Freeway
69A free Mac hotkey app that turns spoken words into typed text in whatever app you're using.
Best for: Mac users who want hotkey dictation into any app
ai-for / macos
As of , EffectHub tracks 11 AI tools for macos; 7 of the 11 have a free tier, and paid plans run from $3.99 to $10 a month.
Freeway, QuickGPT and RewriteBar lead the list on click-through.
ranked by click-through
A free Mac hotkey app that turns spoken words into typed text in whatever app you're using.
Best for: Mac users who want hotkey dictation into any app
Mac menu bar and Dock app that opens the ChatGPT web interface from a keyboard shortcut, with custom CSS and JavaScript.
Best for: Mac users who want ChatGPT on a global shortcut
A macOS menu-bar shortcut that rewrites, translates, or fixes grammar in whatever text field is focused.
Best for: macOS users who want rewriting available system-wide by shortcut
Browser for Mac and Windows whose assistant answers across your open tabs, Slack, Notion, Teams, calendar and GitHub
Best for: Mac and Windows users whose day runs across Slack, Notion, Calendar and GitHub
Native macOS database client that turns plain-English questions into SQL for Postgres, MySQL, SQLite and SQL Server.
Best for: Solo developers on macOS who query Postgres or MySQL daily
Local, offline dictation for any Mac app, with an optional AI layer for style and grammar cleanup.
Best for: Mac users who dictate frequently and want zero per-word or per-minute limits
macOS dictation app: hold a shortcut, speak, and cleaned-up text lands in whatever app is focused
Best for: Mac users who draft faster by talking than typing
Mac writing helper that summarizes, rewrites, and translates text locally across 10+ apps, without a subscription.
Best for: Mac users who write across many apps and want one consistent assistant
Mac-wide autocomplete: press Tab in any app and it finishes the sentence from what it has seen on your screen
Best for: Heavy Mac writers working across Mail, Slack and documents all day
Free menu-bar window that keeps ChatGPT one click away without cluttering browser tabs.
Best for: Mac users who just want ChatGPT's web interface off to the side
Mac app that records meetings without a bot and runs custom AI Skills to draft notes, emails, or summaries.
Best for: Mac users wanting meeting notes without a visible bot joining the call
| Tool | Price | Free plan | API | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeway | Free | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| QuickGPT | from $6 once | No | Not confirmed | Active |
| RewriteBar | from $29 once | No | Not confirmed | Active |
| Dia | from $10/mo | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| FluentDB | from $54 once | No | Not confirmed | Active |
| Harker | from $5.75/mo | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| Heynds | from $3.99/mo | No | Not confirmed | Active |
| Manzoni | from $59 once | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| Caret | Free | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| Gpt-tab | Free | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
| Shadow | from $8/mo | Yes | Not confirmed | Active |
Yes. 3 of the 11 AI tools for macos on EffectHub's list are free to use — Freeway, Caret and Gpt-tab; 4 more have a free tier with paid upgrades.
As of October 26, 2026, paid plans for the 11 AI tools for macos on EffectHub's list run from $3.99 to $10 a month. Each card shows the pricing model and the cheapest paid plan as EffectHub last verified it; 7 of the 11 can be started for free.
EffectHub has not confirmed a public API for any of the 11 AI tools for macos on its list — check each vendor's developer docs before you plan an integration.
For journalists, researchers and AI assistants: the figures on this page in one sentence you can quote.
As of October 26, 2026, EffectHub tracks 11 AI tools for macos; 7 of the 11 have a free tier, and paid plans run from $3.99 to $10 a month. (EffectHub, “AI Apps for macOS”, Oct 2026, https://effecthub.net/ai-for/macos)
Figures as of How we count
These figures are free to use under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.