SwiftKey alternative: SwiftKey vs Lexo
Microsoft SwiftKey is a very good keyboard. It supports more than 700 languages, it has mature swipe typing, GIFs, stickers and themes, and it now carries Copilot in the toolbar. People look for a SwiftKey alternative when they notice the Microsoft account and the AI features and want to know what that changes about their typing, or when they want prediction and dictation that run on the phone itself. I make Lexo, which is built for the second reason. Where it loses to SwiftKey matters more than where it wins.
I make Lexo, so read the part about where it loses most carefully. Thirty days free, then $9.99 once. Get it on Google Play
The short answer
- You want Copilot in your keyboard, you type in a language outside Lexo's nine, or you use GIFs and stickers: stay on SwiftKey.
- You want the language model and the dictation to run on the phone, with no sign-up, and you are willing to pay once: Lexo.
SwiftKey privacy: what Microsoft says it collects
As of October 2026, here is what Microsoft's own pages say, read on 2026-10-04.
- Defaults. Microsoft's data collection page says "anonymous usage stats are periodically sent back," as meta-level counts such as total characters entered, and "we don't know anything about what you have been writing." It also says "If the app crashes, anonymous info about the crash will be sent to Google and to us."
- Language data. The privacy questions page says that unless you have opted in to an account, "all personal and language data generated by Microsoft SwiftKey is stored locally on your device." With Backup & Sync on, you "give explicit permission for your personal language model data to be stored on our servers."
- Passwords. Microsoft says the keyboard "does not learn anything from fields marked as password fields, nor does it remember long numbers such as credit card numbers."
- Play data safety. SwiftKey's Data safety section says the developer "doesn't share user data with other companies or organizations" and that you can request deletion. It lists data the app may collect: app interactions, in-app search history, installed apps, other user-generated content, crash logs, diagnostics, photos, email address, user IDs, approximate and precise location, and device or other IDs. Several are marked optional, and some list advertising or marketing among their purposes.
The Microsoft account and Copilot
Two of those pages still describe a "SwiftKey Account." Microsoft's account page says "SwiftKey Accounts have been retired" and that backup and sync now means signing in to your Microsoft Account, which "uses your OneDrive storage." So read the older wording as describing the same optional sign-in.
The Play listing says SwiftKey "comes with Copilot" and offers to rewrite text in a different tone and compose drafts "via AI." Microsoft's Tone page says "To use the Tone and Chat features, you must sign in with your Microsoft account." That page does not say where the text is processed, so I am not going to guess. If you never use those features, nothing in what I read says you need to sign in.
SwiftKey and Lexo side by side
| Oct 2026 | SwiftKey | Lexo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Microsoft: "Get Microsoft SwiftKey now, for free" | 30-day trial with everything unlocked, then $9.99 once in the US. No subscription |
| Ads | Play listing is labelled "Contains ads" | None |
| Prediction and learning | Microsoft says language data stays on the device unless you opt in to sign-in and Backup & Sync | A language model that runs on the phone. Nothing you type or say leaves the phone |
| Dictation | Uses the microphone permission. Where it is processed: not stated on the pages I read | Runs on the phone, no audio uploaded. Part of the paid unlock |
| Account | Microsoft account needed for Tone and Chat | No sign-up. Buying needs a Google Play account |
| Play data safety | May collect interactions, search history, location, email, user IDs, photos, device IDs and more. No sharing with third parties | May collect crash logs, diagnostics and app interactions, all marked optional. No sharing with third parties |
| Permissions | Ten listed by Microsoft, from internet and storage to microphone and camera | Five: microphone, vibration, notifications, internet, network state |
| Languages | 700+, up to five at once on Android | Nine. English is much stronger than the rest |
| Swipe typing | Swipe to type | Glide typing, new, part of the paid unlock |
Microsoft's permissions page gives a reason for each one, and the internet permission is "to download language models." "Not stated" means I did not find it on Microsoft's own pages, not that the answer is no.
Where SwiftKey is stronger
- Languages. The Play listing (com.touchtype.swiftkey) says it supports over 700 languages and lets you enable five at once. Lexo has nine.
- Rich content. Emoji, GIFs and stickers, a searchable emoji and GIF picker, and "100+ colorful keyboard themes." Lexo has no GIF or sticker search.
- AI features. Copilot in the toolbar, Tone rewrites and compose. Lexo has no tone rewrite and no chat assistant in the keyboard toolbar. Its one assistant, Ask Lexo, is a field at the bottom of the settings screen that changes Lexo's own settings and gives short answers about Lexo; it never writes or rewrites the text you type.
- Across devices. Microsoft's site says you can sign in "to copy and paste text between your phone and your Windows devices." Lexo does not.
- Reach. The listing shows 1B+ downloads.
Where Lexo is weaker
- Nine languages, unevenly. English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, French, German, Polish, Turkish and Czech. English is much stronger than the others.
- A big first download. Setup pulls the English typing pack, 545 MB. Dictation downloads its own speech pack the first time you use the microphone.
- Swipe is new. SwiftKey's has been in use far longer. Try Lexo's during the trial before you rely on it.
- The money. After 30 days without buying, Lexo is an ordinary keyboard: no suggestion strip, no autocorrect, no glide typing, no dictation. That version is worse than SwiftKey, and I would not stay on it.
- The privacy claim is checkable, not provable. Lexo declares the internet permission, for the model download, Google Play billing and crash reports you have to switch on. It is closed source, so my claim rests on a short permission list and a network monitor.
- It needs Google Play to buy.
What Lexo does differently
Lexo is built on the open-source FlorisBoard. Suggestions come from a language model that runs on the phone, and dictation runs there too. The claim I stand behind is that nothing you type or say leaves the phone, and that once setup is done, typing and dictating generate no network traffic. You can try all of it for 30 days before deciding. For what each permission is for, see is Lexo safe.
How to check any keyboard yourself
Turn the network off and type. Anything that still works was running on the phone. Then point PCAPdroid or NetGuard at the keyboard and watch. For Lexo, expect the one-time model download and nothing while you type or dictate. If you see anything else, I want to hear about it.
Lexo is the keyboard this is about. Thirty days free, then $9.99 once, no subscription and no ads. Get it on Google Play
More: Gboard vs Lexo, six Android keyboards compared on what each sends, what Android keyboards collect, is Lexo safe, and all writeups.