Cotypist (and KeyType, an unaffiliated open-source alternative) put passive, fully local autocomplete in every Mac text field: suggestions appear as you type, Tab accepts. That is the closest existing product to OpenCues cues. OpenCues adds the other half: explicit queries.
What they do well
System-wide inline suggestions with genuinely on-device models and no cloud at all. A clean, single-purpose experience on Apple Silicon.
Where they struggle
Passive autocomplete only continues what you were already writing: there is no way to ask for anything, no transforms, no live data. The local model that makes the privacy story also caps quality, Apple Silicon is required, and the accessibility route frays at the edges (Google Docs needs special setup, code editors only work in sidebar chats).
How OpenCues differs
Autocomplete only continues what you were writing. An OpenCues _ summons what is not there yet: answers, rewrites, live data, settings. Cued word alternatives cover the passive side. OpenCues also runs beyond macOS (terminals, coding agents, Chrome) and speaks ten providers plus local Ollama rather than a single bundled model. Apache-2.0 open source.
Cotypist reaches every Mac text field, which OpenCues integrations do not: they cover terminals, coding agents and Chrome. OpenCues answers with explicit queries, revertable edits and provider choice.
OpenCues is also extensible by design: cues and blanks are markdown files you write yourself, and blanks can bind shell scripts or runtime classes, all under an open standard anyone can implement. See write your own cue and write your own blank.
Related: Full comparison · Cues vs blanks · Cotypist