KeyMinder vs Keysi

KeyMinder and Keysi: two free shortcut viewers, one of them open source.

Both show the frontmost Mac app's keyboard shortcuts when you ask. Both are free to use. KeyMinder is open source; Keysi is not. If you want open source, use KeyMinder. This page is about everything else.

Compared against KeyMinder's own site and GitHub repository on 2026-10-11.

What KeyMinder does well

KeyMinder, by Donald van de Weyer, is free and GPL-3.0 licensed (the code is on GitHub, so you can read it, build it and change it). It needs macOS 14 or later and Accessibility permission, reads the frontmost app's menu bar live, and opens on a global hotkey (⌥⌘K by default) or a double-tap of ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃. You can search, click a row (or Tab to it) to run the command, filter by an exact modifier combination, pin favourites, ignore commands, menus or apps (wildcards included), see the macOS system shortcuts, export an app's shortcuts as Markdown, and drill yourself with a flash-card Quiz Mode. It supports VoiceOver, has experimental iCloud settings sync, installs from a notarized DMG or Homebrew, and its site lists 24 languages (its README lists 17).

What Keysi's free viewer does

Keysi's viewer is free: no trial, no time limit, no account. You can hold a modifier key, press a hotkey or double-tap to show the panel; search it; click a row to run it; export Markdown or a printable PDF; and use it in 17 languages with VoiceOver. It also warns when macOS or another app's hotkey will take a shortcut first, and can sync settings through a folder you choose (off until you turn it on).

Keysi is closed source. If that matters to you, that is a fair reason to pick KeyMinder. What Keysi offers instead is a plain account of what it does and doesn't do on your Mac, on its security page.

Where the free viewers differ

Past the menu bar. Many shortcuts never appear in a menu: Vim, tmux, Emacs, editors, chat and design tools. Keysi ships fourteen curated cheat sheets for those (Figma, Slack, Notion, Obsidian, Excel, Word, Ghostty, Vim, tmux, Emacs, Helix, Zellij, Discord, Linear), imports community sheets, and has an editor for your own. KeyMinder's site says setting your own shortcuts inside it is planned, not built.
Your remapped keys. Keysi reads the keymaps you customised in VS Code and its forks, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Vim and Neovim, Emacs, Sublime Text and Zed, so the panel shows your shortcuts rather than the defaults. Not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11).
Conflict warnings. Keysi flags a shortcut that macOS or another app's hotkey will intercept, on the row. KeyMinder lists the macOS system shortcuts and, per its site, has an experimental duplicate-shortcut indicator; interception by other apps is not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11).
Things KeyMinder does that Keysi's free viewer doesn't. Favourites, ignore lists with wildcards, an exact-modifier filter, a system-shortcuts section, a flash-card quiz in the free app, and open-source code. Different strengths; both are real.
Hold-to-show. KeyMinder opens by hotkey or double-tap; Keysi also lets you hold a modifier to peek and let go. That is a preference, not a ranking.

The paid part

Keysi Pro is $14.99 once. It adds Coach (a quiet reminder when you use the menu for a command that has a shortcut), unlimited spaced-repetition Practice (one drill a day is free), a weekly goal, per-app progress and integrations. KeyMinder's site describes a flash-card quiz, but not reminders, progress tracking or spaced repetition (checked 2026-10-11). You do not need Pro to use the viewer.

The table

Feature	Keysi	KeyMinder
Price	Free viewer, no trial, time limit or account; Pro $14.99 once	Free
Source	Closed source (see security)	Open source, GPL-3.0
Requires	macOS 14 or later	macOS 14 or later
Shows the frontmost app's shortcuts	Yes	Yes, live from the menu bar
How it opens	Hold a modifier, hotkey or double-tap	Hotkey (⌥⌘K default) or double-tap ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃
Hold-to-show	Yes	Not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11)
Search and click to run	Yes	Yes, click or Tab to a result
Favourites and ignore lists	Not a Keysi feature today	Yes, with per-app and wildcard ignores
macOS system shortcuts	Used for conflict warnings	Yes, a section of their own
Cheat sheets for apps with no menu bar	Yes: fourteen built in, community sheets, import, editor	Not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11); custom shortcuts are planned
Reads your remapped keymaps	Yes: VS Code and forks, JetBrains, Xcode, Vim/Neovim, Emacs, Sublime Text, Zed	Not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11)
Warns when another app or macOS takes a shortcut	Yes	Not stated; it has an experimental duplicate indicator (checked 2026-10-11)
Coaching reminders and progress	Yes, with Pro	Not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11)
Practice	Spaced repetition: one drill a day free, unlimited with Pro	Flash-card Quiz Mode, free
Integrations	Yes, with Pro	Not stated on KeyMinder's site (checked 2026-10-11)
Export	Markdown or PDF, free	Markdown
Settings sync	Via a folder you choose	Experimental iCloud sync
Languages	17	24 per its site, 17 per its README
VoiceOver	Yes	Yes
Install	Direct download, notarized	Notarized DMG or Homebrew tap; build from source

Compared on 2026-10-11 against keyminder.app and its GitHub repository (v1.0.195, GPL-3.0-or-later from v1.0.129; earlier releases MIT). "Not stated" means the feature isn't mentioned there either way, not that it's absent. Check KeyMinder directly rather than taking a competitor's word. The wider six-way table compares KeyCue, KeyClu, Keylume and CheatSheet as well.

Pick KeyMinder if

You want open source. You can read the code and build it yourself. Keysi can't offer that.
You want favourites and ignore lists to trim a long menu down.
You want a free quiz and Homebrew install, or the extra languages its site lists.

Pick Keysi if

You want shortcuts from tools with no menu bar, or your own remapped keymaps, in the same panel.
You want warnings when a shortcut will be intercepted.
You might later want coaching, and are happy for that to be a separate, optional $14.99.

Try both

They are both free, they don't conflict, and each takes a minute to install. Run them side by side for a day and keep the one that fits.

The viewer is free, with no trial. Pro is optional.

Download for macOS See what Pro costs