Dictation software for Mac: seven options, and what to look for
By Ryleigh Newman · Published · Updated
Dictation software for Mac starts with Apple Dictation, which is built in and fine for short bursts, and the choice after that comes down to price, where your voice goes, and whether you can edit by voice. YapToText is the free one I built: press one key, talk, press it again, and the finished text lands in whatever app has your cursor, with everything running on the Mac. Below is a dated table of seven options, then the six jobs I judge every dictation app by, my own included.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
On this page: 12 sections
- Steps
- Look for six things
- Seven dictation software options for Mac, compared
- Dragon is discontinued on the Mac
- Apple Dictation and YapToText, job by job
- How YapToText does the six jobs
- Set it up for hands that cannot type
- If the words go to the clipboard
- Guides by the work you do
- What it cannot do
- The short version
- Questions
Steps
- Install YapToText free from the Mac App Store.
- Allow the microphone, then allow Accessibility in System Settings so it can type into other apps.
- Click into any text field and tap Right Command.
- Say what you want to write, then tap Right Command again.
- Check that the words landed at your cursor. If they went to the clipboard, Accessibility is not on yet.
Look for six things
I built YapToText because my hands make typing difficult, and nothing I could find on the Mac was good enough to replace typing, ran fully on the device and cost nothing. It is free with no paid tier, open source under the GPL, and on the Mac App Store for Apple silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later. People also call this kind of app a dictation program, a dictation tool or voice typing software. It is the same job.
Dictation software has to stand in for a keyboard, and that comes down to six jobs. These are the ones I judge every app by, my own included. An app that does all six disappears into your day.
- A trigger you can hit without looking. One key, tapped, not a chord you have to hold.
- Text where your cursor is. In any app, not a separate window you copy from.
- Punctuation where you said it. You need spoken names for the marks the model cannot guess.
- A shape that fits the app. An email that reads like an email, a chat message left casual.
- Editing by voice. A way to fix a word or rewrite a sentence without going back to the keys.
- Your voice staying put. Recognition should happen on the Mac, not on someone else's server.
Seven dictation software options for Mac, compared
Checked October 3 to 5, 2026, on each app's own pages. Prices reread October 7, 2026, with no change. The fuller tables are on the comparison page and in the roundup of free dictation apps.
| App | Price | Free use | Where your voice goes | Types into any app | Edits by voice | Silence or time limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Dictation | Built into macOS | All of it | On the Mac or Siri servers; Keyboard settings show which | Yes, anywhere you can type | Not in Dictation; Voice Control can | Stops after 30 seconds without speech |
| YapToText | Free, no paid tier | Everything | Stays on the Mac | Yes | Yes, Quick Edit | No silence stop by default; one dictation stops at 30 minutes |
| superwhisper | Pro $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once | Unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, without AI processing | On the Mac with local models; cloud models on Pro | Yes | Super Mode, Pro | Not stated |
| MacWhisper | Pro €64 once | File transcription, and dictation in the direct download | On the Mac; optional cloud providers you connect | Yes, in the version from macwhisper.com, not the App Store edition | Not stated | Not stated |
| Wispr Flow | Pro $15 per user a month, or $12 billed yearly | 2,000 words a week on desktop | The cloud, always | Yes | Command Mode, experimental, on paid plans and trials | One dictation runs up to 20 minutes |
| VoiceInk | $25 once for 1 Mac, $39 for 2, $49 for 3 | A 7-day trial, or a build from source | On the Mac by default; optional cloud with your own key | Yes, at the cursor | Yes, through Ollama or a cloud provider | Not stated |
| Spokenly | Pro $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year | Local models, with no usage limits | The cloud by default, or the Mac once you download a local model | Yes, in the build from its website | Not stated | Not stated |
Two of the seven cost nothing at all: Apple Dictation, which you already have, and YapToText. The pages for superwhisper, MacWhisper, Wispr Flow, VoiceInk and Spokenly each go through one app against YapToText.
Dragon is discontinued on the Mac
Dictation software for Mac used to mean Dragon. Nuance discontinued Dragon Professional Individual for Mac on October 22, 2018, and no Mac version has been sold since.
Some lists still recommend it, so it is worth saying plainly: there is no current Dragon for the Mac to buy. For dictation, the choices today are the ones in the table above, and for commands and clicking by voice, macOS has Voice Control built in. The Dragon for Mac alternative page maps each Dragon habit to what does that job now.
Apple Dictation and YapToText, job by job
Checked October 3, 2026, against Apple's Mac User Guide and the YapToText 1.5.3 app.
| Job | Apple Dictation | YapToText |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | The Microphone key, the Dictation keyboard shortcut, or Edit, Start Dictation | Right Command, tapped, or any single key you choose |
| Where the text goes | Anywhere you can type | Anywhere you can type |
| Punctuation | Adds commas, periods and question marks in supported languages | Whisper punctuates; spoken names add the rest |
| Shape for the app | No | Auto mode, on by default |
| Editing by voice | No; Voice Control can | Quick Edit, scratch that, replace X with Y |
| Silence | Stops after 30 seconds without speech | Listens until you tap again; auto-stop is optional and off |
| Where your voice goes | On the Mac for supported languages on Apple silicon; otherwise to Apple | Stays on the Mac |
| Price | Built in | Free, no paid tier |
If Apple Dictation does every job you need, keep it. My ranking of the best free dictation apps for Mac compares seven free options, and the guide to using dictation on a Mac covers turning Apple's on.
How YapToText does the six jobs
Here is how my own app does each of the six jobs, with the page that has the detail. One key starts it, the text lands at your cursor, and nothing in a dictation uses the network.
