If you’ve been automating your Mac for any length of time, you know Keyboard Maestro. It’s the power user’s Swiss Army knife: a desktop macro engine that can automate almost anything that happens on your screen. It has been around since 2002 and it’s still remarkable. A different kind of automation works on other principles: Agentic Workflow, a browser-native tool whose workflows can read a page, reason about it with AI and act on what they find.
This guide compares the two honestly: what each does best, where each falls short, and how to decide which belongs in your setup. We also have an Agentic Workflow vs Bardeen comparison if you’re looking at other browser tools.
In one line
Keyboard Maestro owns your Mac. Agentic Workflow reads the web.
Reads the web: pages, understood by AI.Page content goes to a language model inside the workflow.
Version texte
- In one line: Keyboard Maestro owns your Mac. Agentic Workflow reads the web.
Two tools, two scopes
What is Keyboard Maestro?
Keyboard Maestro is a Mac-only automation app built around macros: sequences of actions triggered by keyboard shortcuts, app switches, schedules, clipboard changes and many other conditions. Its action library covers launching apps, moving windows, manipulating text, running scripts, working with web browsers and controlling system settings.
What makes it exceptional is depth and reliability. Macros run fast, they run locally, and after more than two decades of development they handle almost every edge case a Mac power user meets. For deterministic desktop tasks (“do exactly this, in this order, every time”), it’s hard to beat.
What is Agentic Workflow?
Agentic Workflow is a Chrome extension that brings AI-native automation to the browser. Instead of replaying fixed steps, you build workflows on a visual node canvas: nodes that read live page content, AI nodes that reason over it with a language model, and action nodes that do something with the result.
The word “agentic” is the key: the workflow doesn’t only follow a script, it looks at what is on the page and decides what to do with it. You can use cloud models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and others) or run models on your device (WebLLM and Chrome’s built-in AI in the browser, or Ollama on your computer), keeping your data on your machine.
Keyboard Maestro's scope
Keyboard Maestro sees the whole Mac. The browser is one app among many.OS-level automation: apps, windows, files, scripts, system triggers.
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- Keyboard Maestro's scope: Apps (launch, switch, control), Windows (move, resize), Files (move, rename), Shell scripts (AppleScript, bash), Clipboard (history, filters), Browser (one app among many)
- Agentic Workflow's scope: Any website (API or not), Your logged-in tabs (your session), Page content (read and understood), Forms and clicks (filled and pressed)
Core differences
Scope
Keyboard Maestro works at the operating system level. It can control any app, work with the filesystem, run shell scripts, manage windows and react to hardware. Its scope is the whole Mac. Agentic Workflow works at the browser level: any website, any web app, any page that renders in Chrome. It does not control your desktop or native apps.
AI
Keyboard Maestro is not built around AI: you can call an AI service from a macro with its HTTP or script actions, but you wire that yourself. Agentic Workflow is built around AI: AI nodes are first-class, and reasoning over live content is the core use case.
Platform
Keyboard Maestro is Mac-only. Agentic Workflow runs wherever Chrome runs: Mac, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS.
| Critère | AWFlow | Keyboard Maestro |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Any OS that runs Chrome | macOS only |
| Desktop apps, windows and files | No: browser only | Yes: full system control |
| Hardware and system triggers | Browser triggers: page load, hotkey, right-click, schedule | USB, MIDI, wake, login and many more |
| Reading and acting on any website | Built in: reads the page, fills forms, clicks | Possible through browser actions and scripting |
| AI on the content | AI nodes, cloud or on your device | Wired by you, with HTTP or script actions |
| Builder | Visual node canvas | Linear macro editor, very deep action library |
| Pricing | Free in local mode | One-time licence (US$36 at version 11's launch) |
Price. Free vs a modest one-time licence.Prices change: check keyboardmaestro.com.
Version texte
- Platform: AWFlow: Any OS that runs Chrome; Keyboard Maestro: macOS only
- Desktop apps, windows and files: AWFlow: No: browser only; Keyboard Maestro: Yes: full system control
- Hardware and system triggers: AWFlow: Browser triggers: page load, hotkey, right-click, schedule; Keyboard Maestro: USB, MIDI, wake, login and many more
- Reading and acting on any website: AWFlow: Built in: reads the page, fills forms, clicks; Keyboard Maestro: Possible through browser actions and scripting
- AI on the content: AWFlow: AI nodes, cloud or on your device; Keyboard Maestro: Wired by you, with HTTP or script actions
- Builder: AWFlow: Visual node canvas; Keyboard Maestro: Linear macro editor, very deep action library
- Pricing: AWFlow: Free in local mode; Keyboard Maestro: One-time licence (US$36 at version 11's launch)
Platform
Agentic Workflow runs on any OS with Chrome. Keyboard Maestro is a Mac app.
