Espanso vs Lightning Assist

Espanso detects configured keywords as they are typed and replaces them with saved text. It supports reusable templates for customer support replies, sales pitches, and medical reports, while a search bar opened with Alt+Space helps users find and insert snippets. Snippets can also insert dates, including past and future dates, or emoji shortcuts. They may run shell commands or custom scripts, and forms can pass values to scripts. Users can install or build reusable packages through Espanso Hub, which includes a package manager and store. Espanso says it works with most applications and supports app-specific configurations. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and costs nothing under the GPL-3 open-source license. Configuration is handled through YAML files; a graphical interface is described as planned for the future. Users can sync configuration through cloud storage such as Dropbox or Google Drive, or through GitHub, although the unmanaged-directory method is experimental. The software ships with very few built-in matches, and some trigger types remain unsupported.

Lightning Assist is a desktop text expander for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It turns short triggers into snippets inside desktop applications, including Gmail, Slack, Zendesk, Outlook, Word, Notion, VS Code, Cursor, and terminal apps. AI Commands can rewrite, summarize, or fix text with a hotkey, while AI Enhance rewrites selected text in place. Push-to-talk voice typing transcribes speech at the cursor and is available on the free tier using Speech Credits. Pro includes Lightning Recall, which suggests a saved snippet based on the phrase being typed and runs on the user's device. The maker says the native app works offline, keystrokes stay on-device, and synced snippet content is encrypted in transit and at rest. Free accounts allow up to 20 snippets and five snippets per import; Pro supports unlimited snippets and imports and up to 15 teams. The pricing page lists Pro at $5.99 per user per month as its paid-from price and also shows $2.99 per month with code LIFETIME50, described as 50% off monthly. A 14-day trial is offered.