The library
Typing with your voice.
Comparisons with the tools people weigh this against, what to use when one of them stops fitting, and how to get through a day of writing without the keyboard. Written for someone who already types too much rather than someone curious about speech recognition.
123 pages
Comparison20
Head-to-head, including the rows where the other one wins. Wispr Flow has written seven of these; this is the rest of them.
Comparison
Nobody has to install anything to dictate on a Mac
Your Mac already dictates for free. What a paid app can add — durability, a different price shape, or full voice control — and how to tell which one you need.
13 min read
Comparison
The Mac already has a way to run itself by voice. This isn't it.
macOS Voice Control is a free, built-in way to run your whole Mac by voice. Coii VoiceInput is a $19 hotkey built only for fast dictation into any app.
13 min read
Comparison
One voice button feeds an AI prompt box. The other feeds every field you have.
Notion's voice input only dictates AI prompts inside Notion, through their cloud. Coii VoiceInput types into any Mac app, offline, for $19 once, no plan needed.
13 min read
Comparison
A launcher's newest feature, against an app that only does the one thing
Raycast's dictation is a Pro feature in a launcher app, cloud, $8-10 a month. Coii VoiceInput is a $19 one-time hotkey that works offline in any Mac app.
13 min read
Comparison
Two apps that both transcribe files and both dictate, priced two different ways
MacWhisper and superwhisper both transcribe files and dictate on a Mac, at different prices. Checked today, with a $19 dictation-only option compared alongside.
13 min read
Comparison
Two well-reviewed dictation apps, built on opposite bets about where your voice should go
Wispr Flow is a cloud dictation subscription with a Notetaker; superwhisper is a local Mac app with a lifetime option. Checked today, with where Coii fits.
13 min read
Comparison
The recogniser is the free part
The recogniser is the free part. Everything between a hotkey and text in the right field is the part you would be building, and then maintaining.
13 min read
Comparison
Start with the free one. Here is when it stops being enough.
Apple Dictation is free, built in and better than most people think. Here is exactly what a $19 app adds, and who genuinely does not need to buy one.
13 min read
Comparison
A voice editor, or a key that types. Not the same purchase.
Aqua Voice edits by voice in real time from the cloud, from $8 a month. This one is $19 once and works with the network off. The trade, stated plainly.
13 min read
Comparison
Two one-time purchases, same key, different machines
Both are one-time-purchase local Mac dictation apps on the same default hotkey. One runs on Intel Macs and one does not. The differences that decide it.
13 min read
Comparison
One of them answers you. The other one just types.
One of these answers you and one of them types. If you came here to dictate prompts rather than converse with an assistant, they are not competitors.
13 min read
Comparison
Searching for Dragon on a Mac lands you in 2018
Nuance's own support page says the Mac edition stopped being sold in 2018, and Dragon Professional is Windows. What a Mac user should weigh instead, and why.
13 min read
Comparison
Google's dictation lives inside a document
Google's voice typing is free, speaks a hundred languages and can edit by command. It also only exists inside two web apps. That is the whole comparison.
13 min read
Comparison
One of these is a transcription workbench. The other is a key.
MacWhisper transcribes files, meetings and podcasts and dictates too. This one only dictates, for $19. A comparison of two apps that overlap in one feature.
13 min read
Comparison
The other one is free. Read this before you spend $19.
Murmur at murmurtype.com is free forever, open source and offline. This page argues for spending $19 anyway, and is honest about who should not bother.
13 min read
Comparison
The two Mac apps that both run on your machine
superwhisper does more, on three platforms, for $249.99 once or $8.49 a month. This one is $19 and cannot lose a sentence. Where the two actually differ.
13 min read
Comparison
Talon is not a dictation app, and that is the point
Talon controls a computer by voice, noise and eye tracking, on three platforms. This one only types. Which of those two jobs you need decides everything.
13 min read
Comparison
Start with how many Macs you own
Two local one-time-purchase Mac dictation apps. VoiceInk is open source and does more; this one is $19 for three Macs and runs on Intel. The deciding rows.
13 min read
Comparison
Willow has an offline mode, so this page has to work harder
Willow advertises an offline mode, 100+ languages and SOC 2, from $12 a month. That removes the easy argument, so here is the harder and more useful one.
14 min read
Comparison
Wispr Flow does more. This one loses fewer sentences.
