Compare
Completist and the alternatives
There's more than one way to write faster on a Mac. Here's how Completist compares, including when something else is the better choice.
At a glance
| Question | Completist |  Cotypist | ChatGPT and other chatbots | AI writing extensions | macOS text predictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it helps | Most Mac apps, as you type | Most Mac apps, as you type | In the chat window. You copy and paste the result | Websites in one browser | Many built-in and native Mac apps |
| What it writes | Your next few words | Your next words, up to a whole line | Whole drafts | Whole drafts and rewrites | A word or two |
| Where your words go | Nowhere. They stay on your Mac | They stay on your Mac | To the chatbot's servers | Usually to the extension's servers | They stay on your Mac |
| Knows the conversation | Yes, in chat apps | Yes, with Screen Recording allowed | Only what you paste in | Often reads the page | No |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Price | Free in beta, then a one-time price | Free plan with a daily word limit, or a subscription | Free plan, or a subscription | Often a subscription | Included with macOS |
Based on each product's own website in October 2026. Details change, so check before you choose.
Completist vs Cotypist
With thanks to the app that started it
Completist exists because of Cotypist. Made by Accelerated Thought, it showed that a small AI model running on your own Mac could finish your sentences in any app, and do it well.
Completist is an independent take on the same idea, written from scratch. It isn't affiliated with Cotypist and shares none of its code. If Cotypist suits you better, we'd honestly rather you use it than neither.
Choose Cotypist if you want
- A more mature app with a longer track record
- To accept a whole line at once, not only a word
- Typos fixed for you as you type
- Suggestions that learn your writing style, if you turn that on
- Your own instructions for how it writes, even per app
- Larger AI models, and settings synced between your Macs
Choose Completist if you want
- To pay once and own it, with no subscription
- No daily limit on how many words you accept
- An app that never contacts a server after the model download, with no usage statistics
- A light footprint: a 0.7 GB default model that uses under 1 GB of memory
- Chat-aware replies in Slack, Teams and WhatsApp without allowing Screen Recording
- Something simple: one key, one word, nothing to set up
Other ways to write faster
Different tools for different jobs
Drafting in ChatGPT
Chatbots are brilliant at a whole draft from a blank page, rewriting something long, or thinking out loud. For the dozens of short things you type each day, though, the round trip adds up: open the chat, explain, wait, copy, paste, then fix the tone so it sounds like you.
With Completist you write and it keeps up. The words stay yours, and what you write never leaves your Mac. Use both: it'll even help you write your prompts.
AI writing extensions
Browser extensions that draft emails and replies can be handy. But they live in one browser, usually send what's on the page to their own servers, and often need an account and a monthly plan.
Completist works across your whole Mac, in native apps and the browser alike, offline, with nothing to sign up for.
macOS text predictions
macOS can suggest the next word or two in many apps, and it's free and private. In practice, though, it's hit or miss: it works best in Apple's own apps, often stays silent elsewhere, and some people find it stops appearing altogether after a macOS update.
Completist goes further: longer suggestions, a choice of AI models, and replies that fit the conversation on screen. And Tab takes one word at a time, so you decide how much to keep.
Why a one-time price
Software you use every day shouldn't be another monthly bill
Completist runs on your Mac, not on our servers. Your own chip does the work for every suggestion, so there's no running cost to pass on to you. That's why, when the beta ends, Completist will be a small one-time purchase. Pay once and it's yours, for as long as your Mac keeps going.