Teclo vs Clacksmith
Updated
Clacksmith is the one Mac keyboard sound app we found that asks for no Input Monitoring: it counts key presses instead of watching keys. Teclo asks for the permission because it needs to know which key moved, and that changes what each app can play.
1-day free trial · $4.99 once · up to 3 Macs · macOS 13+
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Pick a pack, then press any key or tap the keys below. These are the same samples the app plays.
Side by side
| Teclo | Clacksmith | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 once | USD 1.49 once1 |
| Free trial | 1 day, no account | Not listed |
| Macs per licence | Up to 3 | Not listed |
| macOS | 13 or later | 14.0 or later1 |
| Where to get it | Direct, at teclo.app, through Polar | Mac App Store1 |
| Sounds | 16 packs in 5 categories, synthesized | Bundled packs, including Soft Laptop and Classic Desktop1 |
| Press, release and variation | Separate press and release; 5 variants for ordinary keys plus Space, Return and Delete; small random pitch and level changes | Counts presses without learning which key was pressed2 |
| Stereo by key position | Yes | Not listed |
| Mouse and trackpad | A click pair for every pack; trackpad swipe and pinch sounds | Not listed |
| Scroll sounds | Yes, optional | Not listed |
| Your own sounds | Yes: shape a pack with sliders, record one from the microphone or drop in WAV files; share it as a .teclo file | Yes, from audio files you own1 |
| Muting | Pause from the menu bar; no per-app or automatic mute | Not listed |
| Typing pet | Yes, a keycap pet with moods and power-ups | Not listed |
| Worth knowing | Rain, marimba, typewriter, arcade and sci-fi packs next to nine keyboards | Asks for no Input Monitoring; Shortcuts actions for volume2 |
- Clacksmith on the Mac App Store (US), read October 2026
- Clacksmith privacy policy, read October 2026
Teclo's column is ours. Other apps change their prices and features; check their pages before you buy.
The short answer
- Pick Clacksmith if you want key sounds from an app that never learns which key you pressed and asks for no permission at all, for USD 1.49.
- Pick Teclo if you want Space, Return and Delete to sound different from letters, keys placed left to right in stereo, a bell on Return, mouse and trackpad sounds, or the keycap pet.
Counting presses against hearing keys
Clacksmith’s listing says it “compares count only key down and key up values provided by macOS” and “never receives an event object, key identity, key code, characters, typed text, source process, or keyboard event contents”. It also lists its limits: modifier-only presses play nothing, volume, brightness and eject keys may play nothing on some keyboards, and key repeat is not counted.
Teclo takes the other route. It asks for Input Monitoring and opens a listen-only event tap on your login session, which macOS documents as a passive listener. From each event it reads the key code, and that is what most of its features need:
- Space, Return and Delete have their own press and release sounds; ordinary keys rotate through 5 variants.
- Stereo by position: a key on the left edge plays up to 35% to the left, one on the right edge as far to the right.
- Ding on Return rings a carriage bell on Return with any pack, and the Typewriter pack rings it by itself. Play it above and press Return.
- Silence modifier keys is an option, not a limit: Shift, Control, Option and Command can click or stay quiet.
Neither app keeps what you type. The trade is between features that need to know the key and a design in which the app cannot know it.
Your own sounds
Both apps take sounds you make. Clacksmith builds “local sound packs from audio files you own”. Teclo’s Create page shapes a pack with five sliders, records one from your microphone, or takes a folder of WAV files, and exports any pack as one .teclo file for another Mac; the custom sounds guide has the details.
For what the permission itself allows and how to check any app, read is a keyboard sound app safe?. Teclo vs Tappy compares another small App Store app.
Questions
How does Clacksmith work without Input Monitoring?
Its privacy policy says it "compares only cumulative key-down and key-up count values supplied by macOS for the current login session", and that this gives it no key identity, key code, characters or typed text.
Is Teclo less private because it asks for Input Monitoring?
Teclo sees which key moved, which Clacksmith never does. Teclo's tap is listen-only, so it cannot change, block or add a keystroke, and it keeps no log of keys or text. If you want an app that never learns which key you pressed, Clacksmith is the stricter design.
Can Clacksmith give Space or Return its own sound?
Its listing does not say so, and by its own description it never receives a key code, so it has nothing to tell Space from A. Teclo plays its own sounds for Space, Return and Delete.
Sources
Other facts on this page come from these pages, read on or before the date above.