Wispr Flow does far more and runs on four platforms. Coii VoiceInput is $19 once, works offline, and cannot lose a sentence. An honest comparison.
15 min read
Alternatives17
What people leave a tool for — a subscription, a sentence that vanished, an offline requirement — and which replacement suits which reason.
Alternatives
Sorted by one question: does it type what you said?
Eight Mac dictation tools sorted by one question: does it type what you said, or a tidied version of it? Prices and platforms checked 10 September 2026.
11 min read
Alternatives
"Type less" and "don't touch the keyboard" are two different requests
Typing less and not touching the keyboard at all are different needs. Seven Mac tools for each, what each one actually does, and how to tell which you need.
10 min read
Alternatives
The tools built for a sentence are not the tools built for a chapter
A Slack reply and a book chapter stress a dictation app differently. What six Mac tools actually do across an hour of continuous speech, checked today.
10 min read
Alternatives
The hard case isn't a second language. It's one sentence with both.
One sentence, two languages, no pause to switch settings. What five Mac and web dictation tools actually support, checked against each vendor's own site today.
10 min read
Alternatives
"We don't sell your data" and "we don't train on it" are different promises
Processed and trained-on are not the same question. What seven vendors state, in their own words, about using your voice or your text to improve their models.
11 min read
Alternatives
Fewer keystrokes and zero keystrokes are different requests
Fewer keystrokes and no keystrokes at all are different requests. Six Mac tools sorted by which one they actually answer, checked against each vendor's site.
10 min read
Alternatives
It is free. Here is what makes paying for something worth it.
Apple Dictation is free already. Seven paid alternatives, each solving one thing it lacks: a history, a learned vocabulary, more platforms, or full Mac control.
11 min read
Alternatives
Six apps, sorted by which kind of "no connection" you actually have
Six Mac dictation apps, grouped by why you need offline: a locked-down building, a file that exists, or Wi-Fi you don't quite trust. Prices checked today.
10 min read
Alternatives
Free, and bought-once, are both "no subscription." They are not the same thing.
Every way to dictate on a Mac without a monthly bill, from apps that are simply free to ones bought once — checked today, sorted by what each actually costs.
10 min read
Alternatives
Dragon doesn't run on a Mac anymore. Here is what to buy instead.
Dragon Professional for Mac was discontinued in 2018 and its replacement is Windows-only. Six real Mac alternatives, checked today, with price and scope.
11 min read
Alternatives
One app, two jobs. Most alternatives only do one.
MacWhisper transcribes recordings and dictates. Alternatives split by which job you need, each with today's price — plus what to use if meetings are the job.
11 min read
Alternatives
Turn off Wi-Fi and try each of these. Here is what still works.
Five Mac dictation apps that work with no network at all, plus one that only sometimes does. What each needs a connection for, and what it never touches.
10 min read
Alternatives
The arithmetic, before the feature lists
Four dictation apps you buy once instead of renting monthly, with today's prices and the year it takes each one to beat a $15/month subscription.
10 min read
Alternatives
"Private" is a claim. Here is what six vendors actually state.
What happens to your voice in six Mac dictation apps — what's sent, what's kept, and whether it can train a model — checked against each vendor's own site.
10 min read
Alternatives
The part of a developer's day that is actually prose
Only Talon dictates real code syntax. What the rest are good for instead — commit messages, PR descriptions, comments, tickets — and who gets identifiers right.
10 min read
Alternatives
Superwhisper is a platform. Not everyone needs one.
Seven alternatives to superwhisper — a bigger cloud, smaller Mac apps, a free option and a voice-control layer — with today's prices and who each one suits.
10 min read
Alternatives
Wispr Flow does a lot. Here is what replaces which part of it.
Seven alternatives to Wispr Flow — local Mac apps, other clouds, the free option and a voice-control layer — each with today's price and the reason to pick it.
11 min read
Built for24
The same app described from inside one job: what that person dictates all day, and what goes wrong when they type it instead.
Built for
The accessibility question that gets asked most often here is the narrowest one
A hotkey that types what you say into any Mac app, no command grammar and no mode to switch on first. What it covers, and what other tools do better.
9 min read
Built for
A blog that ships weekly needs a faster way to get the first draft down
Publishing on a schedule means writing on a schedule. What a held key changes about drafting, outlining and editing blog posts in the tool you already write in.
