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Comparison · Emoji keyboards

A free emoji keyboard alternative that you never have to open

Emoji keyboard extensions are all the same shape: a toolbar button opens a grid, you scroll, you click, the panel closes, you find your place in the sentence again. It works, and it is four actions to insert one character.

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The same thirty seconds, twice

You are mid-sentence in a reply and you want 🔥 at the end of it.

With a panel-based emoji keyboard

  1. 01 Take your hand off the keyboard and find the mouse
  2. 02 Click the extension icon up in the toolbar
  3. 03 The panel opens on top of the text you were writing
  4. 04 Scroll the grid, or click into its search box and type "fire"
  5. 05 Click 🔥
  6. 06 The panel closes. Click back into the field and find your cursor

Six actions, both hands, eyes off the sentence

With Emoji Anywhere

  1. 01 Type :fi
  2. 02 Press Enter

Two actions, hands never leave the keys

any website

The real suggestion engine, running on this page. No install needed to try it.

What you would type instead

:fire 🔥

the one everyone types most

:: your frequent emojis

no name needed at all

:tada 🎉

shipped, launched, done

:shrug ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

no emoji keyboard has this

Side by side

Emoji Anywhere Emoji keyboards
Type :name: inline
Browsable picker
Download size 280 KB up to 57 MB
Emoji artwork your system's own custom, bundled
Symbols and kaomoji 276 built in rarely
Account required sometimes
Analytics none at all varies
Price Free Usually free

Where the other option wins

Bundled-artwork keyboards make your emoji look identical for everyone who sees them, which genuinely matters if you care that 😀 renders the same on Windows and Mac. We use your system’s own set, so yours match the rest of your device instead. Panels are also better for browsing when you do not know what you want, which is why we still ship one.

Where this one wins

The verdict

If you want custom artwork that looks the same everywhere, a bundled keyboard is the right pick. If you would rather never open a panel again, this is.

Questions

Do I lose the picker if I switch?

No. Emoji Anywhere still has one in the toolbar, with all 1,906 emojis searchable by name, shortcode or emoticon. The difference is that you rarely need it, because typing is faster once you know a handful of codes.

Why is it so much smaller than other emoji keyboards?

Because it ships no emoji artwork. Keyboards that bundle their own designs carry thousands of image files, which is where the tens of megabytes come from. We insert the Unicode character and let your operating system draw it, the same way every other app on your machine does.

Can I use both?

Yes, they do not conflict, since one is a toolbar panel and the other watches for a colon as you type. Most people uninstall the panel within a week, but nothing breaks if you keep it.

Your keyboard already knows what you mean

Free, 280 KB, no account. Two letters from now you will never open an emoji panel again.

Add to Chrome · free