Never type in the wrong language again.
Rekey is a free macOS menu-bar app that notices when a word came out in the wrong keyboard layout and rewrites it in place — then switches the layout for you, so you just keep typing. It is an automatic keyboard layout switcher for Mac and a native alternative to Punto Switcher and Caramba Switcher, made by Taras Trishchuk and published at trishchuk.com/rekey.
One uninterrupted key sequence, nothing staged. ghbdsn typed on the English layout becomes
привіт and the layout flips to Ukrainian; Цщкдв typed on the Ukrainian layout becomes
World and it flips back.
macOS 13 Ventura or later · one universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel · free
This is a public beta. It updates itself, and on beta builds it sends anonymous crash reports by default so problems actually get fixed — both can be switched off in Settings.
- Fixes the word, not your flow. When a word scores far higher in another language than in the one you typed it in, Rekey deletes it, switches the layout and retypes it correctly. No dialog, no confirmation.
- Whole runs, not just single words. A short word that cannot be judged on its own is held
back until the next word settles the question, so
f ytbecomesа неrather than nothing. - Undo teaches it. Press ⌘Z within five seconds of a correction and Rekey adds that word to its ignore list. It does not make the same mistake on the same word twice.
- Manual switching too. Double-tap Shift by default — or Control, Option, Command, ⌃Space, ⌘Space, ⌥⌘Space.
- Stays out of the way. Password fields, terminals and code editors are excluded by default, and it skips text that looks like a URL, a path or code.
34 languages across Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Georgian and Korean scripts, including Ukrainian, English, German, French, Spanish, Polish and Czech. The full list is in Settings ▸ Languages.
Detection is not a lookup table: each word is scored against per-language letter-pair and letter-triple frequencies plus a dictionary, built from real corpus data rather than from a word list someone typed out by hand.
| Rekey | Caramba Switcher | Punto Switcher | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Languages supported | 34 | EN + RU | EN + RU |
| Your text never leaves your Mac | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Whole-sentence correction | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Respects password fields | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Excludes code editors by default | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Instant undo (⌘Z) | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Native Swift, no Electron | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Built for modern macOS | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Price | Free | $6.99/year | Free |
Comparison based on publicly available information, June 2026.
Looking for a Punto Switcher alternative for Mac? That is exactly what this is — except it was built for people who type in more than two languages. Punto Switcher is a Windows tool from Yandex; its old Mac version is no longer maintained and does not run reliably on Apple Silicon. Caramba Switcher works on modern macOS but focuses on English and Russian and is sold by subscription.
Longer write-ups on the website:
- Punto Switcher for Mac — the native macOS alternative
- Best Punto Switcher alternatives for Mac, compared
- Best Caramba Switcher alternatives for Mac, compared
- Head to head: Rekey vs Caramba Switcher · Rekey vs Boomkey · Rekey vs Keyboop · Rekey vs MLSwitcher · Rekey vs Flipio
- Coming from Windows: Mahou alternative · EveryLang alternative
Is there a Punto Switcher for Mac? Not a current one. The old Mac build of Punto Switcher is no longer maintained and does not run reliably on Apple Silicon. Rekey does the same job — fixing text typed in the wrong layout and switching the layout — as a native Swift app for current macOS.
Is Rekey free? Yes. It is free, with no account and no subscription. It is currently a public beta.
Does it work on Apple Silicon? Yes. One universal build runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Which languages does it support? 34 languages, including Ukrainian, English, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. It works with any pair or set of layouts you have installed, not only English and Russian.
Does it send what I type anywhere? No. Every word is analysed on your Mac. See Privacy for the short list of what does leave the machine.
Can I still switch layouts by hand? Yes. Double-tap Shift by default, or pick Control, Option, Command, ⌃Space, ⌘Space or ⌥⌘Space instead.
Your keystrokes are analysed on your Mac and never transmitted. Rekey has no account, no sync and no server-side text processing.
Four things can leave the machine, and nothing else:
- The update check — the app asks the website whether a newer version exists.
- One install ping — a single message when you finish the welcome screen, recording which permissions you granted and whether you finished setup. It carries no identifier of any kind, not even a random one, so the installs cannot be told apart or counted twice.
- Crash reports — on beta builds, on by default and switchable in Settings.
- Your email address — only if you type one in during setup and tick a box.
Full text: Privacy Policy.
Beta feedback belongs in Issues — bug reports, false corrections, a language that scores badly. If Rekey mangled a word it should have left alone, that is the single most useful thing you can report: include the word, the two layouts and the app you were typing in.
How to report a problem explains what to include. New issues start from one of three templates: Bug report, Language not detected well and Idea or feedback. Security issues go through a private report instead — see SECURITY.md.
Rekey is not open source today. This repository exists for releases and for issue tracking; the source lives elsewhere. The app is free, distributed as a signed and notarized build directly from trishchuk.com/rekey.
Other apps share the name Rekey. This one is made by Taras Trishchuk and is published only at trishchuk.com/rekey and in this repository.
English · Українська · Deutsch · Polski · Español · Français · Nederlands · Ελληνικά · Türkçe · עברית · العربية