9 min read
Built for
A docstring is the one line in the file that reads like a sentence
The code still gets typed by hand. The English around it — comments, docstrings, commit messages, PR descriptions — is where a held key actually saves time.
10 min read
Built for
The canned response answers the question. It rarely sounds like it was written for this person
A canned response answers the question but rarely sounds like it was written for this person. What changes in a queue once replies get said instead of typed.
10 min read
Built for
Speaking a word has never required knowing how to spell it
Speaking a word does not require spelling it. What a held-key Mac app changes about getting a thought onto a page, and what it leaves entirely alone.
9 min read
Built for
Most of an inbox is not hard to answer — it just takes a while to type
An inbox does not shrink because every reply gets typed carefully. What changes once the routine half gets said instead, and what still needs a keyboard.
9 min read
Built for
A prompt is a paragraph of instructions, and paragraphs are slow to type
Prompting an AI assistant is typing, and typing is what a held key replaces. What dictating a prompt changes, and what it deliberately does not do to wording.
9 min read
Built for
The twentieth outreach message of the day still has to read like the first one
The twentieth outreach note of the day still has to sound like the first. What a held key does for outreach, feedback notes and candidate summaries.
10 min read
Built for
What this page will not tell you is whether it will help your wrist
A held key that types the sentence instead of your fingers does not fix a wrist. What it removes from a day's typing, and what it leaves for a professional.
10 min read
Built for
Dialogue that reads fine typed can still fall apart the moment it's said out loud
Dialogue that sounds right typed can still fall apart said aloud. What changes when a script gets drafted with the same voice it will eventually be spoken in.
9 min read
Built for
A Slack thread is already three replies deep by the time you've typed the first word
A running Slack thread does not wait for a full sentence to be typed. What changes once the reply gets said instead, and where chat still needs a keyboard.
9 min read
Built for
The hard part of a translation is already finished before you type a word of it
The translating happens in your head before a single word is typed. What a held key replaces is the typing — it does not translate anything for you.
9 min read
Built for
The search for "a dictation app for Mac" usually starts after the free one has already let someone down once
Your Mac already dictates for free. What actually breaks about that, and when it is worth $19 once instead of a monthly subscription for something else.
9 min read
Built for
A dissertation chapter and a stack of reviewer comments want the same afternoon
A dissertation chapter, reviewer comments and a grant paragraph compete for one afternoon. What a held key adds to academic writing, and where it stops.
9 min read
Built for
Typing has never been the bottleneck for writing code
Code is punctuation-dense; commit messages, PR descriptions and tickets are not. What a held dictation key is good for in a developer's day, and where it stops.
9 min read
Built for
The paperwork after the visit is still paperwork, whoever it is about
After-visit notes and referral letters typed by voice, nothing uploaded. What a general dictation key can do for a clinician's paperwork, and what it cannot do.
9 min read
Built for
A quote gets less exact the moment typing has to catch up with speech
A quote loses precision once typing catches up with speech. What a held key is for on a reporting day: field notes and fast drafts, not recording the interview.
9 min read
Built for
Privileged correspondence used to mean a dictaphone, a tape and a typist
Privileged correspondence once meant a dictaphone and a typist. What a held key gets right for legal drafting, and where it has no equivalent to Dragon macros.
9 min read
Built for
A reading response due at midnight is not the moment to discover your hands are tired
Lecture notes, reading responses and essay drafts compete for the same tired hands by evening. What a held key on a Mac does about that, and what it does not.
9 min read
Built for
The note gets written after the session, never during one
Progress notes typed after each client, never recorded during one. What a held key does for the paperwork around a caseload, and the vocabulary it lacks.
9 min read
Built for
Talking through a scene and typing one draw on different instincts
Talking through a scene and typing one use different instincts. What a Mac dictation tool needs to get right for a working writer, and where it falls short.
9 min read
Built for
The question is not "is it fast," it is "does it need a signal to work at all"
Most dictation apps need a live connection to work. What changes when the engine runs on the machine — on a plane, a locked-down laptop, or with Wi-Fi off.
9 min read
Built for
The microphone should not have to guess when you started talking
Voice-activated dictation has to guess when you start and stop talking, which can catch a phone call or a TV in the background. A held key never has to guess.
