diff --git a/src/async.zsh b/src/async.zsh
index 3e61a0b..fd81bca 100644
--- a/src/async.zsh
+++ b/src/async.zsh
@@ -3,13 +3,8 @@
 # Async                                                              #
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
 
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_fetch_suggestion() {
-	# Send the prefix to the pty to fetch a suggestion
-	zpty -w -n $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "${1}"$'\0'
-}
-
 # Pty is spawned running this function
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_server() {
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_server() {
 	emulate -R zsh
 
 	# Output only newlines (not carriage return + newline)
@@ -18,40 +13,37 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_server() {
 	local strategy=$1
 	local last_pid
 
-	while IFS='' read -r -d $'\0' prefix; do
+	while IFS='' read -r -d $'\0' query; do
 		# Kill last bg process
 		kill -KILL $last_pid &>/dev/null
 
 		# Run suggestion search in the background
-		(echo -n -E "$($strategy "$prefix")"$'\0') &
+		(
+			local suggestion
+			_zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY "$query"
+			echo -n -E "$suggestion"$'\0'
+		) &
 
 		last_pid=$!
 	done
 }
 
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_request() {
+	# Send the query to the pty to fetch a suggestion
+	zpty -w -n $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "${1}"$'\0'
+}
+
 # Called when new data is ready to be read from the pty
 # First arg will be fd ready for reading
 # Second arg will be passed in case of error
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_ready() {
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_response() {
 	local suggestion
 
 	zpty -rt $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME suggestion '*'$'\0' 2>/dev/null
-	zle _autosuggest-show-suggestion "${suggestion%$'\0'}"
+	zle autosuggest-suggest "${suggestion%$'\0'}"
 }
 
-# Recreate the pty to get a fresh list of history events
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty() {
-	typeset -g _ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
-
-	# Kill the old pty
-	if [ -n "$_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD" ]; then
-		# Remove the input handler
-		zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
-
-		# Destroy the pty
-		zpty -d $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME &>/dev/null
-	fi
-
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_create() {
 	# With newer versions of zsh, REPLY stores the fd to read from
 	typeset -h REPLY
 
@@ -63,7 +55,7 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty() {
 	fi
 
 	# Start a new pty running the server function
-	zpty -b $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "_zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_server _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY"
+	zpty -b $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "_zsh_autosuggest_async_server _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY"
 
 	# Store the fd so we can remove the handler later
 	if (( REPLY )); then
@@ -73,5 +65,29 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty() {
 	fi
 
 	# Set up input handler from the pty
-	zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD _zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_ready
+	zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD _zsh_autosuggest_async_response
+}
+
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_destroy() {
+	if [ -n "$_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD" ]; then
+		# Remove the input handler
+		zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
+
+		# Destroy the pty
+		zpty -d $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME &>/dev/null
+	fi
+}
+
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_recreate() {
+	_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_destroy
+	_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_create
+}
+
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_start() {
+	typeset -g _ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
+
+	_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_create
+
+	# We recreate the pty to get a fresh list of history events
+	add-zsh-hook precmd _zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_recreate
 }
diff --git a/src/config.zsh b/src/config.zsh
index 68d3b32..29806ea 100644
--- a/src/config.zsh
+++ b/src/config.zsh
@@ -63,3 +63,6 @@ ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_IGNORE_WIDGETS=(
 
 # Max size of buffer to trigger autosuggestion. Leave undefined for no upper bound.
 ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE=
+
+# Use asynchronous mode by default. Unset this variable to use sync mode.
+ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_USE_ASYNC=
diff --git a/src/start.zsh b/src/start.zsh
index 7a1725e..49af555 100644
--- a/src/start.zsh
+++ b/src/start.zsh
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_start() {
 	_zsh_autosuggest_check_deprecated_config
 	_zsh_autosuggest_bind_widgets
 
-	_zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty
-	add-zsh-hook precmd _zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty
+	if [ -n "${ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_USE_ASYNC+x}" ]; then
+		_zsh_autosuggest_async_start
+	fi
 }
 
+# Start the autosuggestion widgets on the next precmd
 add-zsh-hook precmd _zsh_autosuggest_start
diff --git a/src/strategies/default.zsh b/src/strategies/default.zsh
index 4246b78..bbd5e59 100644
--- a/src/strategies/default.zsh
+++ b/src/strategies/default.zsh
@@ -15,6 +15,6 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_default() {
 	local -a histkeys
 	histkeys=(${(k)history[(r)$prefix*]})
 
-	# Echo the value of the first key
-	echo -E "${history[$histkeys[1]]}"
+	# Give back the value of the first key
+	suggestion="${history[$histkeys[1]]}"
 }
diff --git a/src/strategies/match_prev_cmd.zsh b/src/strategies/match_prev_cmd.zsh
index 632a24b..ee26346 100644
--- a/src/strategies/match_prev_cmd.zsh
+++ b/src/strategies/match_prev_cmd.zsh
@@ -47,6 +47,6 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_match_prev_cmd() {
 		fi
 	done
 
