5 alternativesEspanso: Free, open source
The best Espanso alternatives
For most people the best alternative to Espanso is Typinator, and the best free one is OwlOCR.
TypinatorPick it if you only type on a Mac and want to own your text expander outright with no subscription.$49.99 onceCompare at a glance
Espanso is highlighted, so you can see what you give up and what you gain.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | App Store | Developer | Setapp | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Espanso | Free, open source | Free | Too few ratings | ||||||
| Typinator | $49.99 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | ||||||
 OwlOCR | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | ||||||
 TextExpander | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Rocket Typist | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | ||||||
 Comoji | Free | Free | Too few ratings |
Swipe the table sideways to see more
The alternatives, in order
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Pick it if you only type on a Mac and want to own your text expander outright with no subscription.
A text expander you can still buy once, with typo fixing and snippets for dates, images and code.
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Pick it if you pull text out of screenshots, scans or PDFs and want it done on your Mac without uploading anything.
A Mac OCR app that copies text out of screenshots, scans and PDFs on-device, free for everyday use.
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Pick it if you need the same snippets on your Mac, iPhone and a Windows PC, or share them with a team.
Short abbreviations that expand into full replies, addresses and links on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Chrome, shared with your team.
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Pick it if you type the same replies, addresses or code blocks every day on both Mac and iPhone.
Snippets, macros and AI rewrites that sync between Mac and iPhone, paid for once instead of every month.
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Pick it if you type :thumbsup in Slack all day and keep trying it in Messages out of habit.
Colon emoji shortcuts, GIFs and stickers in Messages and almost any other text field, for free.
Espanso head to head
When Espanso is still the right pick
You type the same replies, addresses or emails all day and won't pay for a text expander.
Espanso prices and verdictFree, open source