9 min read
Built for
Speech is roughly twice as fast as typing. Most of that speed gets lost to corrections
People speak roughly twice as fast as they type. What a speech-to-text tool on Mac has to get right to turn that into time back, not lose a sentence.
9 min read
Migration1
What carries across and what does not, in a table, before any steps. Then how to check nothing was lost.
Fix4
The symptom as you would search it, the cause, then the fix — which is often a macOS permission or a hotkey another app already took.
Fix
Something else happened instead of the pill appearing
Hold the hotkey and another app reacts instead of Coii VoiceInput — or nothing happens at all. Here is how to find which app claimed it and fix it.
9 min read
Fix
The words showed up eventually — just not in half a second
A gap between letting go of the key and the words appearing usually traces to memory pressure or disk activity, not a broken app — here is which one it is.
9 min read
Fix
The app was right. The window underneath it was not
The right app was open, but the words landed in a different window. The cause is which window had focus at release — the fix is a habit, not a setting.
9 min read
Fix
Nothing happened when the key was held — start with permissions, not the hardware
Hold the hotkey and nothing happens — no pill, no level meter. Nine times out of ten this is a permission or an input-device setting, not a broken microphone.
9 min read
How-to22
The outcome in one sentence, then the steps, with real query lines.
How-to
Pick one task, not the whole keyboard
Most people try dictation once, feel silly, and go back to typing. The habit forms by picking one recurring task first, not replacing the keyboard on day one.
10 min read
How-to
The decisions are clear for about ten minutes. Use them.
The decisions are clear for about ten minutes after a call ends. Hold the key, speak the recap and the owners, and send it before the next one crowds it out.
10 min read
How-to
The seatbelt sign goes on, the signal goes away, and the dictation keeps working
Get the model onto the machine before you leave the gate, then dictate the whole flight with no signal, no upload and no per-minute charge to think about.
10 min read
How-to
One entry and one habit fix most of what an engine gets wrong
The engine mishears the same word every time until you fix how you say it, how it looks in your dictionary, or both. A working method for getting it right.
10 min read
How-to
The paste can fail. The sentence already didn't need it to succeed
Your words are saved before Coii VoiceInput even tries to paste them, so a failed paste is not a lost sentence. Here is where to find it and get it back.
10 min read
How-to
Your clipboard is borrowed for a fraction of a second, not replaced
Coii VoiceInput only uses your clipboard when accessibility pasting will not work, and restores what was there before. When that happens, and how to control it.
10 min read
How-to
Five seconds from thinking of a prompt to having it written in the chat box
Open the assistant's chat box, hold your hotkey, speak the prompt, and let go. The text lands exactly as spoken, ready to edit before sending.
11 min read
How-to
Measure the keystrokes you actually replace, not whether the app worked
Identify typing volume you can replace with speech, switch to a held-key dictation tool for those tasks, and measure how much keystrokes actually decrease.
10 min read
How-to
Open a document and speak one section at a time. Your words land as you dictate and are saved before anything can go wrong.
Hold the key and speak at your pace. Words land as you dictate, and every sentence reaches your history before the engine runs, so nothing is lost.
12 min read
How-to
Speak your documentation while your cursor sits in the comment
Hold ⌥ Space to dictate. Your words land in code comments with syntax already in place. Works in VS Code, Xcode, Sublime, and every macOS editor.
11 min read
How-to
Compose the reply in your head, then hold the key and speak it once
Compose your reply in your head before pressing the key. Speak it once to your field. Saves time on routine email messages by removing typing.
10 min read
How-to
Dictate across two languages without switching apps
Use Coii VoiceInput to dictate in two languages without switching apps. Add both to your dictionary and speak naturally — punctuation adapts to each language.
10 min read
How-to
Dictate commands, scripts, and code into your terminal
Speak code and commands into your terminal using Coii VoiceInput. Hold the hotkey in any Mac terminal app and your words land in the command prompt.
11 min read
How-to
Hold a key, speak, and your words land in the field you left open
Hold the hotkey and speak. Your words land in your current field within half a second. Both raw and processed transcripts are saved for recovery and editing.
10 min read
How-to
A headset microphone often captures your words more clearly than the Mac's built-in mic
A headset microphone improves accuracy in noisy environments. Position it 5cm from your mouth, test the level, and keep it still while speaking.
