HeliBoard vs FlorisBoard: Which Private Keyboard Wins?

Your keyboard sees everything you type: passwords, messages, bank details, searches. Most people use Gboard or SwiftKey without thinking about where those keystrokes go. If that thought makes you uneasy, two names keep coming up in privacy circles: HeliBoard and FlorisBoard.

Both are free, open-source Android keyboards that work offline and show no ads. But they are very different products at very different stages of maturity. This comparison is based on hands-on reviews from MakeUseOf and How-To Geek, community discussion on PrivacyGuides, and both apps' official project pages, which I read directly. There is no sponsored angle here — just what each keyboard actually does today.

The short answer

Pick HeliBoard if you want a complete keyboard right now. It has working autocorrect, word suggestions, and clipboard history, and it is strict about privacy: it does not even ask for internet permission. It looks a bit plain and old-school, and installing it takes extra steps since it is not on the Play Store.

Pick FlorisBoard if you care most about modern design and customization. Its theming system, Material You support, and smart toolbar are genuinely nicer than HeliBoard's. But it is still in beta, and it currently has no word suggestions or spell checking at all — a dealbreaker if you rely on predictive text.

Neither app is on the Google Play Store as a public listing, so there are no Play ratings or download counts to compare. Both are free with no ads and no in-app purchases.

What is HeliBoard?

HeliBoard is a privacy-focused keyboard built from the Android Open Source Project's keyboard code, by way of an earlier project called OpenBoard. When OpenBoard's development stopped in late 2022, a developer known as Helium314 picked it up and kept it going. The project is now run under the HeliBorg organization on GitHub and is licensed under GPL-3.0, which means its full source code is public and auditable.

Its defining trait is simple: the app does not request internet permission. Without that permission, it physically cannot send your keystrokes anywhere. Everything — suggestions, corrections, dictionary lookups — happens on your phone. There is no account to create and no telemetry running in the background.

Feature-wise, HeliBoard covers the daily-driver basics: autocorrect, word suggestions (using dictionaries you add yourself), clipboard history, one-handed mode, split keyboard for large phones, a number pad, and backup and restore for your settings. It also offers unusually deep customization — you can adjust keyboard height, text size, font, and padding independently. A "Force Incognito Mode" toggle stops the keyboard from learning words or saving clipboard history when you are typing something sensitive.

The honest downsides: it is a community project, so updates land on an irregular schedule and you may hit the occasional glitch. Because nothing syncs to the cloud, your learned words and settings will not follow you to a new phone automatically (though manual backup and restore exists). And since it is not on the Play Store, you install it from F-Droid or GitHub, which is one extra step many users will not bother with. If you are comparing mainstream options too, our Gboard vs SwiftKey breakdown covers what you give up by leaving the big two.

What is FlorisBoard?

FlorisBoard is a newer, from-scratch open-source keyboard licensed under Apache 2.0. It aims to be the modern, good-looking privacy keyboard — and on design, it delivers. Out of the box you get clean themes like Floris Day and Floris Night, borderless variants, and Material You support so the keyboard can pull colors from your wallpaper. Themes can even switch automatically between day and night. A built-in Addons Store lets the community share themes, such as the popular Catppuccin pack with its Latte, Frappe, Macchiato, and Mocha variants.

Its signature feature is the Smartbar, the strip above the keys that works like a small toolbar: undo and redo buttons, a clipboard shortcut, one-tap emoji, a microphone for voice input, one-handed mode, arrow keys for precise cursor placement, and cut, copy, paste, and select-all — all without leaving the app you are typing in. The clipboard manager keeps a running history with configurable limits and lets you pin items you do not want to lose. There are also handy touches like swiping across the spacebar to move the cursor and typing a colon followed by letters (like :smile) to get emoji suggestions.

The catch, and it is a big one: FlorisBoard is still in beta, and the current releases have no word suggestions and no spell checking. The developers are open about this — it is stated in the app's Typing settings and on their official page — and they say suggestions are a major goal for the v0.6 milestone. But today, if predictive text is part of how you type, you will feel its absence within minutes.

Head to head: privacy and permissions

Both keyboards are far more private than Gboard, which by default collects usage statistics and typing snippets unless you dig through settings to stop it. Between the two, HeliBoard takes the stricter approach: it simply never asks for internet permission, so no data can leave your device by design. FlorisBoard's privacy policy states that anything it accesses or stores stays on your device, which is a promise rather than a physical guarantee. In practice, both keep your typing local — but HeliBoard's model leaves nothing to trust.

One practical note from the PrivacyGuides community: some users worry about installing apps outside the Play Store if Google tightens sideloading rules in the future. Both keyboards live or die by F-Droid and direct APK installs today, so that is worth knowing before you commit. For more on how mainstream keyboards handle your data, see our Signal vs Telegram privacy comparison — different app category, same lesson about trusting defaults.

Head to head: predictions and autocorrect

This is the clearest win for HeliBoard. It offers working autocorrect and word suggestions out of the box, powered by dictionaries you can add yourself (community dictionaries exist, though their quality varies). Predictions are computed on-device, so they may feel a step behind Gboard's cloud-trained suggestions, but they work.

FlorisBoard, as noted, has neither word suggestions nor spell checking right now. If you type fast and lean on autocomplete, FlorisBoard is not ready to be your only keyboard yet. This single difference decides the matchup for most people.