A trigger you can hit without looking. The dictation key is Right Command by default, tapped to start and tapped to stop. In the Dictation page's Keys card you can switch it to Hold to talk, or pick another key: Right Control, Fn or Globe, Caps Lock, or any single key, such as an F-key. The backup shortcut, Control Option Space, works even without Accessibility, and Start Dictation in the menu bar does the same job. The keys and shortcuts page has every option.
Text where your cursor is. It types into the app in front, in any app you can type in, once Accessibility is on. The first dictation page walks through the first try.
Punctuation where you said it. Whisper punctuates ordinary speech, and spoken names add the marks it cannot guess. The spoken punctuation page has the list.
A shape that fits the app. Auto mode, on by default, reads where you are dictating: an email comes out as an email, a chat message stays as spoken, and everything else gets a conservative pass that fixes what was misheard. The built-in modes are Raw Transcription, Clean Up, Note, Email, Message and Code Comment. Press a number key while you talk to pick one for that dictation. The Auto mode page has the details.
Editing by voice. Quick Edit rewrites text you already wrote: select it, tap Right Option, say the change. Dictionaries teach it your names and jargon, and fixing the same word twice makes it offer to remember the fix. The Dictionaries page covers that.
Your voice staying put. Two models ship inside the App Store version: Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5), 574 MB, for speech, and Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct, shown as 2.3 GB, for cleanup when a mode asks for it. Both run on the Mac. There is no account and no analytics, and the only network use is a model download you start yourself. The Homebrew build is the same app without the models, so it cannot dictate until you download a speech model on the AI Models page. It can trail the App Store build by a release. The offline dictation page shows how to test any app with Wi-Fi off, and the AI dictation page explains what the cleanup model does.
It is free, with no paid tier: the download page has both ways to install it, and the pricing page says what free means.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
If you write in Word or Google Docs, the guides to dictation in Word on a Mac and dictation in Google Docs on a Mac cover those apps.
Set it up for hands that cannot type
The defaults lean toward hands that cannot type. Tapping is the default instead of holding, and any key can be the trigger, so anything that presses one key can run it. I have not tested every switch interface. Every state is announced to VoiceOver, from Listening to the text landing. Auto-amplify quiet speech, on by default, lifts a quiet voice by measuring it against the room.
The accessibility page and the one key, switch or pedal page go further, and the guide to typing on a Mac without hands pairs YapToText with macOS Voice Control.
If the words go to the clipboard
When a dictation is copied instead of typed, the cause is almost always one switch: in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility, turn YapToText on. Without it, every dictation goes to the clipboard. The troubleshooting page covers the rest, smallest step first.
Guides by the work you do
The same app does different jobs depending on what you write all day. Each of these guides starts from the work, not from the settings:
- Writing. The guides to dictation for writers, dictation for academic writing, dictation for content creators and voice journaling.
- School. The guides to dictation for students and dictation for teachers.
- Work. The guides to legal dictation, dictation for coding, voice coding with AI agents and private dictation for confidential work.
What it cannot do
- Intel Macs. It needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and nothing is claimed for Intel.
- Windows, iPhone or iPad. It is a Mac app only.
- Speakers and timestamps. It does not label who said what, or when.
- Clicking around. It writes. macOS Voice Control does the clicking.
The short version
- Start with Apple Dictation. It is built in and enough for short bursts.
- Move to YapToText when you need more. It adds formatting for the app, editing by voice and no silence cutoff, for nothing.
- Check Accessibility first. It is the one switch that decides whether words are typed or copied.
- The price. It is free: the download page and the pricing page have the details.
The right dictation software is the one you stop noticing. If something here does not match what you see, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.
This app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.
Related
Sources
- https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/14.0/mac/14.0 (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/commands-for-dictating-text-on-mac-mh40695/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://nuance.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27843/~/dragon-professional-for-mac-6:-end-of-life,-end-of-support-dates (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://wisprflow.ai/privacy (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://superwhisper.com/docs/billing/plans (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://spokenly.app/pricing (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://www.getharker.com (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://wisprflow.ai/pricing (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://tryvoiceink.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://spokenly.app (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://tryvoiceink.com (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://superwhisper.com (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://www.macwhisper.com (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://spokenly.app/docs (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://superwhisper.com/privacy (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://wisprflow.ai/data-controls (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://www.macwhisper.com/legal/privacy-policy (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://dragon.nuance.com/en-us/dragon-professional (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://dragon.nuance.com/en-us/dragon-support.html (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/2772472373-what-is-flow (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/4816967992-how-to-use-command-mode (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://docs.macwhisper.com/article/14-how-to-use-the-dictation-feature (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://docs.macwhisper.com/article/34-transcription-is-slower-than-expected (checked 2026-10-03)
- https://www.nuance.com/products/help/dragon/dragon-for-mac6/enx/Content/Introduction/Upgrading-FAQ.htm (checked 2026-10-03)
Questions
What is the best dictation software for Mac?
YapToText, if you want free dictation that runs on the Mac and edits by voice. I built it, so weigh that. Apple Dictation is built in and fine for short bursts. My ranking of the best dictation software for Mac compares seven free options with dated facts.
Is there free dictation software for Mac?
Yes. YapToText is free with no paid tier and no cap, and Apple Dictation is built into macOS. superwhisper, Spokenly and Harker have free plans that keep some features for a paid tier.
Does dictation software for Mac need the internet?
Not YapToText from the Mac App Store: both models are inside the app. Apple Dictation is on device for supported languages on Apple silicon. Wispr Flow says its transcription always happens in the cloud.
Is Dragon available for Mac?
No. Nuance discontinued Dragon Professional Individual for Mac on October 22, 2018. The Dragon for Mac page on this site covers what to use instead.
Can dictation software edit text I already wrote?
YapToText can: select the text in any app, tap the Quick Edit key and say the change. Apple Dictation cannot. macOS Voice Control can, with its own commands.