AI autocomplete for the apps you already use. Runs on Apple Intelligence or any local model — and never leaves your Mac.
Mail, notes, docs, messages, wherever you happen to be typing.
Four ways Cotabby speeds up your typing — all running locally on your Mac.
Ghost-text suggestions appear as you type. Press Tab to accept a word at a time, or keep typing to ignore.
Type a colon and a few letters — :smi, :tada — then Tab to drop in the emoji, anywhere.
Catches typos and clumsy phrasing inline, so you never break your flow to fix them.
Expand short triggers into the full snippets you type over and over.
Install once. It lives in your menu bar and listens quietly in every text field on your Mac.
Download the .dmg, drag Cotabby into Applications, and launch it like any other Mac app.
macOS install
Cotabby watches your cursor. When you pause mid-sentence, it suggests the next thought inline as ghost text.
Each Tab accepts the next word, so you stay in control. Keep typing to adjust, or press Escape and Cotabby steps out of the way.
What folks are saying after ditching their autocomplete subscription.
“This is exactly what I was looking for.”
u/Zealousideal-Hat-68“Pay more money to eat more of my own RAM… is just laughable.”
u/10dot“Thank YOU. I literally have no more money for subscriptions.”
u/bearclaw191991“Just uninstalled Cotypist and installed Cotabby instead.”
u/cronberryThree macOS permissions, granted once — here's what each is for.
Finds the focused text field and places ghost text right at your caret.
Detects typing and lets Tab accept the suggestion.
Reads a screenshot around the field for visual (OCR) context.
Tune the suggestions so they feel helpful, not intrusive.
Apple Intelligence on-device or your own GGUF.
2–4 words or 12–20. Finish a thought, not an essay.
Paste your style guide once. Cotabby will remember it.
Block Cotabby on any app with one toggle.
Tweak color and opacity until it's perfect.
Plug in Apple Intelligence or a local model like Qwen, DeepSeek, or Gemma — Cotabby routes them all through the same tab-complete.
Everything Cotypist's free plan does — plus everything it leaves out.
The basics, without the enterprise brochure voice.
A free macOS menu bar app that adds AI autocomplete to almost any text field. Gray ghost text appears as you type — press Tab to accept, or keep typing to ignore.
Yes. Free and open source (AGPL-3.0). No account, no subscription, no cloud costs.
Yes. Everything runs on your Mac. No cloud, no telemetry, no analytics. Clipboard and nearby screen text are read only to inform a suggestion, never stored or sent. The network is only used to download models and check for updates.
macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon recommended. Local models need 1–5 GB of disk space. Apple Intelligence requires macOS 26+ on a supported Mac.
Homebrew: brew install --cask cotabby. Or download from cotabby.app and drag to Applications. Updates install automatically.
To work inside other apps. Accessibility reads your text field and inserts suggestions. Input Monitoring detects the Tab key. Screen Recording reads context near your cursor. It never runs in password fields.
Tab accepts the next word. Backtick accepts the whole suggestion. Esc or keep typing dismisses. All keys are rebindable in Settings.
Almost any editable text field — native Mac apps, Chrome, and most Electron apps. It stays out of password fields and terminals.
Pick Apple Intelligence (built into macOS 26+) or a local Open Source model (1–5 GB). Both run on-device, so it works fully offline.
Open Settings from the menu bar icon to change models, shortcuts, ghost text style, and more. Toggle "Enable Globally" off to pause, or add specific apps to the Disabled list.
Cozy AI autocomplete for the everyday notes, emails, and messages.