The desktop belongs to Keyboard Maestro
Launching apps, moving files, resizing windows, clipboard history: no browser extension can do this.
So do system triggers
USB devices, MIDI input, system wake, login: triggers far beyond what a browser can see.
Websites belong to Agentic Workflow
If a site renders in Chrome, Agentic Workflow can read it and act on it, including legacy portals and internal tools.
AI is built in
Summarising, classifying and extracting data from a page are single nodes, not scripts you write.
Two ways to build
A visual canvas of nodes on one side, a linear macro editor with a huge action library on the other.
Both are affordable
Keyboard Maestro is a one-time licence; Agentic Workflow’s local mode is free. Check keyboardmaestro.com for current prices.
What each does better
Keyboard Maestro does better at:
- System-level automation: launching apps, moving files, resizing windows, clipboard history
- Long-term reliability: a macro written years ago will probably still work; its stability and backwards compatibility are well known
- Scripting: AppleScript, JavaScript, shell commands, with data passed in and out seamlessly
- Hardware triggers: USB devices, MIDI input, system wake, login
Agentic Workflow does better at
The web, with AI
- Understanding what is on a page (fait)AWFlow
- Any website, no API needed (fait)AWFlow
- Private AI with local models (fait)AWFlow
- Windows and Linux too (fait)AWFlow
- No scripting at all (fait)AWFlow
No code: nodes and plain-language prompts.A visual canvas; a Code node if you want one.
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- The web, with AI
- Understanding what is on a page
- Any website, no API needed
- Private AI with local models
- Windows and Linux too
- No scripting at all
Use both together
The two combine well. Keyboard Maestro can be the system-level orchestrator: it opens Chrome on a URL and presses a keyboard shortcut. Agentic Workflow picks up from there: a Hotkey trigger starts the workflow, it reads the page, runs the AI step and writes the result to the clipboard. Keyboard Maestro then takes the clipboard and sends it to a desktop app, saves it to a file or passes it to a system service.
The result goes back through the clipboard.Clipboard Write; the macro picks it up for a desktop app or file.
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- Keyboard Maestro → Agentic Workflow: opens the page + hotkey
- Agentic Workflow → AI model: page text + "summarise"
- AI model → Agentic Workflow: 5-line summary
- Agentic Workflow → Keyboard Maestro: summary on the clipboard
Together, you get desktop control from Keyboard Maestro and AI on the web from Agentic Workflow, a combination neither has alone.
Which should you choose?
Choose Keyboard Maestro if you are a Mac user who needs system-level automation: controlling apps, working with files, scripting multi-app workflows on the desktop. It is unmatched there.
Choose Agentic Workflow if your automation is centred on the web: reading and reasoning over live pages, handling sites with no API, running AI in the browser, or working on Windows or Linux. For a wider view, see the best browser automation tools in 2026. And if you’re a Mac power user who lives in both worlds, use both.
À vous
Try the web half
Open it in AWFlow: it reads the page and summarises it with a model in your browser. Add a hotkey and a clipboard step for Keyboard Maestro.
Ouvrir dans AWFlow (s’ouvre dans un nouvel onglet)docs.awflow.io/examples/summarize-page-llm-chain.awfCall to action. Scan the code or click the link.Opens the Summarize page (LLM chain) docs example in AWFlow's import page.
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- Try the web half · Open it in AWFlow: it reads the page and summarises it with a model in your browser. Add a hotkey and a clipboard step for Keyboard Maestro. · https://docs.awflow.io/examples/summarize-page-llm-chain.awf
In short
- Keyboard Maestro: the whole Mac
- Agentic Workflow: the web, with AI
- A hotkey and the clipboard join them
Three. Use both.Hotkey trigger in, Clipboard Write out.
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- In short
- Keyboard Maestro: the whole Mac
- Agentic Workflow: the web, with AI
- A hotkey and the clipboard join them
