Pace vs Agent! (macOS26)

Choosing between Pace and Agent! (macOS26)?

Agent! (macOS26) is local-by-default, cloud when you ask, and it's open source under a MIT license. It calls itself "18 LLM providers, hotword-anchored, free on Apple Intelligence.".

Where Pace differs: Pace is push-to-talk only (no hotword) and ships a tighter on-device default. Agent! wins on hands-free wake and provider breadth; Pace wins on trust surfaces, memory design, and the on-device-first posture being the default rather than one of 18 options.

The full breakdown is below — what Agent! (macOS26) is genuinely good at, its stack, and the honest line on where Pace diverges, including where Pace is behind. For the whole field in one place, see every macOS voice agent compared.

Agent! (macOS26)

github.com/macOS26/agent

18 LLM providers, hotword-anchored, free on Apple Intelligence. — macOS26 / Todd Bruss

STT · SFSpeechRecognizer hotword Reasoner · 18 providers (Claude / GPT / Gemini / Grok / … / Apple FM / Ollama / vLLM / LM Studio) TTS · Local Screen · yes

What it's good at

  • Hotword-anchored dictation — say "Agent!" from across the room, hands-free.
  • 18 LLM providers wired in, BYO key, free forever on Apple Intelligence.
  • Apple AI as a real tool-calling agent — multi-step local tool calls, falls through to cloud only on failure.

Where Pace differs

Pace is push-to-talk only (no hotword) and ships a tighter on-device default. Agent! wins on hands-free wake and provider breadth; Pace wins on trust surfaces, memory design, and the on-device-first posture being the default rather than one of 18 options.

Rechecked June 2026.
If Agent! (macOS26) shipped something I missed or got cheaper since, email me and I'll update this page.

Pace is $29 once, fully on-device, and free to try on Apple Intelligence.

Get Pace

← Back to the full comparison