Free Text Expanders and Snippet Tools
Which text expander and snippet tools a startup can type templates, replies and signatures faster with for free today, how many snippets the free plan allows, where it works, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Text expanders change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the provider's page before you rely on it.
Text expanders a startup can use for free today include TextExpander (Free forever, 5 active Snippets), Raycast (Free for personal and team use), Briskine (Free, 30 templates for 1 person), Espanso (Open source under GPL-3), and Text Blaze (Free forever, limited snippets). Each of the 9 free plans below links to the provider's page that states it, with its main limit, where it works, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Support replies, sales follow-ups and the same links and addresses typed fifty times a day are what text expanders are for: type a short abbreviation and the full text appears. Several have a free plan, and open-source text expanders are free to install.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. Free plans cap snippets or uses a week, keep team sharing for paid plans or allow personal use only, and some work only in a browser or on one operating system. Each tool below shows what is free, its main limit, where it works, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which tools we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the providers'. Some of these providers pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which tools are listed or where.
Text expanders with a free plan
Type snippets and templates anywhere, free to start.
- 1
TextExpander
Mac, Windows and Chrome users who want Snippets everywhere
Free forever with no credit card, 5 active Snippets and one swap every 2 weeks. One account works across Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and the Chrome extension.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: textexpander.com)
Start free at TextExpanderReferral linkTerms read on textexpander.com on TextExpander: the free allowance and how to start - 2
Briskine
Anyone sending the same email replies from the browser
The Free plan is 30 templates for one person, with no card needed. Its browser extensions cover Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Opera.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: briskine.com)
- First paid plan
- Premium: $7 per person a month (source: briskine.com)
- 3
Text Blaze
Chrome users who want snippets on a free plan
The Free plan is free forever, with limited snippets and limited snippet sharing. Pro is $2.99 a month, billed yearly.
- Where it works
- Chrome, Windows and Mac apps (source: blaze.today)
- First paid plan
- Pro: $2.99 a month, billed yearly (source: blaze.today)
Start free at Text BlazeTerms read on blaze.today on Text Blaze: the free allowance and how to start - 4
Typedesk
Solo users who want templates in a desktop app
The Free plan is for personal use, with unlimited templates and up to 50 uses per week. It is limited to a single user.
- 5
aText
Mac users who want to test a text expander for 21 days
The Version 3 trial for macOS is free for 21 days. After it, a Personal one-year license is listed at $4.99.
- Where it works
- Mac (macOS 10.12 to 15) (source: trankynam.com)
- First paid plan
- Personal one year: $4.99 (source: trankynam.com)
Open-source and desktop text expanders
Text expanders you install free, some open source.
- 1
Raycast
Mac teams that want shared Snippets at no cost
The Free and Team plans are available for organizational use, including in corporate environments. The free Team plan is limited to 30 shared Snippets.
- First paid plan
- Pro: $10 a month, or $96 a year (source: raycast.com)
- 2
Espanso
Developers who want an expander on Windows, Linux or Mac
Open source under the GPL-3 license, and it supports Windows, Linux and macOS.
- Where it works
- Windows, Linux and macOS (source: espanso.org)
- 3
Beeftext
Windows users who want a free, open-source expander
Free, as in free beer, and open source. It is an open-source text substitution tool for Windows.
- What's free
- Free and open source (source: beeftext.org)
- Where it works
- Windows (source: beeftext.org)
- 4
AutoHotkey
Windows users comfortable writing small scripts
A free, open-source scripting language for Windows, so you write your text expansions as scripts.
- Where it works
- Windows only (source: autohotkey.com)
Start free at AutoHotkeyTerms read on autohotkey.com on AutoHotkey: the free allowance and how to start
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How this comparison is built
The list covers text expander and snippet tools a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each app's terms. Every term comes from the app's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on snippets or characters, team sharing kept for paid plans, the apps or browsers it works in can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the provider states them. Some of these apps pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a app appears, and no app pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free text expander?
It depends on where you type. By the terms each provider states, TextExpander is free forever with 5 active Snippets, Briskine gives 30 templates for one person, Raycast is free for personal and team use, and Espanso is open source on Windows, Linux and macOS.
Is TextExpander free?
TextExpander has a free plan with 5 active Snippets and one swap every 2 weeks; its Pro plan is $5 a user a month, billed annually.
Is there a free open-source text expander?
Yes. Espanso is open source under GPL-3 and runs on Windows, Linux and macOS, and Beeftext and AutoHotkey are free and open source on Windows.
Is Text Blaze free?
Text Blaze is free forever with limited snippets and sharing; its Pro plan is $2.99 a month, billed yearly.
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