About
LocalDictation is a menu bar dictation app that turns your voice into text without ever sending audio to the cloud. Hold a hotkey, talk, release — your words appear at the cursor. Everything runs locally: speech recognition, AI cleanup, the works. No accounts, no subscriptions, no telemetry on what you say.
Pick from Apple's built-in speech engine, Whisper, or Moonshine. Layer on optional AI cleanup (grammar, tone, custom prompts) using a built-in MLX model or your own Ollama / LM Studio setup. Run it as a Whisper-compatible HTTP server and dictate from another machine on your network.
Try every feature free for 14 days. After the trial, LocalDictation stays installed and works forever with Apple Speech and small Whisper models — pay $29 once to keep AI cleanup, larger models, the API server, and realtime mode unlocked.
Features
- Push-to-talk or toggle hotkeys (separate keys for raw and AI-cleaned transcription)
- Three speech-to-text backends: Apple Speech, Whisper (WhisperKit/CoreML), and Moonshine (sherpa-onnx)
- Built-in AI cleanup with MLX, plus support for any Ollama or LM Studio model for grammar fixes, tone shifts, and custom prompts
- Whisper-compatible HTTP server mode — run LocalDictation on one Mac, dictate from another
- Insert text at the cursor or copy to clipboard, with a floating overlay showing recording and processing state
- Custom replacement rules and per-app behavior
- Bring-your-own models from HuggingFace for both Whisper and MLX
- Universal binary, fully offline, zero data collection
macOS is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. LocalDictation is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc.
System requirements are subject to change. Compatibility is not guaranteed on all configurations. Contact Support