As someone who spends much of the day writing, I‘m always looking for tools to help me work more efficiently. TextExpander is a productivity app that aims to save you time and typing by letting you insert snippets of frequently-used text and other content with just a few keystrokes. I‘ve been using it for a while now and in this TextExpander review I‘ll share how it works, the key features, pricing info, and my thoughts on whether it‘s worth it.
What is TextExpander and how does it work?
TextExpander is a cross-platform app for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Chrome that lets you create short abbreviations that expand into longer snippets of text when typed. For example, you could create a snippet where typing "addr" automatically inserts your full mailing address. Or "loremipsum" could generate a paragraph of dummy text. Or "sig" could insert your email signature.
The idea is that you can save time, typing, and mental energy by letting TextExpander do the heavy lifting of entering text you use repeatedly. It can also help ensure consistency and accuracy in your writing.
Once installed, TextExpander runs in the background and works in any app. Your snippets sync automatically across all your devices. It‘s simple but powerful.
Key TextExpander Features
Beyond basic text snippets, TextExpander has evolved to include some very useful features:
Creating snippets for frequently used text
The core functionality of TextExpander is creating and inserting text snippets. This could be anything you type regularly – an address, message, code block, URL, emoji, etc.
You create a snippet by giving it an abbreviation and the content to insert. For example, "ddate" could output the current date, or "myemail" could insert your email address. Then whenever you type that abbreviation, TextExpander replaces it with the full snippet contents.
You can also create multi-line snippets, formatted text with styling, and snippets containing images or URLs.
Correcting typos and mistakes
Since TextExpander can watch what you type and replace it, a great use case is auto-correcting common typos and misspellings. For example, "teh" becomes "the", "adn" becomes "and", etc. You can fix your own frequent mistakes and misspellings automatically.
Inserting special characters and emoji
Snippets are also very handy for inserting special characters that are a pain to type normally, like accented letters, symbols, Unicode characters, and emoji. Much easier than digging through menus or memorizing key codes.
Date and time math
Another useful feature is dynamic content in snippets, such as automatically inserting the current date and time in any format you want. You can even do date math to insert a future or past date, like "2 weeks from now". Huge time saver over manual date entry and great for things like meeting notes and task lists.
Templates with fill-ins
For more advanced uses, you can create templates that mix boilerplate text with fill-in fields that prompt you for additional input when expanding the snippet. This lets you quickly generate customized responses from a template.
For example, you could create an email reply template with blanks for the recipient‘s name, key details, etc. Or a form template that asks for the required info each time. It‘s a great way to standardize common documents and messages.
Interface and Ease of Use
TextExpander has a clean, user-friendly interface for creating and managing snippets. There‘s a menu bar icon for quick access, and a main app window that lets you organize snippets into groups and search your library.
Creating a new snippet is straightforward – just give it an abbreviation, type or paste the desired content, and optionally tweak any settings. There are fields for the snippet name, an expandable description, and label tags for easy filtering.
More advanced fields are available but nicely tucked away, like options to position the cursor after expansion, add a hotkey, restrict expansion to certain apps, and more. It‘s thoughtfully designed to make common tasks easy and quick while providing additional power if you need it.
In use, it‘s pretty seamless – TextExpander just runs quietly in the background and does its text expansion thing whenever you type a matching abbreviation. A small popup lets you know it‘s working. If you forget an abbreviation, a quick search in the TextExpander window will find it.
I found there was a slight learning curve to memorize my abbreviations at first, but once you have your key snippets down it quickly becomes second nature. The time and typing it saves you is immediately noticeable and highly satisfying.
TextExpander Pricing and Plans
Now the part you‘re probably most curious about – how much does TextExpander cost?
TextExpander prices their plans as a subscription, billed either monthly or annually. They offer a few different options:
Individual Plans
- Annual: $39.96/year ($3.33/month)
- Monthly: $4.16/month
Team Plans
- Team: $9.95/user/month (up to 9 users)
- Growth: $12.95/user/month (up to 49 users)
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, contact sales (50+ users)
Team plans include some additional features over individual plans like team snippet sharing, central user management, detailed reporting, and priority support.
All plans have a free 30 day trial, so you can test drive the full app before deciding to subscribe.
Is TextExpander worth the price?
So are TextExpander‘s plans a good value? Of course it depends on your needs and budget, but for me the time and effort it saves makes it absolutely worth a few bucks a month. It easily pays for itself in improved efficiency.
However, the lack of a one-time purchase option is a sticking point for some people. I‘m personally fine with quality apps using a reasonably-priced subscription model to fund ongoing development and support, but I know not everyone is. You‘ll have to decide if you‘re willing to add another subscription.
Compared to other text expansion apps, TextExpander‘s pricing is on the higher end, especially for individual users. Most competing apps are a one-time purchase in the $30-$50 range. But TextExpander arguably packs in more features, and the subscription does include free upgrades and syncing across unlimited devices which adds value.
For an individual just wanting basic snippets, cheaper alternatives may suffice. But for power users and teams, TextExpander‘s price will likely be justified by the depth of features and cross-platform availability. It offers some advanced tools others lack.
