I built DraftKey, an on-device AI autocomplete for every Mac app, for $4.99 lifetime (up to 3 Macs). It shows a short gray suggestion as you type in Mail, Slack, Notes, Linear or your browser, and you press Tab to accept it. Your text stays on your Mac. Get it at getdraftkey.com.
The question I get most is: "macOS already has Apple Writing Tools, why would I pay for this?" Fair question. I'm the maker (Aura Technologies), so I'm not neutral, but here's the honest answer.
The short version
| DraftKey | Apple Writing Tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 once | Free with macOS |
| Main job | Finishes your sentence while you type (Tab to accept) | Rewrites, proofreads or summarizes text you already wrote |
| How you use it | Just type; suggestions appear inline | Select text, open the Writing Tools menu |
| Also does rewrite? | Yes, ⌘⌥ rewrite (shorter, clearer, fix grammar, tone, custom) | Yes, that's its core |
| Requirements | macOS 14+, Apple Silicon, 8 GB RAM | Apple Intelligence (newer macOS, Apple Silicon, supported region/language) |
| Model | Bundled ~1.12 GB local model | Apple's on-device models, plus Private Cloud Compute for some tasks |
Use Apple Writing Tools if you write a draft first and then want it cleaned up. It's free and it's good at that.
Use DraftKey if you want help during typing: the next few words appear and you hit Tab, like code autocomplete but for emails, Slack replies and tickets. Writing Tools doesn't do inline autocomplete.
They don't conflict. Plenty of people could run both.
What DraftKey actually does
DraftKey reads the text around your cursor through macOS Accessibility, runs a small language model on your Mac, and shows a gray suggestion. Tab accepts it. Keep typing and it disappears. ⌘⌥ opens a rewrite on the paragraph or selection, and you review before anything is inserted. It also has clipboard history (⌘⌥V).
It isn't a chatbot or a side panel. It's autocomplete for prose, system-wide.
Honest limits, upfront
- No free trial. You pay $4.99 to try the real app. There's a free in-browser typing demo on getdraftkey.com.
- Apple Silicon and macOS 14+ only. No Intel Macs.
- About a 1.12 GB model download on first launch.
- It depends on Accessibility. Some Electron apps and custom editors work poorly, and password fields never work (on purpose).
- It's a small local model. It's good at finishing sentences fast, not at writing essays for you.
Who this is for
If you send a lot of short writing every day (Slack, email, tickets, PR descriptions) and you've ever wished Copilot-style Tab completion existed outside your code editor, that's exactly why I built DraftKey.
getdraftkey.com: $4.99 once, no subscription, no account needed to write.
I built it at Aura Technologies. If suggestions misbehave in a specific app, tell me in the comments and I'll look at it.
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