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Cotabby and Typilot solve different problems. Cotabby is the right pick when you want passive inline prediction for free, prefer open-source software you can inspect, and do not need voice or active commands. Typilot earns its position when you also need voice dictation, on-demand AI commands to generate or rewrite text, meeting transcription, or Windows and Linux support. Both products are fully local - no audio, no text, and no suggestions leave the device by default. If the only thing you want is ghost text as you type, free, on Mac, Cotabby is the honest answer.
Yes - both run AI locally on your Mac with no data leaving the device, and both offer inline autocomplete ghost text via a local model. Typilot adds voice dictation (local Whisper), 27 inline AI commands for generation and editing, meeting transcription with on-device speaker diarization, and Windows and Linux support that Cotabby does not offer. Cotabby has an edge on price (completely free, AGPL-3.0 open source), emoji autocomplete, inline macros, and no Ollama setup requirement.
Both use ghost text at the cursor with Tab to accept. Cotabby requires no setup cost and supports Apple Intelligence on macOS 26+ alongside local GGUF models via llama.cpp. Typilot routes autocomplete suggestions through a local Ollama model, which requires a one-time Ollama install and model download. For writers who only want passive autocomplete, Cotabby is the simpler path; Typilot's autocomplete gains value when combined with its voice dictation and command features.
No. Cotabby is macOS only. The local GGUF engine requires macOS 14 or later; the Apple Intelligence engine requires macOS 26 or later on a supported Mac. There is no Windows or Linux build. Typilot runs on macOS, Windows 10 and 11, and Linux including Wayland environments.
Yes - Cotabby is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence with no subscription, no word cap, no account, and no credit card ever required. The AGPL licence means modified versions you distribute over a network must remain source-available under the same terms. Typilot is a commercial product at $7.99/mo or $199 lifetime, with a 3-day full-feature trial.