System-Wide Voice Dictation · 100% On-Device
The dictation Apple
should have shipped.
Press your hotkey. Speak. Text appears wherever your cursor is — any app, any text field. 155× realtime, on-device, free.
Yeah I think the new layout works — let me push the changes after lunch and we can review on the call
If it has a text cursor, MacParakeet works.
Slack, Gmail, VS Code, Notes, Pages, your terminal — the dictation overlay floats above your windows without stealing focus, so you never lose your place.
Make it yours
The defaults work. Bend any of them.
Custom hotkeys
Any single key, or any chord. Cmd+9, Option+Space, Ctrl+Shift+D — whatever your fingers already know.
Custom vocabulary
Teach it your jargon — product names, acronyms, coworkers' surnames. Clean post-transcription corrections can apply your vocabulary after recognition.
Text snippets
Say ;sig to insert your signature. ;addr for your address. Voice-triggered text expansion.
Clean mode
Filler words removed on the way out. “Um, I think, like, maybe we should…” becomes “I think we should.” English only.
Private dictation
One toggle. Text gets pasted; nothing gets saved. For passwords, drafts, anything you don't want a record of.
98 languages
Parakeet covers 25 European languages by default. Optional WhisperKit adds Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and 69 more.
How we compare
Other dictation apps charge $30–$250. MacParakeet is free and open-source.
| MacParakeet | WisprFlow | MacWhisper | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free open-source | $12-15/mo | $30 once |
| Free tier | Everything | 2,000 words/wk | No |
| Open-source | Yes GPL-3.0 | No | No |
| Local speech engine | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Parakeet TDT (155x) | Yes | No | Added later |
| System dictation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export formats | 7 formats | TXT | 5 formats |
| Video & podcast URLs | Yes | No | Yes |
| Speaker diarization | Yes | No | Yes |
| No account needed | Yes | No | Yes |
Questions & answers
What permissions does dictation need?
Two: Microphone (for your voice) and Accessibility (so MacParakeet can paste text into the focused app). Standard macOS prompts; granted once.
Can I use any key as my hotkey?
Yes. Any single key (Fn, F13, Caps Lock, Right Cmd, and more) or any chord (Cmd+9, Option+Space, Ctrl+Shift+D). Set it in Settings.
Does it work in non-English?
Yes. Parakeet supports 25 European languages out of the box. Optional WhisperKit adds Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, and 68 others, for 98 languages total. Clean text post-processing is currently optimized for English.
Is my voice really private?
Yes. Dictation runs through local speech engines on Apple Silicon. Audio is not sent to a cloud speech service, and you can verify the local-first path in the source code on GitHub.
What about Apple's built-in dictation?
Apple's built-in dictation has gotten better, but it is still slow, requires holding the key, and routes through Apple's servers for the longer-form mode. MacParakeet is faster, fully local, and supports any custom hotkey.
Can I see my dictation history?
Yes. Every dictation is saved in the Dictations tab unless you have enabled Private Dictation mode. Search, copy, re-process, or delete. You can also reset everything anytime.
Reclaim your voice.
Free and open-source. Works in any app, with 98-language coverage through local engines.
macOS 14.2+ · Apple Silicon · GPL-3.0