12 min read
How-to
Why your dictation lands in the wrong app, and how to fix it
Dictation lands in the wrong place when app focus changes during dictation. Keep the right app focused until release, and your text arrives correctly.
10 min read
How-to
Speak your punctuation while dictating
Say punctuation commands while dictating: 'period', 'comma', 'question mark'. Automatic capitalization after sentences. Build a dictionary for custom commands.
11 min read
How-to
Open Settings, choose a key combination, and test it before using it in production
Pick a key combination, test it to ensure no other app claims it, and change it if conflicts arise. Modifier plus letter, number or F-key work best.
10 min read
How-to
The accessibility API does the work — the app sends text to whatever you are typing into
The app sees the field you are typing into and sends text through the accessibility API, or through a paste if that does not work. No special setup per app.
10 min read
How-to
Dictating anywhere, network or not — the full feature set offline
The app works with Wi-Fi off, on a plane, or in a locked-down office. Download the model once, then dictate anywhere without needing the network again.
11 min read
How-to
Getting the words you said, not a cleaned-up version of them
Get the words you actually said, fillers and hedges included: how to turn off cleanup, check what your app is doing, and recover an edited transcript.
11 min read
How-to
The words your engine has never heard are the ones you use all day
Product names, surnames and internal acronyms are where every engine fails. Building a dictionary that fixes them, and what each approach costs you.
10 min read
Use case14
A day in one job. Named tasks, named formats, real folder shapes — being specific is what earns these their ranking.
Use case
The discussion section that has stalled for three days
A stalled discussion section, reviewer comments, and a paragraph rewritten by hand four times — how dictating a rough pass gets a writing day moving again.
10 min read
Use case
A hook has to be said out loud before anyone can judge it
A YouTube hook that sounds scripted, a sponsor read that has to be word-for-word, and a comment reply in the video's own voice — a creator's scripting day.
10 min read
Use case
Six meetings today, and forty emails that arrived between them
Six meetings, forty unread emails, and a handoff to a chief of staff — the decisive one-line replies get said out loud instead of typed between calls.
10 min read
Use case
The note that has to survive the walk back to the car
A city council meeting, a courthouse hallway, a newsroom desk under deadline — how field notes survive the gap between noticing something and writing it down.
11 min read
Use case
One founder, three assistants, and a held key instead of three separate typing habits
A founder's day moves between a research assistant, a coding assistant and a writing assistant, prompted by voice and typed exactly as spoken.
10 min read
Use case
The fortieth InMail of the week still has to sound like the first
A cold InMail, notes after a screening call, a hiring-manager update, and a rejection worth more than a template — a recruiting day, dictated instead of typed.
10 min read
Use case
A typing budget of twenty minutes, and a day built around it
A physical therapist's typing limit, a toggle instead of a held key, and a full workday rebuilt around what a still-recovering hand can actually do.
10 min read
Use case
The line that reads fine and sounds wrong out loud
Dialogue that reads flat until it's spoken, blocking worked out on your feet, and a table read's notes turned into a same-day rewrite — a writing day, dictated.
10 min read
Use case
The outline that still isn't real six hours before it's due
A blank outline six hours before a deadline, a thesis said aloud instead of typed, and a professor's comment turned into a real rewrite — one essay, dictated.
11 min read
Use case
Ticket fourteen needs an answer the macro doesn't have
One shift in a ticket queue — a refund, a reply no macro fits, a handoff, then a spike. What changes when replies get said instead of typed.
10 min read
Use case
Three deadlines, three target languages, and a call in between
A legal rush job, a transcreation call, and a bilingual project note — one working day where the already-decided target sentence gets said, not typed.
10 min read
Use case
7:40 AM: A one-line reply to opposing counsel, before the inbox fills up
One day of memos, redlines and billing narratives, dictated into the document that needed them. What a held key adds to legal prose, and where it stops.
11 min read
Use case
9 AM: The feature branch is ready for a commit message
Shipping a feature through commit messages, PR descriptions, code review comments and Slack threads. Communication, not code. What voice adds to a dev's day.
10 min read
Use case
7 AM: The page opens with scattered notes
Four hours of dictated writing, from scattered notes to a polished draft ready for an editor. One morning, three stages, how voice changes the pace.
