Guides

A free Aiko alternative for the Mac, with dictation into any app

By Ryleigh Newman · Published October 6, 2026

YapToText is a free Aiko alternative for the Mac: like Aiko, it runs Whisper on your Mac and transcribes audio and video files, and it also types what you say straight into any app with one key. Aiko is a paid app from Sindre Sorhus, bought once on the App Store after a free 14-day trial, and for recordings it does things I do not: subtitle, JSON and CSV export, 100 languages, and versions for iOS and visionOS. I built YapToText, so read this with that in mind. Every Aiko fact here comes from sindresorhus.com/aiko, Sindre Sorhus's apps pages and Aiko's App Store listing.

My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day, and I built the dictation app I needed and gave it away. If you searched for Aiko dictation, the section on dictation explains what Aiko's own shortcut does and how typing at the cursor differs.

Download for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

Steps

1. Install YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
2. In the Get set up card, press Continue next to Microphone and Grant next to Accessibility, and switch YapToText on in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.
3. Click into a text field, tap Right Command, say a sentence and tap it again.
4. On the Utility page, pick Raw Transcription in the Transcribe a file card and drop a recording on it.
5. Add your Aiko word replacements on the Dictionaries page, with the wrong spelling in Heard and yours in Replace with.

What Aiko is, from its own pages

Aiko is an AI-powered audio transcription app by Sindre Sorhus, for macOS, iOS and visionOS. Its transcription is powered by OpenAI's Whisper running locally on your device, and it is pitched at turning speech from meetings, lectures and more into text.

• Whisper large v2 on the Mac. Its site says it uses the Whisper large v2 model on macOS, and the medium or small model on iOS, depending on available memory. It supports 100 languages.
• Accuracy over speed. The App Store listing says Aiko favors accuracy over speed and does not do live transcription while recording.
• Files and exports. It transcribes audio and video files, and exports to formats like JSON, CSV and subtitles.
• Word replacement. A word-replacement feature fixes common mistakes automatically.
• Shortcuts. It supports the Shortcuts app. There is no built-in batch transcription, and the site suggests a shortcut from the share sheet instead. A Mac shortcut records, transcribes and copies the result to the clipboard, run from the menu bar or a global keyboard shortcut.
• Private by design. The listing says nothing leaves your device, and that the app is not even able to connect to the internet, through self-imposed restrictions that macOS enforces.
• Price. A paid app, sold once on the App Store as a Universal Purchase, with a free 14-day trial through TestFlight that has the full app and no limits. The listing shows the price for your region.
• Your Mac. The listing asks for an Apple silicon Mac with at least 16 GB of memory, says Aiko does not work well on Intel Macs, and says the app now requires macOS 26, with the last version for macOS 15 on Aiko's website.

Aiko is a careful, private file transcriber; YapToText is a free dictation app that also transcribes files.

What you keep, and what changes

Both keep your audio on your Mac and both run Whisper there. What changes is the price, the model, and where the text goes.

• Whisper, on the Mac. Aiko runs Whisper large v2. The App Store version of YapToText has Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5) inside, and the Dictation Model Library on the AI Models page adds ten more Whisper models, Whisper Large v3 among them. The Whisper on a Mac page explains the model YapToText ships and why.
• Files. In YapToText, pick a mode on the Transcribe a file card on the Utility page, then drop an audio or video file or press Choose File. It reads anything macOS can decode, Voice Memos included, and gives plain text with Copy, Insert and Send below. Aiko's JSON, CSV and subtitle exports have no match here. The guide to transcribing an audio file has every step.
• Talking. Aiko's Mac shortcut ends with the text on your clipboard. YapToText types at your cursor in any app, and its floating panel shows your words as they form. Intelligent Insert fits a phrase dropped mid-sentence to the words around it; the Intelligent Insert guide shows how.

• Your words. Aiko's word replacement fixes common mistakes. YapToText's Dictionaries do that too, and they also prime Whisper with your spellings before it decodes. The Dictionaries guide covers both halves.
• Cleanup. Aiko's pages do not describe rewriting a transcript. YapToText ships a cleanup model, Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct, on the Mac: Raw Transcription keeps every word, and a mode such as Note or Email shapes the text, for a file as much as for a dictation.
• Your Mac. Aiko's current version asks for macOS 26 and 16 GB of memory. YapToText needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.
• Price and code. Aiko is a one-time purchase after its trial, and its pages do not say it is open source. YapToText is free with no paid tier, its optional tip jar unlocks nothing, and its code is on GitHub under the GPL-3.0.

You keep Whisper on your Mac and your audio private; you drop the price and gain a key that types in every app.

Side by side

Checked October 6, 2026, on sindresorhus.com and Aiko's App Store listing. Prices and requirements change, so check before you buy or switch.

A file you transcribe with Transcribe file in the menu bar panel is filed in History under the file's name, which is where Export Text lives. Aiko exports more from a recording; YapToText does more with your voice, and costs nothing.

If you came looking for Aiko dictation

Aiko is a transcription app, not a dictation app that types wherever you are. Its closest feature is a shortcut for the Mac that records, transcribes and copies the result to the clipboard, which you run from the menu bar or a global keyboard shortcut, and then you paste. Its listing also says it does not transcribe live while recording.

YapToText is built for the other way round. Tap, talk, tap, and the words land where your cursor was, in any app.

