Ditto AI vs Keyboard Maestro
Keyboard Maestro is a mature Mac macro tool: you build or record a macro, and it replays those actions exactly, on a hotkey or a schedule, for a one-time US$36. Ditto AI turns one recording into an AI agent that works out the steps and uses a checked tool for each, within a fixed permission table. Pick Keyboard Maestro for exact, fast routines; pick Ditto for tasks that need judgment.
The short answer
Keyboard Maestro replays what you built. It's "The Premier Mac Automation Software" and can "Automate applications or web sites, text or images, simple or complex, on command or scheduled" (keyboardmaestro.com). Its recorder captures window moves, mouse clicks, keystrokes, scrolling, menu selections and app switches "directly into your macro" (wiki). A macro then runs the same way every time.
Ditto AI doesn't replay clicks. It reads the recording for what you were doing, then puts each step on a tool: an MCP server, a headless browser for a public page, or a local tool. That's what lets it handle inputs that change, but it also means a model is involved, where Keyboard Maestro has none.
Side by side
| Ditto AI | Keyboard Maestro | |
|---|---|---|
| What recording does | Captures one task for a model to read into steps | Records actions "directly into your macro" (source) |
| What runs | An agent that uses a tool per step | A macro: triggers plus a list of actions (source) |
| Handles changing inputs | Yes: inputs that vary become parameters | Through variables and logic you add |
| AI | A model reads the recording and runs the agent | None listed in what's new for version 11 (source) |
| In Claude Code or Kiro | Installs there with its tool servers | No agent integration stated; a command-line tool triggers or edits macros (source) |
| Platforms | macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon | "macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later", native on Apple silicon (source) |
| Price | Free; you pay your AI provider for reading recordings (pricing) | US$36 once, "No subscription" (source) |
Where Keyboard Maestro is ahead
- Predictability. A macro does exactly what it says, every time, with no model deciding anything.
- Speed and price: instant, local, and US$36 once (keyboardmaestro.com).
- Older and Intel Macs, back to macOS 10.13.
- Maturity: version 11, a manual, a wiki and a forum.
Where Ditto is different
- It survives change. Steps map to tools, not screen positions, so a moved button doesn't break a step that runs through an MCP server.
- It handles judgment, such as reading an invoice or choosing the right row, with the steps and inputs shown to you first.
- It checks each tool with a read-only call and fixes permissions from a table before anything runs.
- It installs into Claude Code or Kiro.
Choose Keyboard Maestro if
- The task is the same every time: same windows, same clicks, same text.
- You want a one-time purchase and no AI costs.
- You're on an Intel Mac or an older macOS.
Choose Ditto AI if
- The task needs judgment or has inputs that change.
- You'd rather do the task once than assemble a macro.
- You want the agent in Claude Code or Kiro.
Can you use both?
Yes, and plenty of tasks split naturally: a hotkey macro for the exact bits, an agent for the part that reads and decides. See Mac automation tools compared for Shortcuts, Automator and the rest.