I’ve tried enough writing and rewriting tools over the years to know that most of them sound better in their marketing than in real use. Some feel slow, some feel too robotic, and some just don’t blend well with a normal writing routine. So when I heard about RewriteBar, I didn’t expect too much at first. But since I write constantly — emails, notes, blog ideas, random drafts — I figured I’d give it a proper try. And honestly, it surprised me in a few good ways.
This isn’t a super-technical breakdown. It’s just what I noticed as someone who writes a lot and appreciates tools that don’t get in the way.
What RewriteBar Actually Is
RewriteBar is an AI writing helper made specifically for macOS. It’s not a big heavy app. It lives quietly in your menu bar. When you highlight some text in any app (Notes, Mail, Chrome, Pages — basically anywhere), you can call up RewriteBar and ask it to rewrite, fix, shorten, expand, translate, or clean up the text.
No switching tabs.
No copy/paste into another window.
No messing around with formatting.
It just works where you are. For someone who jumps between apps all day, that’s pretty useful.
My First Few Minutes With It
I’ll be honest — the first thing I liked was that the interface didn’t try to overwhelm me. It wasn’t filled with giant menus, complicated modes, or fifty buttons I had to learn. I opened it, highlighted some text, pressed the shortcut, and… done. That’s it.
The whole “stays out of your way until you need it” thing feels refreshing. Most writing tools try to behave like full word processors. RewriteBar doesn’t.
Key Features That Actually Helped Me
These are the features that stood out to me, written in a simple way instead of a marketing-style explanation.
1. Works everywhere on your Mac
Anything that lets me avoid extra steps earns points. RewriteBar works pretty much anywhere you can highlight text — email apps, browsers, docs, chats, all of it. That alone makes writing feel less interrupted.
2. Rewriting choices that don’t sound robotic
I tried a few different rewriting styles: casual, more formal, simplified, expanded, clarified. The results sounded surprisingly natural. I’ve seen tools completely butcher the tone — RewriteBar didn’t do that.
3. Really helpful for fixing awkward sentences
Sometimes you write something and you know it’s “almost good” but not quite. RewriteBar is great for smoothing those rough edges. It keeps your meaning but gives it a nicer rhythm.
4. Translation actually works well
I didn’t test all 500+ languages (obviously), but the ones I tried sounded pretty accurate. It’s handy for small translation tasks instead of opening separate translation sites.
5. Custom actions you can set up
This is something I didn’t expect. You can create your own custom rewrite commands. If you write the same kind of messages over and over, this is a time-saver.
6. The command palette is fast
If you love keyboard shortcuts, RewriteBar will feel very natural. The way it pops up feels almost like using Spotlight search, but for writing improvements.
Pricing – Is It Reasonable?
RewriteBar has a few pricing options. I’m explaining them here the way I understood them:
- There’s a free plan with limited uses — good for testing things out.
- There’s a monthly plan (pretty cheap) that unlocks full cloud features.
- They also offer a one-time purchase annual plan, and if you pick that route, you’ll need your own AI provider key.
I liked that they didn’t force only subscriptions. Having a one-time option is extremely rare these days. The pricing overall feels fair considering the amount of time it saves.
What I Personally Liked
Here’s the real stuff — not the marketing-style list.
- It’s fast. No waiting and watching a spinner.
- It doesn’t pretend to be a full editor. It sticks to what it does well.
- The rewrites kept the meaning without making the text sound stiff.
- The app feels extremely lightweight.
- Switching between rewriting tasks feels smooth.
- It fits into a daily writing workflow without being intrusive.
The biggest win for me was how quickly I could clean up or improve a sentence without losing momentum.
What Could Be Better
Nothing major, but a few things would make the app even stronger:
- It’s Mac-only. Windows users can’t use it yet.
- I wish there were examples on the homepage for new users.
- The one-time plan requires manual setup with API keys, which might confuse beginners.
But these aren’t deal-breakers. Just small areas where the experience could be even smoother.
Pros and Cons
✔ Pros
- Very easy to use
- Works in all apps on macOS
- Natural rewrites
- Great for editing, not just rewriting
- Good pricing options
- Fast and doesn’t interrupt workflow
✘ Cons
- No Windows version
- API setup needed for one-time annual plan
Final Verdict — Should You Try It?
If you write regularly — whether it’s blogs, emails, study notes, social content, reports, or anything else — RewriteBar can genuinely save you time. It doesn’t try to be an all-in-one writing suite. It’s more like a handy companion that steps in when you need to tweak something quickly.
I’d say RewriteBar is best for:
- writers who want cleaner sentences
- students fixing essays or assignments
- professionals polishing emails
- anyone rewriting content daily
- multilingual users needing quick translations
It’s simple, it’s fast, and it fits into your workflow without being annoying. And honestly, that alone makes it stand out.
