Clacky alternative for Mac: Kiiwi vs Clacky

Updated October 2026. Prices and features checked against each app's own website.

Clacky and Kiiwi both add satisfying sounds to your Mac, but they come at it from opposite ends. Clacky started with mouse and trackpad clicks and has grown into a toolkit with a screen recorder, screenshots, a clipboard and more. Kiiwi is focused on sound: real recordings of 32 mechanical keyboard switches, plus mouse clicks and scroll ticks.

Here's the honest comparison, written by the person who makes Kiiwi.

The short answer

• Choose Clacky if you want a bundle of Mac tools in one app (screen recording, screenshots, clipboard history, a text expander), with click sounds as part of it.
• Choose Kiiwi if what you want is the sound of a real mechanical keyboard, recorded from named switches, for a one-time price.

Kiiwi vs Clacky at a glance

Recorded vs synthesized

This is the biggest difference. Clacky's site says its sounds are synthesized: generated by software and tuned to feel good, grouped into families with names like Desk, Studio and Toybox.

Every Kiiwi sound is a recording of a real switch. If you know mechanical keyboards, you'll recognise them by name: the Holy Panda, Cherry MX Brown, Topre or the buckling spring of an IBM Model M. The number, top, home and bottom rows were recorded separately, the way a real board sounds different across its rows, and each key picks one of five pitch variants so typing never sounds like one sample on repeat.

If you want your Mac to sound like a specific keyboard, recordings get you there. If you want fun, designed sounds for clicks and taps, Clacky's families are made for that.

Keyboard first, or clicks first

Clacky's heart is the mouse and trackpad: a sound and a ripple for every click and scroll. Keyboard sounds came later.

Kiiwi's heart is the keyboard, with 32 switches grouped by feel (linear, tactile and clicky). It covers your mouse and trackpad too, with 8 click packs and scroll wheel ticks, and it counts your typing (keys per day, streaks, your best WPM over a full minute) and turns your week into a share card.

One app for sound, or one app for everything

Clacky has become a toolkit: it records your screen with captions, annotates screenshots, keeps clipboard history, expands text, snaps windows and tells you when an AI agent needs you. If you'd use those, that's a lot in one app.

Kiiwi does one thing. It lives in your menu bar, uses 0% CPU when you're not typing, and goes quiet from anywhere with ⇧⌘K.

Price

Clacky is offering its last 25 lifetime licences at $4.99. After those it moves to $4.99 a month, $39 a year, or $69 for a lifetime licence. It has a 7-day free trial with no card.

Kiiwi is $4.99 once for its first 100 buyers, then $6.99 once. There's no subscription, at any point.

Both sell direct from their own websites. Kiiwi isn't notarized by Apple yet, so the first time you open it, macOS asks you to confirm in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, Open Anyway. It's a one-time step.

Which should you pick?

• Pick Clacky if you want screen recording, screenshots and other tools in the same app, or playful designed click sounds, and you're happy with a subscription or a $69 lifetime licence.
• Pick Kiiwi if you want real mechanical keyboard recordings from named switches, with mouse and scroll sounds too, for a one-time price.

Questions

Are Clacky's sounds real recordings?

No. Clacky's website says its sounds are synthesized, though you can add your own recordings. Every Kiiwi sound is a recording of a real mechanical switch.

Does Clacky have mechanical keyboard sounds?

It has keyboard sounds, in its own sound families. Kiiwi's keyboard sounds are recordings of 32 named mechanical switches, like the Holy Panda, Topre and Cherry MX switches.

Is Clacky a subscription?

After its last 25 lifetime licences at $4.99, Clacky costs $4.99 a month, $39 a year or $69 for lifetime. Kiiwi is a one-time purchase: $4.99 for its first 100 buyers, then $6.99.

Can I try Kiiwi before buying?

Yes, and you don't need to download anything. Try how each switch sounds in the playground on the homepage, then open any switch in the switch library to type on it and hear every key, including the space bar, return and the separately recorded rows. If it still isn't right for you, Kiiwi has a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Does Kiiwi record my screen or keep my clipboard?

No. Kiiwi only plays sounds and counts how many keys you type, never which ones. Your typing and your stats stay on your Mac.

Clacky is a product of its developer, Justinas Rolando. Kiiwi isn't affiliated with Clacky. Details were checked on 5 October 2026, and Clacky's pricing in particular may have changed since.

Sources: Clacky's website (features, sounds, pricing, trial, macOS requirement).