Speech to text · Mac
You talk, the Mac types. Apple calls it Dictation, Google calls it voice typing, and half the search results for this phrase are about the opposite feature. So, before anything else:
01 · This page
Speech to text. Every way to get it on a Mac is in the table below. The longer tour of the same ground is at voice to text on Mac.
02 · The reverse
That is text to speech, and macOS ships it free. System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content, turn on Speak Selection, pick a voice. You can close this tab.
| Option | Cost | Setup | Where it types | Offline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| macOS Dictation | Free | Toggle it on in System Settings > Keyboard | Any text field with a cursor | Partly. Apple says supported languages are processed on device. |
| Why it matters: already on your Mac and fine for short messages. It stops after about 30 seconds without speech, and automatic punctuation can be uneven. Walkthrough: how to dictate on a Mac. | ||||
| Dictate | $8/month, one plan | Sign in. That is the setup. | Wherever your cursor was: native apps, browsers, Electron, terminals | Transcription needs a connection. The subscription check does not. |
| Why it matters: Dictate is our app. Hold a key, talk, let go; punctuated text lands at your cursor. No models to pick, no API keys. Pricing is one number: $8 a month, flat. | ||||
| Local-model apps Superwhisper, VoiceInk, MacWhisper | One-time licenses or subscriptions, varies | Download the app, then download and choose Whisper models | Varies by app. MacWhisper is built around transcribing files. | Yes, fully |
| Why it matters: the pick when offline transcription is a hard requirement, which Dictate does not offer. You manage the models yourself. Comparison: Superwhisper and its alternatives. | ||||
| Browser voice typing | Free | None; use Chrome, Edge, or Safari | One page. Google Docs voice typing works only inside Docs. | No |
| Why it matters: Docs has voice typing in Chrome, Edge, and Safari. Gmail has none at all. Nothing here helps you outside that one tab. | ||||
Competitor pricing and features move; check their sites before deciding. More on the offline question: does Mac dictation work offline?
Setup
Dictate’s server runs the speech models and keeps them current, so there is no accuracy settings screen and nothing to download. You sign in and hold a key. If a tool asks you to choose a model size, that choice is now your job forever; we would rather it be ours.
Insertion
Dictate remembers which field had focus when you pressed the hotkey and puts the text there, in native apps, browsers, and terminals. Audio goes over TLS, gets transcribed, and is discarded when the request completes. History keeps the text, never the recording.
Recurring questions
Setup, offline use, and text to speech.
Yes. Turn on Dictation under System Settings > Keyboard, then use its shortcut. Paid apps address its 30-second silence cutoff, uneven automatic punctuation, and app compatibility.
Place the cursor in a text field and start dictating. Apple Dictation uses a toggle; Dictate records while you hold its hotkey. Both insert text in the focused field.
That is text to speech. Open System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content and turn on Speak Selection.
It depends. Apple Dictation runs supported languages on-device. Superwhisper and VoiceInk offer local models. Dictate requires a connection for transcription.
Yes. Apple calls it Dictation, Google calls it voice typing, and speech to text is the generic term.
$8/month, one plan. A subscription you never used is refunded in full.
