The best AI assistants for Mac in 2026

Hold Fn + ⌘ in any app, ask out loud, let go. Koi answers out loud, and it hears you only while you hold its keys, or during a call you start from the app or the menu bar, until it ends. Ask “which one do I click?” and it circles the button. Ask how something works and it sketches it on a board over your screen. Select text anywhere and say “make it shorter”; ⌘Z takes it back. Say “click Skip” and it clicks, then checks that it worked. It searches the web when the answer is current, and you can type to it instead by tapping Control twice.

A picture of the screen goes with every question by default, and you can switch that to only when you ask, or never. Koi won't buy, send, post, delete, sign in or type a password, and that's enforced in the app. The same app has dictation that runs on your Mac, unlimited on every plan with Fn + ⌥, and call recording with no bot.

There's no free plan: Pro is $20 a month, or $192 a year, after a 3-day free trial that needs a card. Lifetime is paid once: $59 for the first 100 buyers, then the price climbs as it sells. The catch: Koi is Mac only (macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel), your voice and screen go to the AI provider during a call, and it has no third-party connectors, MCP, scheduled tasks or long jobs that run in the background. It does read the Mac's own apps, like Calendar, Reminders, Mail, Notes and Contacts, when you allow it.

OpenAI's desktop app combines Chat, Work and Codex. Press both Command keys and it sends the front window to a chat as an Appshot. With Screen context on in its Voice settings, say “Take a look at this” during ChatGPT Voice and it takes one for you.

Computer Use, a plugin for ChatGPT Work and Codex, sees and operates Mac apps, and asks your permission before it uses each one. It's only in supported regions. ChatGPT Voice in the desktop app, where Screen context lives, needs Plus ($20 a month) or higher; the free plan gets limited voice chat. The app needs macOS 14 on Apple silicon or Intel, and runs on Windows too.

Where it beats Koi: it can keep working on a longer task in the background, and it's on Windows as well as the Mac.

Double-tap Option in any app to open quick entry. Drag to capture a screenshot, or click a window to share it, then ask. Press Caps Lock to dictate. Quick entry is on every Claude plan, Free included, and needs macOS 12 or later (14 for dictation).

On Pro ($20 a month) and Max (from $100), computer use, in beta, lets Claude click, type and open apps in Cowork and Claude Code. It asks before it touches each app and blocks trading and crypto apps by default. Anthropic's help page says those safeguards aren't perfect. Claude also runs on Windows.

Press the hotkey and HeyClicky sees what you see. Ask out loud and it walks you through it, drawing on your screen to point the way. Its agents do the task for you, work with apps you connect like Gmail and your calendar, and run routines on a schedule. Before an agent clicks or types, it asks.

Free gives 25 talk messages and 25 agent messages a month. Pro is $20 a month with unlimited talk and 150 agent messages, and Max is $100 with 1,000. Its trust page says nothing is processed locally, and the AI's analysis of each screenshot is kept. It's Mac only, macOS 14.2 or later, with a Windows waitlist. Our HeyClicky alternatives page compares it with Koi in detail.

Raycast puts AI inside its launcher: Quick AI for small questions, AI Chat, commands like Fix Spelling and Grammar, and AI Extensions that work with tools like Linear, Things, Slack, Mail, Calendar and GitHub. Screen Awareness gives it context from what's on your screen, and Automations run agents on a schedule. It uses models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, your own API keys, or local models through Ollama.

The Free plan has no AI. Pro is $10 a month, or $96 a year, with 500 AI credits a month. Plus, at $20, adds the top-tier models, and Max is $50. Raycast says your data is stored on your computer, and its agreements bar its AI providers from training on what you ask. Its site says the current version needs macOS Tahoe and Apple silicon.

Perplexity's Mac app includes Personal Computer, an agent that works across folders you choose, operates Mac apps like Mail, Finder, Slack, Messages and Notes, and hands web work to Perplexity's Comet browser, which can fill in forms on sites you're signed in to. Most of the work runs in the cloud. On an Apple silicon Mac with 24 GB of memory or more, Pro and Max subscribers can run some steps on local models instead.

Every account can use the app for everyday questions, attachments and dictation. The agent needs a paid plan and runs on credits: Pro, at $20 a month or $200 a year, includes a weekly amount, and Max, at $200 a month, includes 10,000 credits a month. It needs macOS 15 or later and runs on Windows too. It suits big jobs you hand off; for a quick “what does this button do?” it's more than you need.

Apple says Siri AI, in beta on macOS 27, lets you ask questions, take action and search based on what's on your Mac screen. Command-Shift-Space picks a window to ask about, and Command-Shift-6 lets you select part of the screen. It needs an Apple Intelligence Mac, M1 or later, and works in English to start.

It's built in, with daily usage limits on the features that use Apple's servers, and Apple says expanded access will cost a fee in the future. Intel Macs and older macOS versions don't get it.

Press Option + Space for a mini chat, or both Command keys to share your screen context. You can dictate and edit text across open apps, and Gemini Spark, Google's agent, can tidy folders and summarize local files into Docs and Sheets. It pulls in Gmail, Drive and Calendar as well.

It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later. The app is free with a Google account, and some features need a Google AI subscription. Google's Gemini privacy hub says activity is kept for 18 months by default, and some chats are read by human reviewers.