Stock iOS 8 keyboard

Best for: Apple purists

Apple's vastly improved built-in keyboard for iOS 8 includes QuickType, which gives users autocorrect options and also auto-suggest words and phrases. (Expand the gallery for more details.)

Swype

Best for: The fat fingeredWith Swype, you just slide your finger over the keys used to type the words and phrases you want. Swype deciphers these, um, swipes and translates them into the appropriate words.

Adaptxt

Best for: The jet-setting professional

Adaptxt is designed to predict words based on your specific writing style, as well as your location and interests. This keyboard is not only context aware, it also adapts to app you’re using.

SwiftKey

Best for: Lazy texters

SwiftKey’s hallmark feature is its super smart next word predictions and autocorrect. Already a proven favorite on Android, it also offers customizable themes and over 800 emoji characters.

Fleksy

Best for: Speed demons

The Guinness World Record holder for fastest touchscreen text messaging used the Fleksy keyboard to set his record. It features a number of gestures like swiping backwards to delete a word and swiping down to access autocorrect.

Ginger KeyboardBest for: Those who want to write real good eloquentlyWhile this cross platform option lets you customize your keyboard’s looks, Ginger Keyboard’s primary benefit is its easy access to Ginger Page, a productivity tool that offers dictionary, thesaurus, and translation functions.

TouchPal

Best for: The efficiency-minded

TouchPal, like a few other new keyboard options, uses a swiping-based entry method. But it also has other clever gesture-based commands, like sliding up over the keyboard for numeric entry and sliding down to bring up symbols.

TextExpander touch 3

Best for: Livebloggers, courtroom stenographers

TextExpander has long been a favorite of Mac users, letting them quickly type out long, complicated words or phrases with the help of user-defined shortcuts. Now, this shorthand-based input will be available systemwide on iOS.

Minuum

Best for: Maximizing screen real estate

Minuum's iOS 8 keyboard expands and shrinks from your normal multi-line QWERTY configuration to a single-line of input, giving you more screen real estate.

Color Keyboards

Best for: Chromophiles

There’s nothing fancy about this keyboard, save for the fact that it lets you change the color of the stock iOS 8 keyboard. You can choose from over 20 different color themes so your keyboard matches your iPhone case, your shirt, or your mood.