Personally, I get enough ongoing value from TextExpander to be fine with the subscription. It‘s a professional tool and the price feels fair to me for what it provides. And it‘s a business expense.
Pros and Cons of TextExpander
To summarize, here are the key pros and cons I‘ve found with TextExpander:
Pros:
- Easy to create snippets for inserting frequently-used text
- Saves a lot of time and typing, boosts efficiency
- Corrects typos and mistakes automatically
- Makes inserting special characters, accents, emoji much easier
- Date/time math is super handy for scheduling and documents
- Fill-in templates allow quick generation of customized content
- Syncs snippets across all devices seamlessly
- Very user-friendly, thoughtfully designed interface
- Lots of advanced features for power users
Cons:
- Steeper learning curve than some simpler text expansion apps
- Monthly/annual subscription model won‘t appeal to everyone
- Pricier than most of the competition
- Lacks some advanced scripting capabilities of a few alternatives
- Occasional syncing delays or glitches (rare in my experience)
TextExpander Alternatives
TextExpander is great but it‘s not the only text expansion app out there. Here are a few of the main alternatives you might consider:
Mac Alternatives
- Typinator ($25 one-time) – Popular, more affordable alternative with good features
- aText ($5 one-time) – Cheap and cheerful, does basic expansion well
- TypeIt4Me ($20 one-time) – Another solid, no-frills option
- Keyboard Maestro ($36 one-time) – Expansions, macros, and deep automation for power users
- Alfred (£29 one-time) – All-in-one productivity app with text expansions
Windows Alternatives
- PhraseExpress ($50 one-time) – Cross-platform, feature-rich alternative
- Breevy ($35 one-time) – Affordable, compatible with TextExpander snippets
- AutoHotKey (Free) – Open source scripting language for deep customization
OS Built-in Options
Both macOS and Windows include bare bones text replacement features built-in for free. They are very limited compared to a full app like TextExpander but can work for simple needs:
- Mac: System Preferences > Keyboard > Text
- Windows 10: Settings > Devices > Typing > Advanced keyboard settings > Autocorrect options
For basic text expansion, the free options might suffice. But for more advanced capabilities, customization, and benefits like syncing and cross-platform access, a dedicated app is still the way to go.
My Experience with TextExpander
I‘ve been using TextExpander for over 5 years now, and it‘s become an indispensable tool in my workflow. I‘m a writer, and it‘s so handy for inserting frequently-used blobs of text like URLs, code snippets, email signatures, product info, ASCII art, and more. Anywhere I can save myself a few keystrokes, I do.
I also love it for fixing my common typos automatically. I have a bad habit of transposing letters in certain words I type all the time, so I just have TextExpander fix them for me. Over time it really adds up to a lot less frustration and wasted time!
The date math features are another favorite – so great for meeting notes, scheduling, and to-do lists. I have snippets that will instantly insert things like "Next Monday" or "3 days ago" which I find myself using constantly.
It did take me a bit to get in the habit of using my abbreviations, but once I did it became like second nature. Now when I‘m on a computer without it I really notice the difference! It‘s crazy how much time and effort it saves me, in ways I never even thought about before.
I also appreciate how seamlessly it syncs across my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. I can access all the same snippets everywhere which is very convenient. Occasionally there will be a small delay with a new snippet syncing but it‘s rare and resolves quickly.
While I was initially hesitant about the subscription pricing, the more I‘ve used it the more I feel I‘m getting my money‘s worth. It‘s a professional tool that enhances my productivity every day in meaningful ways. Well worth a few bucks a month and a business expense for me.
Obviously TextExpander won‘t be for everyone – if you don‘t type much or only need dead simple snippets it‘s probably overkill. But if you write a lot and want to save time and mental energy, it‘s a great tool to have in your belt. The free trial is worth checking out to see if it clicks for you.
The Bottom Line
So where does that leave us on TextExpander? If your work involves a lot of typing, it‘s an excellent productivity tool to save you time, typos, and tedium. While there is a bit of a learning curve and the price is higher than some alternatives, in return you get a lot of genuinely useful features in a highly polished, easy to use package.
The core text expansion functionality is top notch, with advanced capabilities like multi-line snippets, formatted text, fill-in templates, macros, and more. Automatic syncing across devices is a major convenience. And thoughtful touches are everywhere, from the clean, intuitive interface to the extensive customization options to little delighters like emoji support. It‘s an app that‘s a pleasure to use.
That said, the subscription pricing model isn‘t for everyone and could be a dealbreaker for some. If you don‘t need all the bells and whistles, cheaper one-time purchase alternatives may fit the bill. And if you‘re a power user there are a few apps out there with even more advanced macro and scripting capabilities. But as an all-around, cross-platform text expansion solution TextExpander is hard to beat.
For me, TextExpander has earned a place as an essential tool that I use every day. It saves me hours of cumulative time on a regular basis and lets me work smarter. If you‘ve ever caught yourself re-typing the same thing again and again, I highly recommend giving it a try. Let it do the heavy lifting for you!