The PhraseExpress alternative that’s free forever, even at work.
Snippets on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone, and iPad, synced in real time. Use them for your job from day one and share them with up to 5 teammates, with no server or shared folder to set up.
Free forever · No credit card required · 30-day preview of advanced features
Four reasons people switch from PhraseExpress.
The differences start with who is allowed to use the free version, and grow the moment a team needs to share.
A free plan you can actually use at work.
TextExpander’s free plan is built for how people really work: for your job, on every device, with a small team, from day one. No trial clock, no license reminders, 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
- Free only for personal, non-commercial use
- Paid work, managed devices, and work or school accounts need a license
- Not licensed for virtual machines, remote desktop, or servers
- License reminders and occasional license text in expansions after 30 days of commercial use
- Team sharing requires a paid edition plus a shared folder or a SQL Server you host
PhraseExpress license details from phraseexpress.com/shop/freeware and phraseexpress.com/shop, September 2026.
When infosec reviews your text expander, it needs to pass.
Admin controls that keep a growing library accurate.
Sharing a library should not mean running a database. Keeping thousands of Snippets on-brand, approved, and secure is the hard part, and TextExpander ships the governance tools large teams ask for, fully hosted.
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 PhraseExpress, feature by feature.
Checked against PhraseExpress’s own site and TextExpander’s latest releases, September 2026.
| Feature | TextExpander | PhraseExpress |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | ||
| Free forever plan | Personal use only | |
| Free for work and commercial use | ||
| Share with a team on the free plan | ||
| No license reminders in your text | Inserted after 30 days of commercial use | |
| Works where you work | ||
| macOS app | ||
| Windows app | ||
| Chrome extension | Not advertised | |
| iPhone and iPad app | Companion to the desktop app | |
| Same features on every platform | Mac has a subset of Windows features | |
| Built for teams | ||
| Shared Snippet libraries with permissions | Every plan | Paid editions only |
| Hosted sharing, no server or shared folder to maintain | Shared folder or self-hosted SQL Server | |
| Snippet Requests with admin review and approval | Business | Not advertised |
| Limited role to control who adds to the shared library | Enterprise | User and workgroup restrictions |
| Snippet version history, revert, and restore | Unlimited on Enterprise | Up to 100 versions per phrase |
| Guest sharing outside your organization | Business | Not advertised |
| Organization usage statistics | Export on Business | Via Client Manager |
| Single sign-on | Google SSO on Business | Azure Entra on Enterprise |
| SCIM user provisioning | Enterprise | Not advertised |
| Smart Snippets and AI | ||
| Fill-in fields and forms | Input forms | |
| Conditional Sections with nested branches | If-then-else macros | |
| Delay macro for slow-loading forms and CRMs | ||
| Publish a Snippet as a shareable link | Not advertised | |
| JavaScript, AppleScript, and shell script Snippets | Pro | Macro functions and program launch |
| AI Snippet suggestions | AI Recommended Snippets | SmartComplete; AI engines on Enterprise |
| MCP access for AI agents | Not advertised | |
| Security and compliance | ||
| SOC 2 | SOC 2 and SOC 3 | Not published |
| HIPAA compliance with a BAA | BAA available on request | Not published |
Built for how teams actually work.
Free for your job, not just your hobbies.
TextExpander’s free plan has no personal-use-only clause, so you can use it for client work, a salaried job, or a work laptop from day one. PhraseExpress freeware is limited to personal, non-commercial use, and paid work requires a license.
- Free forever, with no credit card required
- Unlimited saved Snippets, 5 active at a time
- No license reminders inserted into your text
- A 30-day preview of advanced features for new signups
Team sharing with no server to run.
Invite teammates by email and shared Snippet Groups appear on their devices. Up to 5 people can share on the free plan. PhraseExpress team sharing runs through a shared cloud or network folder, or a Microsoft SQL Server you host yourself.
- Hosted sharing with view and edit permissions
- Updates reach every teammate instantly
- Snippet Requests and guest sharing on Business
- Organization statistics to see what’s actually used
The same Snippets everywhere, ready for security reviews.
TextExpander works the same on Mac and Windows, and adds a Chrome extension plus an iPhone and iPad app. PhraseExpress documents that its Mac version supports a subset of its Windows features. TextExpander is also SOC 2 and SOC 3 certified and HIPAA compliant, with a BAA available on request.
- Native apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone, and iPad
- Chrome extension for web apps
- AI Recommended Snippets and MCP access for AI agents
- Google SSO on Business; all providers and SCIM on Enterprise
Why teams tell us they’re switching.
“We realized PhraseExpress in fact did not meet our governance requirements as an organization relating to infosec, data privacy, things like that.”
“This tool has been a game changer. We used to use PhraseExpress… definitely more outdated. [TextExpander] has saved us a lot of time and also has a lot of newer features that PhraseExpress didn’t offer.”
Move from PhraseExpress in an afternoon.
Export your phrases from PhraseExpress, arrange them in a spreadsheet with “abbreviation” and “snippet” columns, then upload it on the Import/Export page at textexpander.com. Test a few phrases first, since export formats vary. Plain text transfers cleanly. Rebuild macros with TextExpander fill-ins, Conditional Sections, and script Snippets.
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.