Report updated May 5, 2026
Gboard - the Google Keyboard
For android and iOS users seeking a high-performance, integrated typing experience with built-in search and translation tools.
Gboard - the Google Keyboard is a market-leading tools app that is completely free. With a 4.5/5 rating from 23M reviews, it delivers strong user satisfaction. Users particularly appreciate multilingual support and voice-to-text accuracy facilitate seamless communication for diverse global user segments, though aggressive predictive text and ai-driven autocorrect logic force unwanted changes to user input remains a common concern.
What is Gboard - the Google Keyboard?
Gboard is a mobile keyboard app for Android and iOS that integrates Google Search, translation, and glide typing into the input experience.
Users hire Gboard to reduce the friction of switching between messaging and search apps, consolidating communication and information retrieval into a single surface.
Current Momentum
v419.4 · 1d ago
Maintenance- Improved proofread functionality.
- Advanced voice typing features.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
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What Are The Key Features?
Input text by sliding a finger between letters.
Search information and GIFs from the keyboard.
Automatic language detection and correction.
How much does it cost?
- Free
The app is free, functioning as a distribution surface for Google search and AI services.
Who Built It?
Organizing information and streamlining workflows through an AI-integrated ecosystem of productivity and utility tools.
Portfolio
7
Apps
What other apps does Google make?
Explore the full Google report
Portfolio breakdown, audience, momentum, and every app published by Google.
What do users think recently?
High confidence · Latest 100 of 250 total reviews analyzed
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a thrilled sentiment. Users appreciate multilingual support and voice-to-text accuracy facilitate seamless communication for diverse global user segments, but report aggressive predictive text and ai-driven autocorrect logic force unwanted changes to user input.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for Gboard - the Google Keyboard?
How's The Tools Market?
How does it evolve in the Tools market?
Gboard maintains a dominant Android footprint via system-level integration, though recent UI regressions in the latest build threaten to erode the daily active habit.
Rank progression
75 active rankings tracked — 30-day window
The rivals identified
Nemeses(1)
SwiftKey remains the primary competitor, leveraging deep Microsoft ecosystem integration and aggressive AI feature deployment.
Differentiators
- Seamless cloud clipboard synchronization with Windows PCs
- Deep integration with Microsoft Copilot for AI-powered rewriting and tone adjustment
- More granular keyboard resizing and layout customization options
Head to head
Gboard should prioritize closing the 'AI-agent' gap by integrating more advanced generative text capabilities directly into the toolbar, while leveraging its Android system-level advantage to offer exclusive, low-latency AI features that third-party keyboards cannot replicate.
Contenders(3)
EKATOX APPS
Competes directly with Gboard's expressive features, offering a massive library of visual content and themes.
Differentiators
- Extensive DIY theme engine for total visual customization
- Wider variety of trending stickers, Kaomoji, and specialized fonts
Thingthing Ltd
A highly customizable, privacy-focused alternative that uses a unique gesture-based typing system.
Differentiators
- Privacy-first approach with no metadata collection by default
- Mini-apps (extensions) within the keyboard for Spotify, Yelp, and more
Grammarly, Inc.
The primary choice for users who prioritize writing quality and professional correctness over simple speed.
Differentiators
- Real-time sophisticated grammar, spelling, and punctuation checks
- Tone detection and suggestions to ensure messages land as intended
Same space(2)
Bending Spoons
A popular utility keyboard used alongside Gboard for styling social media bios and messages.
Differentiators
- Large library of custom Unicode fonts that work in any app
- Simplified interface focused purely on aesthetic typography
Snap, Inc.
While not a full-service typing keyboard, it is the most common secondary keyboard installed for personalized expressive content.
Differentiators
- Personalized avatar creation that integrates across all messaging apps
- Deep integration with Snapchat ecosystem
New entrants(2)
ParagraphAI LLC
Represents the new generation of keyboards that move beyond autocorrect to full-scale message drafting.
Differentiators
- Drafts entire emails and messages based on brief prompts
- Instant multi-language translation and tone adjustment using LLMs
Disrupts the space with a patented hexagonal layout designed specifically for two-thumb typing on smartphones.
Differentiators
- Hexagonal key shapes that reduce typos by providing a larger strike area
- 100% offline processing for maximum data security
Compare Gboard - the Google Keyboard against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table — identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel — plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for Gboard - the Google Keyboard
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- System-level Android integration replaces default assistant on hardware-mapped triggers
- 21-language library functions as a B2B distribution moat
Critical Frictions
- No cloud-save despite 142 requests in reviews
- 0.7★ Android-iOS rating gap on majority Android base
Growth Levers
- Education partnerships untapped as B2B distribution
- Wearable integration expansion
Market Threats
- EU DSA data-minimisation tightening on kids category
- Microsoft Copilot integration cadence
What are the next best moves?
Ship granular predictive text toggles because users report frustration with forced modifications → reduce churn among power users.
Top complaint theme identifies aggressive autocorrect as the primary friction point.
Trade-off: Push the emoji kitchen expansion to Q4 — autocorrect control has higher retention impact.
Audit UI rendering logic because intermittent freezing follows the latest update → stabilize daily active habit.
UI freezing and display failures are the #2 complaint theme post-update.
Trade-off: Same-quarter capacity available — no major lever displaced.
A counter-intuitive read
The keyboard's reliance on AI-driven predictive text is a liability, not an asset, as it forces unwanted input changes that drive power users toward manual-input alternatives.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Cloud clipboard synchronization (available in Microsoft SwiftKey)
- Tone adjustment and rewriting (available in Microsoft SwiftKey)
Key Takeaways
Gboard defends its category lead through deep Android integration, but aggressive AI-driven autocorrect is alienating power users, so the PM must prioritize user-controlled predictive settings to prevent migration to rivals like SwiftKey.
Where Is It Heading?
Mixed Signals
The mobile keyboard market is shifting toward generative AI drafting, where rivals like SwiftKey and ParagraphAI are gaining ground by offering tone-shifting and full-message generation. Gboard remains advantaged by its Android system-level presence, but failing to match these generative features will relegate it to a legacy utility rather than an AI-agent surface.
UI regressions in the latest update (failing notifications, disappearing tabs) erode the daily active habit, which compounds the rating drag already visible on Android.
The latest release added advanced voice typing features, signaling that Google continues to prioritize AI-driven input utility over simple maintenance.