Millions of Android phones, including every Pixel, ship with Gboard as the default keyboard, but it is far from the only choice available. A recent controversy has drawn attention to how much data Google's keyboard collects and how that information feeds back into the company's own training systems, with some of that data reportedly able to be linked back to individual users. A keyboard sees everything a person types, from casual searches to banking passwords, which is exactly what makes this kind of data collection so sensitive to begin with. While several of those data-sharing toggles can be switched off inside Gboard's settings, that fix only lasts until Google changes its policies again or a new, less obvious form of data collection comes to light.
For anyone unwilling to leave that door open, open-source keyboards that run entirely on the device offer a more durable answer. Because their code is public, security researchers can inspect it line by line, so flaws tend to surface and get fixed quickly rather than staying hidden, a level of scrutiny that simply is not possible with closed-source software where users have to take a company's privacy claims on faith. Two such keyboards stand out as genuine Gboard replacements: one mirrors Gboard closely enough that switching barely feels different, while the other strips things down to the bare minimum for anyone who wants the strictest privacy possible.
FUTO Keyboard mimics Gboard down to the details
FUTO Keyboard was built specifically to replace Gboard without forcing users to relearn how they type. It looks nearly identical to Gboard and behaves the same way in daily use, but everything happens locally: by default, not a single keystroke leaves the device.
The app bundles its own on-device AI models for both text prediction and voice typing. The text-prediction model runs entirely offline with no server calls involved, keeping pace with normal typing speed and producing suggestions in line with what a Gboard user would expect. Voice typing relies on a lightweight, Whisper-based model that also runs completely on the device. The default voice model is noticeably weaker than Gboard's, but downloading the highest-tier option closes that gap, bringing voice-typing accuracy roughly in line with Gboard's. That top model, called English-244, is a 280MB download.
FUTO becomes more interesting once its settings and layout are customized. Users can resize the keyboard, pin a permanent number row to the top, add an arrow bar for cursor movement, and switch between themes. A deeper settings menu lets people fine-tune small behaviors, including a dedicated section for Long-Press Keys that controls exactly how the backspace long-press gesture behaves. On the surface it looks just like Gboard, but underneath, every user can reshape it into something that behaves entirely on their own terms.
Day-to-day typing on FUTO feels smoother and more consistent than on Gboard in some specific ways. The spacebar cursor gesture is one example: on Gboard, moving the cursor by swiping the spacebar requires holding it briefly before the swipe registers, which can feel unpredictable. On FUTO, the same swipe moves the cursor instantly and consistently every time. The trade-off for that level of privacy is the loss of cross-device syncing, since a personal dictionary or clipboard built on one device cannot follow a user to another. Gboard remains the more complete package overall, but FUTO's privacy protections go a long way toward closing that gap.
HeliBoard is built for privacy purists
HeliBoard carries an even deeper open-source lineage. It descends from the older OpenBoard project, which itself was built on the original AOSP keyboard that shipped with stock Android.
HeliBoard has continued to evolve without ever compromising that open-source foundation. It requests zero network permissions, meaning it has no technical ability to send data anywhere even if it wanted to. For anyone who has ever wondered why a keyboard app would need internet access at all, that absence of any network permission is the clearest guarantee available that nothing is being transmitted. Because it is aimed squarely at privacy purists, it skips AI entirely: there is no transformer-based text prediction and no AI-driven voice typing. That combination of a mature open-source pedigree and a strict no-network policy is what makes HeliBoard the go-to pick for anyone who treats keyboard privacy as non-negotiable.
What it does include are the fundamentals expected of any solid Android keyboard. An optional number row can be added to the top, gesture typing is supported, and an on-device clipboard is available and can be disabled if unwanted. Appearance is highly customizable too: the keyboard can be resized, switched back to the older Holo keyboard style, given different icons, recolored, or even set to use a custom image as its background.
The one catch with HeliBoard is that it isn't distributed through the Google Play Store. Instead, it has to be installed through the F-Droid store, a third-party app repository that specializes in hosting free and open-source software securely. Setting it up takes only a few extra steps, and once F-Droid is installed, it also opens the door to other privacy-respecting open-source apps, such as NewPipe, an ad-free way to watch YouTube on Android.