10 min read
Guide3
An argued position rather than a listicle. Takes a side.
Guide
The invoice is the small half of what a subscription costs you
The monthly-times-twelve arithmetic is the easy half of this decision. The harder half is what a subscription keeps asking of you after you've paid it.
10 min read
Guide
"Runs on your Mac" settles one question. Three more are still open.
"Processes on-device" answers one question about a dictation app, not four. Here is the test that tells you which of the other three it dodges.
10 min read
Guide
The tidy version of your sentence is not your sentence
Most paid dictation apps advertise polishing your speech into cleaner writing. Here is the case for the other kind, and how to tell which one you have.
10 min read
Glossary18
One question each, answered in the first sixty words, with the detail underneath.
Glossary
Dictation in password fields depends on how the text lands.
Many dictation apps cannot type in password fields due to macOS security restrictions. Coii VoiceInput works in password fields by pasting the text.
3 min read
Glossary
Apple Dictation requires an internet connection every time
No. Apple Dictation needs internet connection. Audio uploads to Apple's servers in real time for transcription. Only local dictation apps work offline.
3 min read
Glossary
A cloud service means you cannot dictate without the network
No. Wispr Flow requires internet for every dictation. It is cloud-based and cannot process speech locally. Why that matters and when it fails
3 min read
Glossary
Speaking takes a fraction of the time, until you factor in the pauses and corrections
Speaking averages 130 words per minute; typing 40–50. Speed gains shrink when accuracy and editing matter. What the raw numbers actually mean.
3 min read
Glossary
Audio sent to Apple's servers, encrypted in transit, not retained for training
macOS Dictation uploads audio to Apple's servers for transcription. Encrypted in transit, not used for training, but requires internet connectivity.
3 min read
Glossary
A subscription service with a free tier, but no one-time purchase option
Yes. Pro and Growth plans are monthly subscriptions that renew automatically. There is a free tier, but every paid plan recurs every month unless cancelled.
3 min read
Glossary
Check superwhisper's website for current pricing
Check superwhisper's website for current pricing. Like other local Mac apps, it's a one-time purchase, not a subscription with monthly fees.
3 min read
Glossary
$15 per month for Pro; $23 for Growth; or free with limited features
Wispr Flow is free to start. Pro is $15/user/month ($12 annually). Growth $23/month ($18 annually). Enterprise custom. Monthly subscriptions auto-renew.
3 min read
Glossary
How your audio and transcripts are stored depends on where the processing happens
Recording retention varies by tool. Some keep audio locally, others delete it after transcription, and cloud tools store recordings on servers.
3 min read
Glossary
The same key pressed, but only one app gets to act on it
When two apps use the same keyboard shortcut, only one responds. A hotkey conflict occurs and macOS must decide the winner. Learn how to fix it.
3 min read
Glossary
The engine runs on your machine; the audio never leaves
On-device speech recognition runs on your machine, never uploading audio. How it differs from cloud-based transcription and which approach you actually need.
3 min read
Glossary
The system pathway that moves text from one app into another
The macOS Accessibility API is how assistive tools insert text into any app. How it works, why dictation apps rely on it, and when it falls back to paste
4 min read
Glossary
The percentage of words that came out wrong, measured under specific conditions
Word Error Rate measures transcription accuracy under ideal conditions. What it reveals, when it matters, and why it won't predict results for your voice.
3 min read
Glossary
Transcribing and editing are two different jobs, and most apps do both
Many do, on purpose and by default — removing fillers, fixing grammar and adjusting tone. Here is what that means and how to check which kind you have.
3 min read
Glossary
It depends entirely on how the app decides when to listen
It depends on which listening model your app uses. Push-to-talk opens the mic only while a key is held; voice activation and toggles keep it open longer.
3 min read
Glossary
Typed into the field you're using, not saved as a document to open later
Dictation software types your speech into the field you were using, rather than producing a separate transcript file — what sets it apart from a recorder.
3 min read
Glossary
The microphone is live for exactly as long as the key is held
Push-to-talk dictation only listens while a key is physically held down — press, speak, release — rather than guessing when your sentence starts and ends.
3 min read
Glossary
The conversion step, and nothing the term promises beyond it
Speech-to-text is any system that turns spoken audio into written words. What the term covers, what it does not, and where on-device and cloud approaches differ
3 min read