Speech to text · macOS · Apple Silicon
Speech to text for Mac — free, offline, in any app
Press one hotkey, speak, and text appears at your cursor — in Mail, Slack, Notes, code editors, anywhere. Native on Apple Silicon. Optional OpenAI Cloud tier for AI rewrites and web search.
macOS 12+ on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4)
Speech to text on Mac, without the friction
macOS has shipped Dictation since Mountain Lion in 2012. Press Fn twice and you are dictating into a text field. It is free, it is offline, it is fine for short notes. The moment you write anything longer — an email reply, a meeting summary, a function docstring — the limits show up. No tone control, no AI rewriting, no web search, no custom vocabulary, narrow language coverage.
Whisper by Remskill replaces that with a global hotkey backed by OpenAI's Whisper or NVIDIA's Parakeet. The hotkey works in every app from Notes to Xcode. Whisper handles 99 languages and translate-to-English; Parakeet runs 5–10× faster than Whisper on CPU for English plus 24 European languages. Both run fully on your Mac — no audio leaves your device unless you opt into Cloud mode.
Whisper Pro adds the OpenAI Cloud surface: GPT-class transcription, AI rewrites (formal, casual, bullet list, custom), and live web search by voice. It is optional and gated behind a hotkey; the free local mode keeps working without it.
Three keys, anywhere on Mac
One global hotkey. The same loop in every app from Mail to Xcode.
Press the hotkey
Default is the Right Option key, configurable to any chord. A small overlay appears in the corner — you'll see the waveform live.
Speak naturally
No wake word, no training, no per-app setup. Talk in any of 99 languages; Whisper handles code switching mid-sentence.
Text pastes at your cursor
Release the key. Whisper transcribes locally on Apple Silicon (or via Cloud), optionally rewrites with AI, and types the result exactly where your cursor is. Works in every macOS app.
What you get on Mac
Built for typing-heavy work — writers, developers, support reps, students, anyone with a Mac and a microphone.
Global hotkey in every app
Push to talk in Mail, Notes, Slack, Discord, Notion, Safari, any field that accepts text. No per-app integration.
Native Apple Silicon
Built for M1, M2, M3, and M4. Uses the Neural Engine where helpful. Long battery life on dictation-heavy days.
99 languages + translation
Whisper engine handles 99 languages with the same hotkey. Translate-to-English mode turns any source language into English text on the fly.
100% local option
Whisper or Parakeet run entirely on-device. No audio leaves your machine. No account, no internet required for transcription.
AI rewriting
Optional Pro tier: GPT-5-mini cleans up filler, formats bullet lists, switches tone, drafts emails. Local Ollama is also supported.
Web search by voice
Ask a question out loud, get a researched answer typed into your document with sources. No browser switching. Pro tier.
Whisper vs macOS Dictation (Fn Fn)
Apple has shipped Dictation since 2012. Press Fn twice and you are dictating. Here is how Whisper compares.
| Feature | Whisper by Remskill | macOS Dictation |
|---|---|---|
| Languages | 99 languages, including translate-to-English | ~35 languages, depends on macOS version |
| Works in every app | Yes — any app, any field, hotkey global | Yes in most text fields |
| Offline mode | Fully offline with Whisper or Parakeet | On-device on Apple Silicon (subset of languages) |
| AI rewriting | GPT or local Ollama: clean up, reformat, translate, change tone | None |
| Web search by voice | Ask questions, get researched answers with sources | None |
| Custom vocabulary | Hotwords, presets, custom dictionary per session | Limited |
| Price | Free local. Pro from $9.99/mo or $69 lifetime | Free with macOS |
macOS Dictation is fine for short notes. Whisper exists for everything where built-in stops being enough — long-form writing, code dictation, non-English work, AI-assisted rewriting, and web research at the cursor.
Native on Apple Silicon
Whisper for Mac is built for M1, M2, M3, and M4. Local transcription runs efficiently on the CPU and uses the Neural Engine where it helps. We focused on Apple Silicon first because that is where the entire installed Mac base is heading — Intel Macs are no longer supported.
On Apple Silicon, Parakeet completes typical 30-second dictations in well under a second. Whisper-base finishes most utterances in real time. Battery cost is small enough that all-day voice dictation on a MacBook Pro is comfortable.
99 languages, one hotkey
Whisper's engine speaks Polish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, and 89 more. Code-switch mid-sentence and it still keeps up. The Parakeet engine adds English plus 24 European languages with much faster CPU performance — pick the one that matches your work.
Translate-to-English mode is built in: speak in any source language, get English text. Useful for journalists, researchers, and anyone collaborating across borders. All language switching happens locally — no cloud needed.
Your audio never leaves your Mac
Local mode is the default. Audio is captured to a buffer, transcribed by Whisper or Parakeet running on Apple Silicon, then discarded. No upload, no storage, no telemetry on transcript content. The installer is notarized by Apple.
Cloud mode is opt-in and uses your own OpenAI API key (BYOK). Audio is sent only to OpenAI's API; Remskill never sees or stores it. This is documented in the Privacy Policy and verifiable in the open networking traffic from the app.
No telemetry on content
We don't log transcripts, audio, or what you type.
Open about networking
Local mode makes zero network calls during transcription.
BYOK for Cloud
Cloud mode uses your OpenAI key. Remskill takes no cut.
Notarized by Apple
Standard macOS notarization, no Gatekeeper warnings.
How people use it on Mac
Speech-to-text on Mac is a category, not a single use case. Here is where Whisper users tell us it makes the biggest difference.
Email and replies
Dictate Mail drafts, Gmail replies, Slack messages. The AI rewrite layer cleans up tone and grammar before paste.
Long-form writing
Pages, Notes, Notion, Substack, Bear. Speak 200 words per minute, edit afterwards — most people write faster this way.
Customer support
Reply to tickets in Zendesk, Intercom, or Freshdesk faster. Custom presets keep tone consistent across the day.
Coding
Dictate prompts to Cursor, ChatGPT, or Copilot Chat without leaving Xcode or VS Code. Custom hotwords for variable and function names.
Meetings and notes
Capture thoughts between calls without typing. Useful when you're tired of meeting fatigue plus typing fatigue.
Translation
Speak in your native language, paste in English (or vice versa). Works for everything from emails to documentation.
Speech-to-text on Mac — questions
Is Whisper for Mac free?
Does it work offline?
Which Macs are supported?
How accurate is it compared to macOS Dictation?
Does it work in every app?
Can I dictate code?
What about privacy?
Try Whisper on Mac — free
Local pipeline is free for everyone. No card. No trial timer. Cloud features unlock when you want them.
macOS 12+ on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4). 7-day Cloud trial included with Pro upgrade.