Khint vs Apple Intelligence,when the built-in isn't enough.
Apple's tools stop at Mail, Pages, and Notes. Khint runs the same AI shortcut in every other Mac app.
Twelve capabilities,
two reaches.
Apps supported, custom prompts, OCR, MCP, hardware. The honest side-by-side.
When Apple Intelligence is enough.
- Your day lives in Mail, Pages, Notes, and Messages. The preset Friendly / Professional / Concise tones cover what you need.
- You want zero install and zero subscription. Apple Intelligence ships with macOS on Apple Silicon Macs and is free.
- You don't need custom prompts, chained actions, OCR, or an MCP server.
When you'll outgrow it.
- Slack, Linear, Jira, Cursor, Notion, Obsidian, Intercom, Zendesk: none of them are supported by Apple Intelligence Writing Tools. Khint runs the same shortcut in every one of them.
- You need custom prompts ("Turn into a Jira ticket", "Explain this error", "Translate keeping technical terms in English") or chains that run several Actions in series. Apple Intelligence ships preset tones only.
- You need an OCR shortcut for arbitrary screen regions, or an MCP server so Claude Desktop and Cursor can read your active work session.
Can you use both?
Yes. Many Khint users keep Apple Intelligence on for Mail proofreading and run Khint everywhere else: Slack drafts, Linear tickets, Cursor commit messages, Intercom replies, OCR of stack traces from screenshots. Both can run in parallel without conflict, and there's no shared shortcut.
Common questions.
Why use Khint over Apple Intelligence Writing Tools?
Reach and control. Apple Intelligence Writing Tools live inside a handful of Apple apps (Mail, Pages, Notes, Messages, Safari). They don't show up in Slack, Linear, Jira, Cursor, Notion, Obsidian, Intercom, or Zendesk, which is where most knowledge work actually happens. Khint runs the same AI shortcut in any Mac app you can paste in, with prompts you write yourself, packs you share, and chains that run up to five actions in a row. If your day is in Apple's apps, Apple's tool is enough. If your day is everywhere else, Khint covers it.
Does Khint work in apps that Apple Intelligence doesn't support?
Yes. That's the headline difference. Khint reads selected text from any Mac app via the system clipboard and pastes the AI output back through the same path. Slack, Linear, Jira, Cursor, VS Code, Notion, Obsidian, Intercom, Zendesk, and any Electron or web-wrapper app all work. The shortcut is the same everywhere: Cmd+Shift+K to open the palette, pick the Action, paste.
Can I write my own prompts in Khint?
Yes. Every Khint Action is a prompt you can edit. Apple Intelligence Writing Tools ship preset tones (Friendly, Professional, Concise) and you cannot edit them or add your own. In Khint you write Actions like 'Turn into a Jira ticket', 'Explain this error in 2 sentences then suggest the next debug step', or 'Translate to French keeping the technical terms in English'. Group them into Packs, run them in Chains.
Does Apple Intelligence have OCR or MCP?
Apple ships Live Text (OCR on images and from the camera, in Photos and a few other apps), but there is no system-wide OCR shortcut for arbitrary screen regions. Khint adds an OCR capture from the palette: drag a region anywhere on the screen, get the text. Apple Intelligence does not expose itself as an MCP server; Khint runs a standalone MCP server (`khint-mcp`) so Claude Desktop and Cursor can read your active work session.
Is Khint compatible with Apple Intelligence on the same Mac?
Yes. They don't compete for the same shortcut and don't read each other's output. Many Khint users keep Apple Intelligence on for Mail proofreading and use Khint everywhere else: Slack drafts, Linear tickets, Cursor commit messages, Intercom replies. Both can run in parallel without conflict.
One shortcut for every Mac app.
Apple Intelligence stops at Mail, Pages, and Notes. Khint runs the same AI shortcut in any Mac app, with custom prompts and chains. Free, 10 AI actions per day.