-	# Echo the matched history entry
-	echo -E "$history[$histkey]"
+	# Give back the matched history entry
+	suggestion="$history[$histkey]"
 }
diff --git a/src/widgets.zsh b/src/widgets.zsh
index 66eef58..0f0520a 100644
--- a/src/widgets.zsh
+++ b/src/widgets.zsh
@@ -46,13 +46,35 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_modify() {
 	# Get a new suggestion if the buffer is not empty after modification
 	if [ $#BUFFER -gt 0 ]; then
 		if [ -z "$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE" -o $#BUFFER -lt "$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE" ]; then
-			_zsh_autosuggest_async_fetch_suggestion "$BUFFER"
+			_zsh_autosuggest_fetch
 		fi
 	fi
 
 	return $retval
 }
 
+# Fetch a new suggestion based on what's currently in the buffer
+_zsh_autosuggest_fetch() {
+	if zpty -t "$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME" &>/dev/null; then
+		_zsh_autosuggest_async_request "$BUFFER"
+	else
+		local suggestion
+		_zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY "$BUFFER"
+		_zsh_autosuggest_suggest "$suggestion"
+	fi
+}
+
+# Offer a suggestion
+_zsh_autosuggest_suggest() {
+	local suggestion="$1"
+
+	if [ -n "$suggestion" ]; then
+		POSTDISPLAY="${suggestion#$BUFFER}"
+	else
+		unset POSTDISPLAY
+	fi
+}
+
 # Accept the entire suggestion
 _zsh_autosuggest_accept() {
 	local -i max_cursor_pos=$#BUFFER
@@ -120,7 +142,7 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_partial_accept() {
 	return $retval
 }
 
-for action in clear modify accept partial_accept execute; do
+for action in clear modify fetch suggest accept partial_accept execute; do
 	eval "_zsh_autosuggest_widget_$action() {
 		local -i retval
 
@@ -131,28 +153,14 @@ for action in clear modify accept partial_accept execute; do
 
 		_zsh_autosuggest_highlight_apply
 
+		zle -R
+
 		return \$retval
 	}"
 done
 
+zle -N autosuggest-fetch _zsh_autosuggest_widget_fetch
+zle -N autosuggest-suggest _zsh_autosuggest_widget_suggest
 zle -N autosuggest-accept _zsh_autosuggest_widget_accept
 zle -N autosuggest-clear _zsh_autosuggest_widget_clear
 zle -N autosuggest-execute _zsh_autosuggest_widget_execute
-
-_zsh_autosuggest_show_suggestion() {
-	local suggestion="$1"
-
-	_zsh_autosuggest_highlight_reset
-
-	if [ -n "$suggestion" ]; then
-		POSTDISPLAY="${suggestion#$BUFFER}"
-	else
-		unset POSTDISPLAY
-	fi
-
-	_zsh_autosuggest_highlight_apply
-
-	zle -R
-}
-
-zle -N _autosuggest-show-suggestion _zsh_autosuggest_show_suggestion
diff --git a/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh b/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
index d6b6377..5d56502 100644
--- a/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
+++ b/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_IGNORE_WIDGETS=(
 # Max size of buffer to trigger autosuggestion. Leave undefined for no upper bound.
 ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE=
 
+# Use asynchronous mode by default. Unset this variable to use sync mode.
+ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_USE_ASYNC=
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # Utility Functions                                                  #
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
@@ -330,13 +333,35 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_modify() {
 	# Get a new suggestion if the buffer is not empty after modification
 	if [ $#BUFFER -gt 0 ]; then
 		if [ -z "$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE" -o $#BUFFER -lt "$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_BUFFER_MAX_SIZE" ]; then
-			_zsh_autosuggest_async_fetch_suggestion "$BUFFER"
+			_zsh_autosuggest_fetch
 		fi
 	fi
 
 	return $retval
 }
 
+# Fetch a new suggestion based on what's currently in the buffer
+_zsh_autosuggest_fetch() {
+	if zpty -t "$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME" &>/dev/null; then
+		_zsh_autosuggest_async_request "$BUFFER"
+	else
+		local suggestion
+		_zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY "$BUFFER"
+		_zsh_autosuggest_suggest "$suggestion"
+	fi
+}
+
+# Offer a suggestion
+_zsh_autosuggest_suggest() {
+	local suggestion="$1"
+
+	if [ -n "$suggestion" ]; then
+		POSTDISPLAY="${suggestion#$BUFFER}"
+	else
+		unset POSTDISPLAY
+	fi
+}
+
 # Accept the entire suggestion
 _zsh_autosuggest_accept() {
 	local -i max_cursor_pos=$#BUFFER
@@ -404,7 +429,7 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_partial_accept() {
 	return $retval
 }
 
-for action in clear modify accept partial_accept execute; do
+for action in clear modify fetch suggest accept partial_accept execute; do
 	eval "_zsh_autosuggest_widget_$action() {
 		local -i retval
 
@@ -415,32 +440,18 @@ for action in clear modify accept partial_accept execute; do
 
