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Measured on six things

Press ⌘C twice to translate. Runs on your Mac, offline

Security

HTTP probe shows HTTPS not enforced, no HSTS, CSP, frame protection, or Referrer-Policy — 1/12 checklist points. On-device model and Keychain-stored BYO keys are real privacy positives, but the site's own transport hygiene is weak and no audits are published.

Screenshots

1 / 3

Awnsy

About this app

Awnsy is a small menu bar translator for macOS. Select text in any app, press ⌘C twice, and the translation appears right over the window. For text you can't select, like images, scanned PDFs or video, drag a box around it and Awnsy reads and translates it. The translation model lives inside the app and runs on your Mac. No account, no API key, works offline, and what you translate stays on your machine. If you prefer cloud quality, add your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, or point it at any OpenAI-compatible server. 78 target languages; language and model switchable right in the popup. Reads translations aloud. Interface localized into 14 languages. Translating selected text is free and unlimited. Screen area translation is free for 10 uses; Awnsy Pro removes the limit: $1.99 per month, $14.99 per year, or $29.99 one-time. Requires macOS 15 or later and an Apple silicon Mac (M1 or newer).

Key features

1Double-⌘C or custom hotkey translates selected text in any app, with live streaming results
2Drag-a-box screen translation uses on-device OCR for images, scanned PDFs, and video
3On-device model runs offline with no account; BYO OpenAI/Anthropic key stored in Keychain
478 target languages with in-popup language and model switching; reads translations aloud
5Interface localized into 14 languages; native Swift menu-bar app, not Electron

Target customer profile

Drawn from the product itself, not from a survey.

Demographic

Multilingual professionals

Pain points

Switching between apps for translation disrupts workflow and loses context.

Primary needs

Quick, in-context translation without leaving current application.

Demographic

Students and researchers

Pain points

Struggling with untranslatable text in PDFs, scanned documents, or video lectures.

Primary needs

Ability to translate text from images and non-selectable sources accurately.

Demographic

Privacy-conscious users

Pain points

Concerns about data being sent to third-party servers for translation.

Primary needs

On-device translation that works offline and doesn't require accounts.

Scout Review

Written by AI from measured evidence, scored out of 100.

Awnsy is a focused, well-executed macOS menu-bar translator with a genuinely differentiated pitch: the model runs on your Mac, offline, with no account, and it can translate text you can't even select by letting you drag a box around it. The free tier is fair (unlimited selected-text translation, 10 screen-translation uses), and Pro is priced sensibly at $1.99/month, $14.99/year, or $29.99 one-time. The marketing site is fast and clean, the app is native Swift rather than Electron, and the interface is localized into 14-15 languages. The weak points are security hygiene on the site (1/12 header checklist points, HTTPS not enforced) and a narrow platform requirement — macOS 15 on Apple silicon only. There are no App Store ratings yet, so independent validation is still pending. For Mac users who translate constantly and care about privacy, this is a compelling, fairly priced tool; for everyone else, the hardware gate is the first thing to check.

Measure by measure

Usability

Double-⌘C or custom hotkey is a genuinely low-friction core loop, and drag-a-box screen translation covers the unselectable-text gap. Free tier is usable (unlimited selected text, 10 screen uses). macOS 15 + M1 requirement narrows the audience.

Design

Judging the app UI from store screenshots: a clean, native macOS menu-bar popup with live streaming translation and in-window language/model switching. The site's dark theme and '⌘C⌘C → translated' motif are consistent. Polished, though unproven by user ratings.

Speed

Lighthouse mobile 97/100 (LCP 1.8s, CLS 0, TBT 12ms) and desktop 100/100 — the marketing site is genuinely fast. The app itself is native Swift with an on-device model, so runtime overhead should be minimal. No lag complaints found.

Security

Accessibility

Lighthouse a11y 95/100 with one failing audit: insufficient color contrast. Interface localized into 14-15 languages, which is strong for a small app. No WCAG statement or keyboard-navigation documentation published on the site.

Growth

Real problem, specific segments (multilingual pros, students, privacy-conscious users), and a concrete wedge: an on-device model shipped in-app with offline OCR screen translation. Differentiated vs cloud-only Google Translate and DeepL, but the Apple-silicon-only base caps reach.

Improvement areas

Website security: HTTPS not enforced, 1/12 header checklist points, no CSP or HSTS
Platform gate: macOS 15+ and Apple silicon only, excluding Intel Macs and older OS versions
No published security/privacy documentation, audits, or bug bounty despite privacy positioning
No App Store ratings yet and no live demo — independent validation is still pending

Design & Usability

Awnsy is a native macOS menu-bar translator, and judging the app UI from its store screenshots, the design is clean and appropriately macOS-native — a compact popup with streaming translation and in-window language/model switching. The website matches with a consistent dark theme and a clear '⌘C⌘C → translated' motif. Usability is the stronger story: the core loop is one gesture (double-⌘C or a custom hotkey), and drag-a-box screen translation covers images, scanned PDFs, and video where selection isn't possible. The free tier is genuinely usable — unlimited selected-text translation with a 10-use cap on screen translation. The main friction is environmental: macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon only, which shuts out Intel Macs and older OS versions. There's a Support & FAQ page but no live demo, and with no App Store ratings yet there's no independent usability feedback to lean on.

