Google Translate alternative
A Google Translate alternative that never opens a tab
A Google Translate alternative that works where you type: select text in WhatsApp, Slack, Outlook or any app on Windows and Mac, press one shortcut, and the translation replaces it. 50+ languages, free plan.
Google Translate is everywhere and it is free. It is also a tab. Every translation means leaving the message you are writing, pasting, reading, copying and coming back. Chatting with a client in another language turns into tab tennis.
KeyShift translates the text in the field you are in, with one shortcut, and types the result back. For a long conversation, Live translate turns every double space into a translation, so you type in your own language and they read theirs.
What Google Translate is built around
- A website, an app and a page translator in Chrome.
- A language picker and a paste box.
- Literal translation; tone, register and length are not inputs.
What KeyShift does instead
- Translate in place. Select the text, Ctrl+Shift+A, Translate, choose the language. The result is typed where the original was.
- Live translate. Settings, Live translate, pick the language. Type in Albanian, press space twice, the line is now English. Great for WhatsApp Desktop, Telegram and Slack.
- Tone comes with it. "Translate to Spanish, formal, as a business email" is one instruction.
- Translate text you cannot select. Press Ctrl+Shift+O and drag over an image, a scanned PDF or a video subtitle.
- Reply across languages. Select their message in Italian, choose Reply, write the answer in English, and send it in Italian.
Google Translate vs KeyShift at a glance
| Google Translate | KeyShift | |
|---|---|---|
| Translate selected text | Copy to a tab, copy back | In place, one shortcut |
| Live translation while chatting | No | Yes, on double space |
| Formal, casual, short: tone as input | No | Yes |
| Text in images, PDFs, video | Camera and image upload | Any region of the screen |
| Reply in another language from a received message | No | Yes |
| Works in | Browser and mobile app | Any text field on Windows, macOS, Android |
| Free | Yes | Yes, 25 AI actions a month |
Based on each product's public features. Other products change; if something here is out of date, write to support@keyshift.ai and we will fix it.
How KeyShift works, in any app
- Quick Actions: select text, press Ctrl+Shift+A (⌘⇧A on Mac), pick an action. The result replaces the selection.
- The typed trigger: write normally, add keyshift plus your instruction, press space twice. No selection, no shortcut.
- Voice (Ctrl+Shift+M), text from screen (Ctrl+Shift+O) and clipboard history (Ctrl+Shift+V) for the text you do not have yet.
- Undo any replacement with Ctrl+Shift+Z, up to 20 steps.
Windows 10 and later, macOS 11 and later, and Android. See the getting started guide.
Questions people ask
Which languages does KeyShift translate?
50+ languages with automatic detection of the source language. Because the instruction is free text, dialects and registers (Brazilian Portuguese, Swiss German, informal Spanish) work too.
Does it translate on my phone?
Yes, with the KeyShift keyboard for Android: translate the message you are writing inside WhatsApp, Instagram or any app. iPhone is coming.
Does it cost anything?
The Free plan has 25 AI actions a month. Pro is €5.99 a month or €47.99 a year with 10,000 actions, or unlimited on your own API key.
Try it in your own apps
Free plan, 25 AI actions a month, no card needed. Pro from €4 a month billed yearly.