The Magical alternative that’s free forever and works far beyond the browser.
Snippets on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone, and iPad, synced in real time, from a company whose whole focus is text expansion. Share them with up to 5 teammates on the free plan, and use them for work from day one.
Free forever · No credit card required · 30-day preview of advanced features
Four reasons people switch from Magical.
Magical’s company focus has moved to AI agents for healthcare operations, and its text expander runs only as a Chrome extension. TextExpander is built for text expansion everywhere you type.
A free plan with nothing left to guess.
TextExpander’s free plan is built for how people really work: on every device, with a small team, for work, from day one. Every limit is written on the pricing page. No trial clock and no credit card.
- Unlimited saved Snippets, 5 active at a time
- Works on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone, and iPad
- Share Snippets with up to 5 team members
- AI Recommended Snippets and MCP access for AI agents
- Fill-ins, dates, date picker, and Snippet Groups
- Use it for work, no credit card required
- Chrome extension only, with no Mac or Windows desktop app
- No iPhone, iPad, or Android app found
- Free-plan limits on template actions are not published
- No public pricing page; the old pricing URL redirects to the homepage
- Company focus is now AI agents for healthcare operations
Magical details from getmagical.com, the Magical help center, and its Chrome Web Store listing, September 2026.
Your team started on a browser extension. Now IT needs control.
Admin controls that keep a growing library accurate.
Shared snippets are easy. Keeping thousands of them on-brand, approved, and secure on every device is the hard part. TextExpander ships the governance tools large teams ask for.
Approval workflows with Snippet Requests
Team members submit complete, formatted Snippets or edits. Assigned admins and editors review, approve, and publish from a dedicated Requests queue with filters and notification badges.
Limited role for a trusted library
On Enterprise, decide who can add to your shared library. Assign the Limited role to people or whole Teams, so new members can use approved content and submit ideas without publishing directly.
Official and shared content, clearly separated
Organization and Shared tabs show which Snippet Groups are admin-curated and which were shared between teammates. Admins can promote, move, or return any Group.
Version history, revert, and restore
Snippet Activity tracks every change to your Snippets. Revert to a previous version or restore a deleted Snippet in seconds, with unlimited history on Enterprise.
SSO, SCIM, and domain controls
Google SSO on Business. All SSO providers, SCIM provisioning, and enforced email domains on Enterprise, plus sign-up by email domain and configurable session timeouts.
Visibility and reporting
See every Snippet members share with each other, audit team membership, and track time saved and top Snippets with organization statistics, export, and customized reporting.
TextExpander vs Magical, feature by feature.
Checked against Magical’s own site, its Chrome Web Store listing, and TextExpander’s latest releases, September 2026.
| Feature | TextExpander | Magical |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | ||
| Free forever plan | Free to install; terms not published | |
| Free plan limits published | On the pricing page | |
| Unlimited saved Snippets on the free plan | Not published | |
| Share with a team on the free plan | Not published | |
| Mobile access on the free plan | ||
| Works where you work | ||
| Dedicated text expansion product | Core of the company | Focus moved to healthcare AI agents |
| macOS app | ||
| Windows app | ||
| Chrome extension | ||
| iPhone and iPad app | None found | |
| Snippets expand in desktop apps and EHR clients | Browser only | |
| Built for teams | ||
| Shared Snippet libraries with permissions | Every plan | Team workspaces |
| Snippet Requests with admin review and approval | Business | Not advertised |
| Limited role to control who adds to the shared library | Enterprise | Not advertised |
| Snippet version history, revert, and restore | Unlimited on Enterprise | Not advertised |
| Guest sharing outside your organization | Business | Not advertised |
| Organization usage statistics | Export on Business | Not advertised |
| Single sign-on | Google SSO on Business | Enterprise |
| SCIM user provisioning | Enterprise | Not advertised |
| Smart Snippets and AI | ||
| Fill-in fields and forms | Variables from the web page | |
| Conditional Sections with nested branches | Not advertised | |
| Delay macro for slow-loading forms and CRMs | Not advertised | |
| Publish a Snippet as a shareable link | Not advertised | |
| JavaScript, AppleScript, and shell script Snippets | Pro | Not advertised |
| AI Snippet suggestions | AI Recommended Snippets | AI drafting |
| MCP access for AI agents | Not advertised | |
| Security and compliance | ||
| SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance | SOC 2 and SOC 3; BAA available on request | Stated by Magical |
Built for how teams actually work.
Your Snippets, beyond the browser.
Magical runs as a Chrome extension, so its shortcuts stop working the moment you leave the browser. TextExpander expands in desktop email, Word, Slack, and EHR clients, and it’s on your iPhone and iPad too.
- Native apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone, and iPad
- Chrome extension for web apps
- Snippets sync across devices in real time
- The same Snippets work in every app you type in
A company whose whole job is text expansion.
Magical’s homepage and sales now center on AI agents for healthcare operations, and its Chrome extension was last updated in April 2026. At TextExpander, text expansion and shared team messaging are the product, and the releases keep coming.
- iPhone and iPad app on the App Store, September 2026
- Snippet Requests with an admin approval queue
- Limited role and Snippet Activity version history
- AI Recommended Snippets and MCP access for AI agents
Plans you can read before you commit.
Every TextExpander plan, feature, and limit is on the pricing page, so you can roll it out to a team with no surprises. Magical does not publish a pricing page or its free-plan limits, which makes it hard to plan around.
- Free forever for work use, with up to 5 teammates
- 30-day preview of advanced features at signup
- Google SSO on Business; all providers and SCIM on Enterprise
- SOC 2 and SOC 3 certified, HIPAA compliant, BAA available on request
Why teams tell us they’re switching.
“Their biggest pain point [with Magical] was just that they don’t have a lot of good technical support… It’s not really going to work effectively as a firm-wide solution because it doesn’t segment things in the way we wanted.”
“Magical is extension based… you’ve got to be on Chrome. And if you want to update it, you’ve got to force quit Chrome and then reload it. Maybe TextExpander would be the way to go, because then we can run it as an app, push the updates, and it will work across all of our platforms.”
Move from Magical in an afternoon.
If your Magical account offers an export, start there. If not, copy each shortcut and its text into a spreadsheet with “abbreviation” and “snippet” columns, then upload it on the Import/Export page at textexpander.com. Rebuild page variables as TextExpander fill-in fields, and your templates work in desktop apps and on your phone, not just in Chrome.
Moving a whole team? Send us your export and our team will help convert it into a TextExpander import. Talk to us
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before switching to TextExpander.