I was going to recommend AnySoftKeyboard but someone recommended OpenBoard fork with swipe type and that's by far the best open source keyboard app I've used now... Especially coming from gboard

I'm in kind of the same boat as you op, I've been using Swiftkey for 5+ years but have been wanting an altnernative that isn't associated with the big tech companies for a while. After seeing this post earlier today I decided to give AnySoftKeyboard a shot.

I got it all configured the way I wanted but now I'm actually using it I don't think it's gonna work for me tbh. I'll give it a few days before making a decision though. I wish there more options out there.

On the plus side, I came across this and it made my day:

Openboard

Floriaboard deserves a shoutout. As a multilingual, I value the mixing languages without switching them. Takes some time to adjusr and no autocorrect for now, but it's getting there.

i like florisboard: language switching, clipvoard actions, undo/redo, customization, ...

GBoard is the one Google app I put in my owner profile. I've tried every recommendation I've seen and nothing else comes close to how good Gboard is.

Florisboard

Openboard

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.dslul.openboard.inputmethod.latin/

I've used MessagEase for many years now and I absolutely love it. It's a very different kind of keyboard and so takes a while to get used to but once you've learned to use it properly you can type a lot faster with it on a touch screen with limited real estate.

Look at the AnySoft keyboard, available from F-Droid.

It has emojis like the one you mentioned inbuilt.

Different apporach: use the keyboard you like and block its internet access using invizible pro/netguard/afwall.

I had the same problem, after using openboard for a long time, and now I'm doing this, using gboard and blocking it with invizible pro.

I use Gboard and have been meaning to find an alternative, so this is a useful thread though it seems the concensus is there aren't really any.

What I'd love to do is completely remove any reference to stickers and gifs from the emojis selection but it's not possible. The emojis button can be removed from the keyboard, maybe it's time to go back to traditional ASCII.

There was a cool multiswipe keyboard called KeyMon like ten years ago. It was great to be able to dual swipe to type. It brought back memories of t9 typing. Unfortunately, the app hasn't been updated and has been lost to outdated time.

I've been using SwiftKey for about as long as you have and for a while, about once or twice a year, I'd do exactly what you're doing- looking around for a better, privacy focused keyboard. I find one or two and try them out for a while but always end up back on SwiftKey because the predictions are unmatched.

FlorisBoard with Material You dynamic themes version

Any of these allow you to change the size of individual keys like Smasung Keyboard?

OK, this doesn't have swipe to type or a notepad, but I'm trying out Thumb-Key. It's a very different sort of keyboard, almost akin to the old-fashioned way of texting with just the number keys on a phone, just updated for a smartphone screen. The problem is that it takes practice/memorization to learn, because it's a whole new layout. It's open source and very privacy conscious (there's no predictive text or autocorrect).