instructions & personalization | Included | Pro tier only |
| Telemetry / analytics backend | None | On by default (opt-out) |
| Macs per license | Up to 5 | 1 → 3 |
| Free tier | 100 words/day | 100 words/day |
| Pricing model | $79 once | $6–9 / month |
| Requirements | macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon | macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon |
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 — two, in fact. Shadowtype’s free tier gives you system-wide completion and Tab-to-accept forever (capped at 100 accepted words/day), so you can try the switch before paying anything. If you want fully free and open-source, Cotabby is a community option worth a look. Most people making the rented-to-owned switch land on Shadowtype’s one-time license.
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.
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.
- Pay once
- No subscription
- No account
- Zero telemetry
- 14-day refund