Macro engine
Super Shortcuts vs Keyboard Maestro: a simpler alternative
Keyboard Maestro is the most powerful Mac macro engine there is - and the most work to set up. Super Shortcuts gives you a polished Super key layer, on-device voice, and per-site scoping out of the box.
Updated
At a glance
| Super Shortcuts | Keyboard Maestro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12/mo · $100/yr (free tier + 7-day trial) | $36 one-time (paid upgrades between versions) |
| Platform | macOS 12+ | macOS 10.13+ |
| How you trigger it | Super key chords (and voice) that fire in place | Hot keys, typed strings, and macro palettes you configure |
| Context scoping | Per app, website, and window | Per app (macro groups); no built-in per-website scoping |
| Voice | On-device push-to-talk commands | None built in |
| Setup | Ready-made templates; useful in minutes | You build and maintain every macro yourself |
| Best for | A fast, discoverable command layer with zero setup | Building deep, custom multi-step automations |
What Keyboard Maestro is
Keyboard Maestro is a long-running, deeply powerful macOS macro and automation engine - billed, fairly, as the most capable productivity automation tool on the Mac. You build macros in a visual editor with hundreds of actions and flow control (conditions, loops, variables), fired by an unusually rich set of triggers: hot keys, typed strings, app and time events, device and network events, folder changes, web requests, and more. It has been refined for around two decades, it’s fully local with no account, and it’s a one-time purchase (about $36). Power users love it for good reason.
The core difference: workbench vs ready-made layer
This comparison isn’t about capability - Keyboard Maestro can out-automate almost anything. It’s about how much you build yourself. KM is a workbench: a blank canvas where you assemble exactly what you want, action by action. Super Shortcuts is a ready-made command layer: a collision-free Super key, starter templates for common apps, the Shortcut Keyboard, and voice, all working out of the box.
If you enjoy building and maintaining macros, KM rewards that investment. If you want a fast, discoverable layer that’s useful in minutes and you’ll actually remember how to use, that’s where Super Shortcuts is different.
Where Super Shortcuts is different
- Zero-setup start. Ready-made templates for Google Docs, GitHub, VS Code, meetings, and global actions, useful right away.
- Discovery by design. Hold the Super key and the Shortcut Keyboard shows every binding live - no remembering what you wired up.
- On-device voice commands. Built in, not bridged through macOS Dictation.
- Per-website scoping. A chord can behave differently on github.com than on gmail.com; KM scopes per app, not per site.
- A first-class Super key layer. No external remapper or hand-rolled setup required.
- The same reach, without the building. Keyboard Maestro can automate almost any app by driving its UI - but you assemble each macro by hand. Super Shortcuts reaches those same apps as a quick chord binding, with no macro to build or maintain.
Where Keyboard Maestro wins
The depth. Loops, variables, regular expressions, hundreds of actions, OCR and image matching, a vast trigger catalog, and a mature community and wiki. For genuinely complex, branching, multi-step automation, Keyboard Maestro is the more powerful tool, and its per-app macro groups are excellent. Super Shortcuts intentionally trades some of that depth for speed, discoverability, and zero setup.
Can you use both?
Yes. Plenty of people keep Keyboard Maestro for heavy custom automation and run Super Shortcuts as the everyday Super key command layer in front of it - fast triggers, the Shortcut Keyboard, and voice for the things you do all day, with KM doing the deep work underneath. Both are local and conflict-free.
Feature by feature
| Super Shortcuts | Keyboard Maestro | |
|---|---|---|
| Useful in minutes with ready-made templates | Yes | No |
| Super key layer with the hold-to-see Shortcut Keyboard | Yes | Partial |
| On-device voice control | Yes | No |
| Per-website context scoping | Yes | No |
| Per-app scoping | Yes | Yes |
| Deep macro engine (loops, variables, hundreds of actions) | Partial | Yes |
| Runs locally | Yes | Yes |
- Built in
- Possible with setup
- Not available
Frequently asked questions
Is Super Shortcuts easier than Keyboard Maestro?
That's the main reason to choose it. Keyboard Maestro is extraordinarily powerful, but you start from a blank canvas and build (and maintain) every macro yourself, in a UI that feels its age. Super Shortcuts ships a ready-made Super key layer with starter templates for common apps, the Shortcut Keyboard so you never forget bindings, and voice - useful within minutes, not an afternoon.
Is Keyboard Maestro more powerful than Super Shortcuts?
For raw automation, yes. Keyboard Maestro has hundreds of actions, flow control, variables, and a huge range of triggers - it can automate almost anything a Mac can do. Super Shortcuts is focused on being a fast, discoverable command layer rather than a full macro engine. If you need complex multi-step automation, KM is the deeper tool.
Does Keyboard Maestro have a Super key or voice control?
Not as built-in features. People build their own by remapping a key with a separate tool like Karabiner and then binding macros to it. KM has macro palettes and a conflict palette, but no automatic hold-to-reveal Shortcut Keyboard, and no native on-device voice commands - voice only works through clunky macOS Dictation bridging. Super Shortcuts has the Super key layer, Shortcut Keyboard, and voice built in.
Is Super Shortcuts cheaper than Keyboard Maestro?
Keyboard Maestro is about $36 one-time (with paid upgrades between major versions); Super Shortcuts is $12/month or $100/year, with a free tier for up to 20 automations and a 7-day trial. Both run locally. The real difference is setup effort and modern features like the Shortcut Keyboard, voice, and per-site scoping.
Is Super Shortcuts a good Keyboard Maestro alternative?
If Keyboard Maestro feels like more than you need, yes. KM is the more powerful macro engine, but you build and maintain every macro yourself. Super Shortcuts is the alternative when you want a ready-made Super key layer with the Shortcut Keyboard, on-device voice, and per-site scoping that's useful in minutes - and the free tier covers a first layer of commands. Plenty of people keep both.