Kanata

Place

#42 of 105

Chart

Score

6.6

The facts below are what the maker publishes about Kanata, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.

Plans and prices

From Kanata's own pricing page, checked 11 Oct 2026.

Plan	Price	What it gives you
Kanata	Free	Open-source keyboard remapper · no paid plans stated

Each one read from Kanata's own pages, with the date it was checked.

Community integrations: The repository lists community projects for VS Code configuration support, tray control, and application-aware layer switching.checked 11 Oct 2026
Configuration: Kanata uses a human-readable configuration file and supports live reloading configuration changes.checked 11 Oct 2026
Key actions: Advanced actions include tap-hold, Unicode output, and dynamic and static macros.checked 11 Oct 2026
Layered keys: It lets users apply alternate layers of key functionality to any key.checked 11 Oct 2026
Leader sequences: It supports Vim-like leader sequences that execute other actions.checked 11 Oct 2026
License: The repository identifies LGPL-3.0 as its license.checked 11 Oct 2026
Program integration: An optional TCP server lets other programs respond to layer changes or trigger layer changes.checked 11 Oct 2026
Runtime requirement: Kanata does not start in the background, so its starting window must stay open for it to remain active.checked 11 Oct 2026
Security: GitHub reports that the repository has no SECURITY.md policy and no published security advisories.checked 11 Oct 2026
Simulator: An online simulator can check configuration validity and simulate input.checked 11 Oct 2026
Supported operating systems: cross-platformchecked 20 Sep 2026
What it does: Kanata is a cross-platform software keyboard remapper for Linux, macOS, and Windows.checked 11 Oct 2026

Linux setup: The documented Linux example runs Kanata with sudo because it opens device files, and the page links to instructions for avoiding sudo.checked 11 Oct 2026
macOS requirement: The release instructions require a Karabiner driver, and say macOS does not support mouse input.checked 11 Oct 2026
Macro support: Yeschecked 20 Sep 2026
Per-app profiles: Nochecked 20 Sep 2026
Windows integration: A Windows passthrough DLL can let AutoHotkey send keyboard input through Kanata's keyboard engine.checked 11 Oct 2026