Input Source Pro and Keyameleon both switch your Mac’s input source automatically, but they answer a different question. Input Source Pro asks which app or website is in front? Keyameleon asks which keyboard are you typing on? Pick the one whose question matches why you switch layouts.
At a glance
| Keyameleon | Input Source Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Switches based on | The physical keyboard you type on | The app in front, or the website in a browser |
| Typical user | One Mac, keyboards with different printed layouts | One keyboard, several languages used in different apps |
| Price and license | Free, MIT | Free, GPL-3.0 |
| Also does | Nothing else: one job | On-screen input source indicator, switching shortcuts, per-app punctuation and function-key modes |
| macOS | 26 or later | 12 or later |
When per-app switching is the right fit
You have one keyboard and write in more than one language: Chinese in WeChat, English in your code editor, Japanese on one website. The layout depends on where you type, not on what you type with. That is what Input Source Pro is for. It sets a default input source per app and per website in Safari, Chrome, Arc, Firefox and other browsers, and shows an indicator so you always know which one is on.
When per-keyboard switching is the right fit
You have keyboards with different layouts printed on them: a US MacBook and an Italian external keyboard, or a Dvorak keyboard next to a QWERTY one. Each keyboard should type what its keycaps say, in every app. A per-app rule can’t express that, because the same app is in front whichever keyboard you reach for. Keyameleon switches when you press a key on the other keyboard, whatever app is in front.
Can you use both?
Both change the same system input source. With both running, Input Source Pro switches when you change apps, and Keyameleon switches back to the keyboard’s input source on your next key press. In practice the keyboard wins as soon as you type, so turn off Input Source Pro’s per-app rules if you keep both for its other features.
Which one should you use?
- The app or website decides the language: Input Source Pro.
- The keyboard decides the layout: Keyameleon.
Still deciding which kind of switching you need? The guide to switching the keyboard layout automatically on Mac compares every method, built-in ones included.
