A Mac menu bar app for the text you reuse
The text you reuse, one keystroke away.
Email replies, your signature and address, support answers, code, AI prompts. Keep them in one plain-text file, press a shortcut anywhere, type a few letters, hit Return, and paste.
macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon + Intel
Small app. Specific job.
Refrain does one thing: gets the text you keep retyping onto your clipboard in under a second.
A shortcut from anywhere
Press Control-Option-Space in any app. A search box opens over what you're doing. Type a few letters of a title or a phrase from the text, press Return, and paste.
You stay in the app you were using, so ⌘V is the next thing you press.
Or just click
Every snippet is also listed in the menu bar with a preview of its text. Click one and it's copied.
Edit in place
Right-click a snippet to edit, duplicate or delete it. Drag to reorder. The editor is a real text editor, so long snippets are comfortable to write.
A file you own
Snippets live in a readable markdown file at a location you pick. Put it in iCloud Drive, Dropbox or a git repo, or keep it local. Move it later from Settings.
Edits from other apps just work
Change the file in VS Code, Vim or TextEdit and Refrain reloads it right away.
vim ~/Documents/refrain-prompts.md :wq → Refrain reloads.
Short or long, it all fits
A one-line address, a three-paragraph support reply, a block of code, a detailed AI prompt. Refrain stores and copies each one whole, line breaks included.
name: support-got-it
---
13 starter snippets
An email signature, a mailing address, a meeting link, out-of-office and follow-up emails, support replies, a meeting notes template, a git command and two AI prompts, in your Mac's language. Edit them, delete them, or write your own.
email-signature · mailing-address · meeting-link · follow-up · out-of-office · support-got-it · git-undo-last-commit · summarize · …
In 14 languages
The app and its starter snippets are in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Indonesian, Serbian and Ukrainian.
How it compares to what you might use today
Good tools, aimed at slightly different jobs.
| Refrain | Raycast Snippets | Apple Text Replacement | Alfred Snippets | Plain .md file | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortcut + type to search | ✓ | ✓ | × | ✓ | × |
| Browse from the menu bar | ✓ | × | × | × | × |
| Multi-paragraph snippets | ✓ | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ |
| Plain-text file you own | ✓ | × | × | × | ✓ |
| Reloads when you edit outside | ✓ | × | × | × | ✓ |
| Not tied to a launcher | ✓ | × | ✓ | × | ✓ |
| Price | $9.99 once | Free* | Free | £34* | Free |
*Raycast Snippets are free inside Raycast. Alfred Snippets need the paid Powerpack.
Raycast and Alfred snippets live inside a launcher you have to adopt first. Apple Text Replacement expands short abbreviations as you type. Refrain is a small standalone app: your snippets sit in a file you control, you find them by searching, and long text is as easy as short.
One price. No subscription.
Pay once and Refrain is yours. No account, no tiers, no upsells. If it isn't for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund.
- Global shortcut + type-to-search palette
- Menu bar list of every snippet
- Your snippets in a plain-text file you own
- 13 starter snippets in your language
- Updates for version 1 included
- 30-day refund, no questions
Apple Pay, Google Pay or card through Stripe. Your download starts right after payment, and you can re-download anytime with your purchase email.
Questions
Is it a subscription?+
No. Refrain is $9.99 once. There's no account and no recurring charge. If it isn't right for you, email hello@greatwork.company within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.
Which Macs does it run on?+
Any Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple Silicon or Intel. There's no iOS or Windows version.
Can I change the keyboard shortcut?+
Yes. Control-Option-Space is the default. In Settings you can pick Control-Option-P, Option-Command-P or Shift-Option-Space instead, or turn the shortcut off and use the menu bar only.
How is this different from a text expander?+
Text expanders replace an abbreviation as you type, so you have to remember the abbreviation. Refrain lets you search by title or by any phrase in the text, which works well for long or rarely used snippets, and keeps everything in a plain markdown file you can edit in any editor.
Where are my snippets stored? Can I sync them?+
In one markdown file, at a location you pick on first launch. Put it in an iCloud Drive, Dropbox or Syncthing folder and it syncs between your Macs. You can move it later in Settings.
Can I share snippets with my team?+
Yes. Your library is one markdown file. Put it in a shared folder or repo, or send it to someone. Anything you can do with a text file works.
Does Refrain phone home?+
Only to check for updates: it fetches refrainformac.com/appcast.xml, which sends the app version and macOS version. No accounts, no telemetry, no analytics, and your snippets never leave the file on your disk.