• One key. Right Command by default, tapped to start and again to stop. The key can be Fn (Globe), Right Option, Caps Lock or any other single key, and Hold to talk is a choice in the Keys card on the Dictation page.
• Words as you talk. The floating panel shows a wave and your words as they form, so you know it is hearing you before the text lands.
• Shaped for the app. Auto mode, on by default, formats each dictation by itself: something shaped like a letter comes out as an email, something short or casual stays exactly as spoken, and everything else gets a careful pass that fixes what was misheard and rewrites nothing. The Auto mode guide explains it.
• The clipboard as a fallback. Without Accessibility nothing is lost: the dictation is still transcribed and copied to your clipboard.
• A recording into the app you are in. Transcribe file in the menu bar panel picks a file, transcribes it in your current mode, copies the text, and types it into the app you were using when Insert text automatically is on, which is the default.

The guide to dictating into any app goes app by app, from Mail to Slack.

Move over in a few minutes

Four steps, then your word replacements. Keep Aiko if you rely on its exports; nothing stops you running both. Install, grant two permissions, dictate once, and drop one recording on the Utility page.

Step 1: Install YapToText

• You: Get YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
• YapToText: Arrives with both models inside, so there is no model to pick or download first.
• Check: When you open it, the capybara appears in your menu bar.

Step 2: Allow the microphone and Accessibility

• You: On the welcome screens, or in the Get set up card on the Home page, press Continue next to Microphone, then Continue or Grant next to Accessibility.
• macOS: Asks once for the microphone, then opens System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility, where you switch YapToText on yourself. An app cannot switch this on for itself.
• Check: Within a couple of seconds the Get set up card leaves the Home page. If Accessibility will not stay on, press Show in Finder, drag the app into the list, and press Recheck.

Step 3: Dictate one sentence

• You: Click into a text field in any app, tap Right Command, say a sentence, and tap it again. If you would rather hold a key while you talk, choose Hold to talk in the Keys card on the Dictation page.
• YapToText: Shows your voice as a wave and your words as they form, then types the finished text at your cursor.
• Check: The words land where your cursor was. Without Accessibility nothing is lost: the dictation is still transcribed and copied to your clipboard.

Step 4: Transcribe a recording you used to open in Aiko

• You: Open the Utility page. In the Transcribe a file card, pick Raw Transcription in the mode menu, then drag the recording onto the card or press Choose File.
• YapToText: Reads the file by its content, not its extension, and transcribes it on the Mac. A recording over 4 minutes is cut at quiet moments into pieces of about 2 minutes.
• Check: The text appears in the card with Copy, Insert and Send below. A file with no speech in it says none was found.

Step 5: Bring your word replacements over

Say: Select the right spelling of a word anywhere on screen, tap Right Option, say this, and tap Right Option again.

add this to my dictionary

What happens: The card says Added, with the word in quotes, and the word goes into your first dictionary exactly as written.

• You: Add the rest on the Dictionaries page: in a dictionary such as General, type the wrong spelling in Heard and your spelling in Replace with, then press Add.
• YapToText: Uses the entry from your next dictation, and for files too, since your dictionaries apply on the Transcribe a file card.
• Check: Dictate a sentence with that word. It comes out spelled your way.

The keys and shortcuts guide lists every key that can start a dictation, and the Utility guide covers the other cards on that page.

What Aiko does that YapToText does not

Aiko is careful, private software, and for recordings it does things I have not built. If you need subtitles, structured exports or the same app on your iPhone, Aiko is the better fit.

• Exports. Subtitles, JSON and CSV, among other formats. YapToText gives plain text.
• More languages. 100, against YapToText's 29 plus auto-detect; the languages guide lists mine.
• Beyond the Mac. iOS and visionOS apps, in one Universal Purchase. YapToText is a Mac app only.
• Shortcuts. Support for the Shortcuts app, including a way to transcribe many files through the share sheet. YapToText takes one file at a time.
• No network at all. Its listing says the app cannot connect to the internet. YapToText makes no network calls in normal use, but it can download a model when you ask it to.

What each one cannot do

• YapToText. No Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad or Intel version, and a download of about 2.9 GB from the App Store. File transcription gives plain text, with no timestamps, subtitles or speaker labels, one file at a time. It does not translate as you speak. It hears 29 languages plus auto-detect, and its interface is in English. It is built to work alongside VoiceOver and Voice Control, but the full test pass with them has not been run yet, as the accessibility page says.
• Aiko. Its listing says it does not transcribe live while recording and does not currently detect speakers. Batch transcription is not built in. The current version needs an Apple silicon Mac with at least 16 GB of memory and macOS 26 or later, and its pages do not describe typing into other apps, editing a selection by voice or rewriting a transcript. After the 14-day trial, it is a purchase.

If your work is recordings that need subtitles or a spreadsheet, Aiko may be worth its price. Aiko is built for recordings you will read later; YapToText is built for words you need now.

The short version

• Who should switch. Anyone on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later who wants to talk into any app, with recordings as plain text, for free.
• Who should stay. Anyone who needs subtitles, JSON or CSV exports, more than 29 languages, or the same app on iOS and visionOS.
• What it costs. YapToText is free. Aiko is a one-time purchase after a free 14-day trial, checked October 6, 2026.
• Which Mac. Aiko's current version needs macOS 26 and 16 GB of memory; YapToText needs macOS 14 and Apple silicon.

Both keep Whisper on your Mac; one sells a careful transcriber, the other gives away a dictation app.

If something here no longer matches Aiko's own pages, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Related

• Transcribe audio to text on a Mac, free, without uploading it
• Whisper for Mac, running locally and typing into any app
• A free MacWhisper alternative built for dictation first
• The best transcription apps for Mac in October 2026, ranked for audio and video files
• Dictate into any app on your Mac, from Slack to Notion
• A Buzz alternative for the Mac that types where you are

Sources

• https://sindresorhus.com/aiko (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://sindresorhus.com/apps/paid (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aiko/id1672085276 (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-03)

Questions