Typinator
mature text expander that still sells a one-time Basic licence
This version
Basic excludes the iOS app, email support and free major-version upgrades - the comparison table marks all three with a cross - and it is licensed for private, non-commercial use, so any work use needs the $59.99-a-year Business subscription. When version 11 arrives there is a paid upgrade at a reduced price, which is the honest shape of this purchase: one version bought outright, not updates forever. Prices exclude VAT, so EU and UK buyers pay closer to $60. There is no time-limited trial either; without an account the app runs indefinitely in a mode where expansions are restricted. Typinator 10 requires macOS 13 or newer.
Cost over five years
$50 once = 10 months of TextExpander. Over five years that is $300 rented against $49.99 owned — $250 kept, and you still have the app.
TextExpander priced at $60 a year — Pro plan for one user, billed annually. Checked 2026-09-22.
Typinator has been expanding abbreviations on the Mac since 2006, and the age shows in the good way. It fires reliably in text fields where newer expanders get confused, handles regular-expression triggers, nested and calculated snippets, date arithmetic and scripted output, and the auto-correction sets quietly fix typos you have been making for a decade.
The awkward part is the price list. Ergonis sells Typinator mainly as a subscription now, $29.99 a year for Advanced and $59.99 a year for Business, with the one-time Basic licence sitting off to the side at $49.99. Basic is macOS only, two devices, private use only, and covers minor updates to Typinator 10 but not version 11, which will be a discounted but genuinely paid upgrade. No iOS app, no email support, and prices exclude VAT, so a European buyer is nearer $60.
Do the arithmetic and Basic takes almost two years to beat the Advanced subscription, which is a long payback for a text expander. Buy it because you want an app that keeps working without a live account, not because it is the cheap option.
If you use your Mac for work you are not eligible for Basic at all, and if editing a YAML file does not bother you, Espanso covers most of this ground for nothing.
What it looks like
What it does
- Regular-expression and pattern-based triggers
- Nested, calculated and scripted snippets
- Auto-correction snippet sets for habitual typos
- Works in awkward text fields where newer expanders fail
- Shipping continuously since 2006
Cancel instead
Also bought outright in automation
The facts
- Price
- $49.99
- Licence
- Own this version forever
- What you get
- One payment buys this major version outright. The next major version is a separate purchase, if you want it.
- Details
- Basic is $49.99 as a one-time payment for the current major version, macOS only, single user on up to two devices, private use only, covering minor updates and bug fixes within that major version. The alternatives are subscriptions - Advanced at $29.99 a year (adds iOS and three devices) and Business at $59.99 a year for professional use - plus a custom-priced Enterprise tier. All prices are quoted excluding VAT.
- Free trial
- No
- On Setapp
- No
- Minimum macOS
- macOS 13
- Developer
- Ergonis Software
- Price checked
- 2026-09-22
Check it yourself - Price band
- $30 to $60