Head to head: swipe (glide) typing

Here both keyboards disappoint swipe typists, in different ways. HeliBoard technically supports glide typing, but only through a closed-source Google gesture library that is not included with the app. You have to find and add that file yourself, and privacy purists may reasonably decide that bolting a Google binary onto a privacy keyboard defeats the purpose. The official project page is upfront about this limitation.

FlorisBoard's glide typing is not available in any usable form in current stable builds. One hands-on review from May 2026 describes it as missing and being rebuilt alongside a new layout engine, and the official feature list does not mention it at all. Treat swipe typing on FlorisBoard as a roadmap item, not a feature.

Bottom line: if swipe-to-type is essential for you, neither keyboard is a good fit today. Browse our best keyboard apps for Android roundup for alternatives that handle it.

Head to head: clipboard manager

Both include a clipboard history, which is one of the best reasons to switch keyboards at all. FlorisBoard's implementation is the nicer of the two: a running history with adjustable limits, pinned items, and quick access right from the Smartbar, including a popup for recently copied text when you are hopping between apps.

HeliBoard's clipboard history is simpler but does the job, with configurable retention. Its Force Incognito Mode is a thoughtful extra — one toggle pauses word learning, autocorrect, and clipboard history when you are typing passwords or other sensitive text.

Head to head: customization and themes

FlorisBoard wins on looks. Material You dynamic colors, automatic day/night theme switching, borderless variants, and a community Addons Store put it ahead of most keyboards, open-source or not. If you like your phone to look a certain way, this is the keyboard for you.

HeliBoard wins on functional control. You can fine-tune keyboard height, text size, font type, and padding — the kind of granular control Gboard does not offer. Its themes are serviceable rather than beautiful, with adjustable colors and background images, and you can share custom layouts and themes with the community. It feels practical where FlorisBoard feels polished.

Head to head: languages and voice

HeliBoard supports a wide set of scripts — Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, and more — with per-language dictionaries and multilingual typing. One hard limit: it does not handle Chinese or Japanese input, so if you need those, look elsewhere.

FlorisBoard offers multilingual support with downloadable language packs and includes a microphone button for voice input in its Smartbar. HeliBoard also lists voice typing among its features. On both, expect basic voice input rather than the polished cloud dictation you get from Gboard.

Head to head: maturity and stability

HeliBoard is the safer daily driver. It is based on mature AOSP keyboard code, has dozens of releases behind it, and reviewers who used it for weeks report it works fine nearly all the time. The trade-off is occasional rough edges and a slower, community-paced fix cycle.

FlorisBoard is openly beta software. The core typing experience is solid, but missing predictions and in-progress features like glide typing mean it is better suited to patient early adopters than to anyone who needs a finished product today.

Getting and updating them

This is the awkward part. Neither keyboard has a public Google Play Store listing. HeliBoard is distributed through F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, and as an APK from its official GitHub page. FlorisBoard is on F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, and GitHub, with an additional closed beta track on the Play Store that requires joining a test group first — a public Play Store beta is planned starting with version 0.7.

That means no one-tap install and no automatic Play Store updates. Through F-Droid, updates arrive like any other app update, but you have to be comfortable enabling installs outside the Play Store. If that process sounds unfamiliar, it is genuinely the biggest barrier to trying either keyboard — bigger than any feature difference.

What you give up versus Gboard

Honesty requires saying what these keyboards cannot do. Neither offers cloud-synced dictionaries, so your learned words stay on one device. Real-time translation, web GIF search, and smart replies are Gboard territory. HeliBoard skips Chinese and Japanese entirely; FlorisBoard skips predictions entirely for now. Prediction quality on both is a step behind Gboard's cloud models, because everything is computed on your phone.

What you gain is a keyboard that cannot narrate your typing to a company server. For many people who try the switch, the cloud features turn out to be things they barely miss — but go in with open eyes about the trade.

Which should you pick?

Frequently asked questions

Is HeliBoard on the Google Play Store?

No. HeliBoard is not on the Play Store. The developers distribute it through F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, and as an APK on their official GitHub page. You need to allow installs from those sources to get it.

Is FlorisBoard on the Google Play Store?

Not publicly. FlorisBoard is on F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, and GitHub, plus a closed beta track on the Play Store that requires joining a test group. A public Play beta is planned starting with version 0.7.

Does FlorisBoard have autocorrect and word suggestions?

No. The current FlorisBoard releases do not include word suggestions or spell checking. The developers say it is a major goal for the v0.6 milestone, but as of now it is missing.

Does HeliBoard support swipe (glide) typing?

Yes, but with a catch: swipe typing needs a closed-source Google gesture library that is not shipped with the app. You must add it yourself, and privacy-focused users may prefer to leave swipe typing off entirely.

Which is better for privacy, HeliBoard or FlorisBoard?

Both are strong. HeliBoard declares no internet permission at all, so it physically cannot send data anywhere. FlorisBoard's privacy policy states everything stays on your device. HeliBoard's approach is stricter by design.

Can HeliBoard or FlorisBoard type in Chinese or Japanese?

HeliBoard does not support Chinese or Japanese input. It covers Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, and other scripts. Check FlorisBoard's language packs for your specific language before switching.