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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Espanso

An open-source text expander that types your snippets anywhere on your computer.

Visit Espanso4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Intermediate

  • Works on

    Windows, macOS, Linux

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What is Espanso?

Espanso is a free, open-source text expander that replaces short triggers with longer text, dates or form fields in any app. Snippets live in simple YAML files you can sync or version, and a community package hub adds ready-made expansions for emoji, code and more.

Pros: what Espanso does well

  • Works in almost every app
  • Plain YAML config files
  • Free community packages

Cons: where it falls short

  • Setup is done in config files
  • No polished graphical editor

Who Espanso is for

Anyone who types the same replies, addresses or code snippets many times a day.

Who can skip it

People who only need a couple of shortcuts already built into their phone or OS.

Espanso alternatives

Not sold on Espanso? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Automation resources

keyd

Focus: key remapping, shortcuts and linux. Shares keyboard and open source with Espanso. Rated 4.5 (Espanso: 4.6).

OtherFreeLinux
4.5Visit

RaycastEditor's pick, verified

Focus: launcher and shortcuts. Shares keyboard with Espanso. Freemium (Espanso: Free). Adds iOS. Rated 4.9 (Espanso: 4.6).

Desktop AppFree planmacOS, Windows
4.9Visit

AutoHotkey

Focus: hotkeys, macros and scripting. Shares open source with Espanso. Rated 4.7 (Espanso: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, Offline
4.7Visit

Kando

Focus: pie menu, launcher and shortcuts. Shares open source with Espanso. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to Espanso

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Nushell

Focus: shell, command line and data pipelines. Shares open source with Espanso. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Task

Focus: task runner, automation and build tool. Shares open source with Espanso. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

topgrade

Focus: updates, package manager and automation. Shares open source with Espanso. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Dasel

Focus: json, yaml and data conversion. Shares open source with Espanso. Rated 4.5 (Espanso: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

Kanata

Focus: keyboard remapping, shortcuts and ergonomics. Shares open source with Espanso. Rated 4.5 (Espanso: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
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