 		_zsh_autosuggest_highlight_apply
 
+		zle -R
+
 		return \$retval
 	}"
 done
 
+zle -N autosuggest-fetch _zsh_autosuggest_widget_fetch
+zle -N autosuggest-suggest _zsh_autosuggest_widget_suggest
 zle -N autosuggest-accept _zsh_autosuggest_widget_accept
 zle -N autosuggest-clear _zsh_autosuggest_widget_clear
 zle -N autosuggest-execute _zsh_autosuggest_widget_execute
 
-_zsh_autosuggest_show_suggestion() {
-	local suggestion="$1"
-
-	_zsh_autosuggest_highlight_reset
-
-	if [ -n "$suggestion" ]; then
-		POSTDISPLAY="${suggestion#$BUFFER}"
-	else
-		unset POSTDISPLAY
-	fi
-
-	_zsh_autosuggest_highlight_apply
-
-	zle -R
-}
-
-zle -N _autosuggest-show-suggestion _zsh_autosuggest_show_suggestion
-
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # Default Suggestion Strategy                                        #
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
@@ -457,8 +468,8 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_default() {
 	local -a histkeys
 	histkeys=(${(k)history[(r)$prefix*]})
 
-	# Echo the value of the first key
-	echo -E "${history[$histkeys[1]]}"
+	# Give back the value of the first key
+	suggestion="${history[$histkeys[1]]}"
 }
 
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
@@ -509,21 +520,16 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_match_prev_cmd() {
 		fi
 	done
 
-	# Echo the matched history entry
-	echo -E "$history[$histkey]"
+	# Give back the matched history entry
+	suggestion="$history[$histkey]"
 }
 
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # Async                                                              #
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
 
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_fetch_suggestion() {
-	# Send the prefix to the pty to fetch a suggestion
-	zpty -w -n $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "${1}"$'\0'
-}
-
 # Pty is spawned running this function
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_server() {
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_server() {
 	emulate -R zsh
 
 	# Output only newlines (not carriage return + newline)
@@ -532,40 +538,37 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_server() {
 	local strategy=$1
 	local last_pid
 
-	while IFS='' read -r -d $'\0' prefix; do
+	while IFS='' read -r -d $'\0' query; do
 		# Kill last bg process
 		kill -KILL $last_pid &>/dev/null
 
 		# Run suggestion search in the background
-		(echo -n -E "$($strategy "$prefix")"$'\0') &
+		(
+			local suggestion
+			_zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY "$query"
+			echo -n -E "$suggestion"$'\0'
+		) &
 
 		last_pid=$!
 	done
 }
 
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_request() {
+	# Send the query to the pty to fetch a suggestion
+	zpty -w -n $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "${1}"$'\0'
+}
+
 # Called when new data is ready to be read from the pty
 # First arg will be fd ready for reading
 # Second arg will be passed in case of error
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_ready() {
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_response() {
 	local suggestion
 
 	zpty -rt $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME suggestion '*'$'\0' 2>/dev/null
-	zle _autosuggest-show-suggestion "${suggestion%$'\0'}"
+	zle autosuggest-suggest "${suggestion%$'\0'}"
 }
 
-# Recreate the pty to get a fresh list of history events
-_zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty() {
-	typeset -g _ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
-
-	# Kill the old pty
-	if [ -n "$_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD" ]; then
-		# Remove the input handler
-		zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
-
-		# Destroy the pty
-		zpty -d $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME &>/dev/null
-	fi
-
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_create() {
 	# With newer versions of zsh, REPLY stores the fd to read from
 	typeset -h REPLY
 
@@ -577,7 +580,7 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty() {
 	fi
 
 	# Start a new pty running the server function
-	zpty -b $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "_zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_server _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY"
+	zpty -b $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME "_zsh_autosuggest_async_server _zsh_autosuggest_strategy_$ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_STRATEGY"
 
 	# Store the fd so we can remove the handler later
 	if (( REPLY )); then
@@ -587,7 +590,31 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty() {
 	fi
 
 	# Set up input handler from the pty
-	zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD _zsh_autosuggest_async_suggestion_ready
+	zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD _zsh_autosuggest_async_response
+}
+
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_destroy() {
+	if [ -n "$_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD" ]; then
+		# Remove the input handler
+		zle -F $_ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
+
+		# Destroy the pty
+		zpty -d $ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_NAME &>/dev/null
+	fi
+}
+
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_recreate() {
+	_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_destroy
+	_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_create
+}
+
+_zsh_autosuggest_async_start() {
+	typeset -g _ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_PTY_FD
+
+	_zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_create
+
+	# We recreate the pty to get a fresh list of history events
+	add-zsh-hook precmd _zsh_autosuggest_async_pty_recreate
 }
 
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------#
@@ -602,8 +629,10 @@ _zsh_autosuggest_start() {
 	_zsh_autosuggest_check_deprecated_config
 	_zsh_autosuggest_bind_widgets
 
-	_zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty
-	add-zsh-hook precmd _zsh_autosuggest_async_recreate_pty
+	if [ -n "${ZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_USE_ASYNC+x}" ]; then
+		_zsh_autosuggest_async_start
+	fi
 }
 
+# Start the autosuggestion widgets on the next precmd
 add-zsh-hook precmd _zsh_autosuggest_start