# Shortcat 9 Hacker News commenters recommended Shortcat and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Lets you move the cursor and click anything on macOS by typing, bringing keyboard control beyond browsers. Common caveat: it feels slow on older and newer Macs alike, and receives no updates. ## Why people recommend it - Works across all macOS apps (4 comments): "If you like the concept of being able to manipulate buttons and other parts of your MacOS application" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46027466)) "this is not just for the browser but works in other Mac applications too!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48446934)) "Manipulate macOS masterfully, minus the mouse." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48413272)) - Moves cursor to any element (2 comments): "Use shortcat to automatically bring your cursor to anything on your screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47710908)) "Use shortcat to bring your cursor to any element with just typing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47710977)) - Easy to adopt and handy (2 comments): "I found I was willing to adopt without much effort" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48413253)) "that's when Shortcat is very handy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48437614)) ## What people warn about - Slow, even on modern Macs (3 comments): "I used to use (and love) ShortCat, but it got too slow on my ancient MacBook Pro." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48413311)) "it's too slow to be usable on my i5-based MacBook Pro" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224254)) "I like shortcat, but it's slow, even on a modern Mac." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48415029)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Mouseless](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mouseless.md): 22 recommend - [Homerow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/homerow.md): 10 recommend - [Neverclick](https://hackerapproved.com/p/neverclick.md): 7 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Shortcat", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shortcat/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).