RewriteBar

We've all been there. You're typing an email, a Slack message, or maybe even some code comments, and the words just aren't... right. So begins the ritual: highlight, copy, switch to your browser, open a new ChatGPT tab, paste, write the prompt, get the result, copy it back, and paste it in. It's clunky. It breaks your flow. It's just plain annoying.

For months, I've been on the hunt for something better. A tool that brings the power of AI to where I'm actually working, without the constant app-switching dance. There are a lot of contenders out there, most of them flimsy browser extensions or yet another app vying for screen space. But then I stumbled upon RewriteBar, and folks, this one feels different.

It’s a tiny little icon that lives in your Mac’s menu bar, and its whole philosophy seems to be getting out of your way. But is it just another pretty face in the crowded AI space, or is it the productivity sidekick we Mac users have been waiting for?

So, What Exactly is RewriteBar?

Think of RewriteBar not as a whole new word processor, but as a Swiss Army knife for the words you're already writing. It's a lightweight macOS utility that lets you use AI to fix, change, or improve any text, in any application. That's the key. Any application.

Visit RewriteBar

You simply highlight some text, hit a keyboard shortcut, and a small, unobtrusive window pops up. From there, you can ask it to fix grammar, change the tone to be more professional, translate it to Spanish, or even run a completely custom instruction you’ve created yourself. No more copy-paste-tab-switch madness. It’s the kind of seamless integration that Apple themselves would be proud of.

The Killer Features That Actually Matter

A lot of apps boast a long list of features, but only a few ever really change your day-to-day workflow. RewriteBar has a few that, for me, were genuine game-changers.

System-Wide Integration: The Real Magic

This is its superpower. I’ve used it in Apple Mail to punch up a subject line, in Slack to make a message sound less abrupt, in VS Code to clarify code comments, and even in Apple Notes to brainstorm blog post ideas. It works everywhere I can type text. This is a massive improvement over tools that are confined to a browser or their own specific window. It feels less like using an “app” and more like a native macOS feature that should have been there all along.

More Than Just Grammar: Custom Actions and Tones

Sure, it can fix your spelling and grammar like a champ. It's a great companion to something like Grammarly. But where it really shines is in its flexibility. You can create your own 'Actions.' These are basically saved prompts. I have one called “Simplify” that takes my jargon-filled tech ramblings and turns them into something a normal human can understand. I have another called “Tweetify” that condenses any text into a sub-280 character snippet with relevant hashtags. The ability to create these custom workflows tailored to your specific needs is what elevates it from a simple utility to an indispensable tool.

Bring Your Own Brain (AI Model)

This is the part that will make the tech-savvy crowd sit up and listen. RewriteBar isn’t just a pretty wrapper for one company's AI. It supports over 11 different AI providers and more than 350 models. You want to use OpenAI’s latest GPT-4o? Go for it. You prefer Anthropic’s Claude 3 Opus for creative writing? No problem. You’re a developer who wants to run local models on your own machine using Ollama for maximum privacy and speed? Yes, you can do that too. This level of choice is incredibly rare and shows a real respect for the user. You're not locked into one ecosystem.

Let's Talk Money: Breaking Down RewriteBar's Pricing

Alright, this is always the million-dollar—or in this case, the five-dollar—question. The pricing structure is actually one of my favorite things about this app because it offers real choice. You can check the full details on their pricing page, but here’s my breakdown.

The One-Time Purchase: A Power User's Dream?

I have to spend a moment on this one-time option, because in a world of endless subscriptions, it’s a breath of fresh air. For a flat $29, you own the app. The catch? You have to bring your own API key from a provider like OpenAI or Anthropic. This means you pay for what you use, directly to the AI company. For a light user, this could end up costing pennies per month. It's like buying a fancy coffee machine for your kitchen—you pay for the machine once, and then you just buy the beans (the API calls) as you need them. For anyone who already has an API key, this is a fantastic deal.

My Honest Take: The Good, The Bad, and The Mac-Only

No tool is perfect, and RewriteBar is no exception. After using it extensively, here's my unfiltered take.

The good is obvious: the convenience is off the charts. The flexibility of custom actions and multiple AI models is incredible. And that one-time payment option? I'm a huge fan. It's a lightweight, beautifully designed app that does exactly what it promises.

But there are downsides. The biggest, most glaring one is that it's for macOS only. If you're a Windows user, you're out of luck, and that's a real shame because this is a fantastic utility. Another point of confusion for some might be the one-time license; you need to understand that it's not a free-for-all—you will incur costs from your AI provider if you use it a lot. Finally, like any app of this nature, it needs to be granted Accessibility permissions in your Mac’s settings to read the text you've highlighted. While this is standard practice and perfectly safe, it can be a little jarring for less technical users.

Who is RewriteBar Actually For?

I see this being a perfect fit for a few types of people:

• The Busy Professional: If you live in Slack and email, being able to instantly rephrase a sentence to be more polite or professional with a keyboard shortcut is a superpower.
• The Content Creator: Brainstorming social media posts, writing ad copy, or rephrasing paragraphs for a blog becomes so much faster when you don't have to leave your document.
• The Developer: Writing clear documentation and comments is half the battle. Using RewriteBar—especially with a local Ollama model—to clarify technical text without sending code to the cloud is a huge win.

If you're constantly finding yourself rewriting sentences or switching to a browser for AI help, this tool is for you.

FAQs About RewriteBar

The Verdict: Is RewriteBar Worth a Spot in Your Menu Bar?

After a few weeks of use, that little RewriteBar icon has earned its permanent spot in my menu bar. It's one of those rare utilities that elegantly solves a real, recurring problem.

It's not going to write a novel for you, but it will make all the little bits of writing you do every day faster, easier, and better. The friction of using AI to improve a sentence has been reduced to almost zero. For Mac users who write—which is pretty much all of us—it’s an incredibly powerful little tool that, once you get used to it, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. My advice? Give the free trial a shot. You have nothing to lose and a whole lot of productivity to gain.

Reference and Sources

• RewriteBar Official Website
• RewriteBar Pricing Page
• Ollama - Run Large Language Models Locally