Speed & Security

Speed is where Awnsy's marketing site shines: Lighthouse mobile 97/100 with LCP 1.8s, CLS 0, TBT 12ms, and a perfect 100/100 on desktop. The app itself is pure Swift with an on-device model, so runtime overhead should be low, though no published benchmarks confirm translation latency. Security is the weak flank. The HTTP probe found HTTPS not enforced and zero of the standard hardening headers — no HSTS, CSP, frame protection, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, or Permissions-Policy — for 1/12 checklist points. On the product side, the privacy architecture is a real strength: the translation model runs locally, there's no account or telemetry, and BYO OpenAI/Anthropic keys are stored in the Keychain. But the site serving those claims doesn't practice what it preaches, and no SOC 2, ISO, pen-test, or bug bounty is published. For a privacy-positioned product, that gap is the one to close first.

Accessibility & Growth

Accessibility scores well on automated checks: Lighthouse 95/100, with a single failing audit for insufficient color contrast. The interface is localized into 14 languages on the site (15 per the App Store listing), which is unusually broad for a small indie app and directly serves the multilingual audience. What's missing is a published accessibility statement or WCAG conformance claim, and keyboard-navigation documentation. On growth, the idea holds up: the problem — leaving your app to translate something, or being unable to select text at all — is real, and the target segments (multilingual professionals, students and researchers, privacy-conscious users) are specific. The wedge is concrete: an on-device model shipped inside the app, offline, no account, plus OCR screen translation for images, PDFs, and video. That's differentiated against cloud-only Google Translate and DeepL, and against Easydict, which needs Apple Translate or a separately installed Ollama for offline. The honest limit is the platform: Apple silicon and macOS 15+ caps the addressable base, and the domain is only weeks old with LinkedIn as the sole listed social profile.

Conclusion

Awnsy earns its place by solving a specific, annoying problem well: translating things you can't select, without shipping your text to a server. The on-device model, offline operation, and drag-a-box screen translation are real differentiators against Google Translate, DeepL, and Easydict, and the pricing is honest. What holds it back from a higher verdict is the combination of a narrow platform requirement and a website that doesn't enforce HTTPS despite selling privacy as the headline feature. If you're on an M-series Mac running macOS 15 and you translate daily, the free tier is worth trying today — the double-⌘C loop takes about ten seconds to learn. If you're on Intel or an older OS, this simply isn't for you yet. Fix the transport security and publish a real privacy/security page, and this becomes an easy recommendation.

Suggestions for improvement

Enforce HTTPS and add HSTS, CSP, and the standard security headers — 1/12 checklist points undercuts the privacy pitch.
Publish a security/privacy page detailing exactly what stays on-device and what leaves when a BYO cloud key is used.
Add an accessibility statement and fix the failing color-contrast audit flagged by Lighthouse.
Consider an Intel-compatible or older-macOS fallback path, or clearly state the hardware gate on the pricing page.

How we score

Alternatives comparison

Named competitors, point by point. Nobody paid to appear here or to be left out.

	Awnsy	Google Translate	DeepL for Mac	Easydict
Translation engine location	On-device model shipped in-app; optional BYO cloud key	Cloud only; requires internet connection	Cloud only; free tier caps characters per translation	Offline only via Apple Translate or separately installed Ollama
Account / API key required	No account or key needed; cloud keys optional	No account for basic use; Google account for some features	Account required for API; web use is free	No account; some services need their own API keys
Translate non-selectable text (images, PDFs, video)	Yes — drag a box, on-device OCR reads and translates	Yes via Google Lens / image upload, cloud-based	Yes via document/image upload on paid plans	Yes — OCR screen translation built in
Platform	macOS 15+ on Apple silicon (M1 or newer)	Web, iOS, Android — any platform	Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS	macOS only
Pricing	Free tier; Pro $1.99/mo, $14.99/yr, or $29.99 one-time	Free	Free tier with caps; Pro from ~$8.99/mo	Free and open source
Offline capability	Yes — built-in model runs fully offline	Limited offline via downloaded language packs on mobile	No — requires internet	Partial — only via Apple Translate or local Ollama

Google Translate

Cloud translation service, needs an internet connection. Awnsy runs a local model on the Mac and works offline.

DeepL for Mac

Cloud only; the free tier caps characters per translation. Awnsy runs its model on the Mac with no account.

Easydict

Free, open source, more translation services and a dictionary; offline only through Apple Translate or a separately installed Ollama. Awnsy ships its own local model inside the app.

Comparing options? See Awnsy alternatives, scored side by side

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