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A free Aqua Voice alternative with no subscription and no cloud

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YapToText is a free Aqua Voice alternative for the Mac: its speech model and its cleanup model run on your Mac instead of in the cloud, there is no account to make, and no word allowance runs out. Aqua does real things I do not. It runs on Windows and iPhone as well as the Mac, Intel Macs included, it hears 49 languages, and it runs Avalon, its own speech model, which Aqua says it trained on real technical speech. I built YapToText, so read this with that in mind. Every Aqua fact here comes from aquavoice.com, read on October 3, 2026.

My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day with YapToText. I wanted that dictation to keep working with the Wi-Fi off, and to cost nothing on word 1,001.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

On this page: 6 sections
  1. Side by side
  2. What you keep, and what changes
  3. Move over in about ten minutes
    1. Step 1: Install YapToText
    2. Step 2: Allow the microphone and Accessibility
    3. Step 3: Quit Aqua, pick your key and dictate once
    4. Step 4: Bring your words over
  4. Where Aqua is better
  5. The short version
  6. Questions

Side by side

Checked October 3, 2026, on aquavoice.com. Prices change, so check before you switch.

YapToTextAqua Voice
PriceFree, no paid tierFree plan; Pro $8 a month billed yearly or $10 month to month; Max $24 or $30; Business $19 or $24 per seat a month, 2 seats minimum
The free versionEverything1,000 free words with the Avalon model, about 7 minutes of talking
Where speech is processedOn the MacIn the cloud, where Avalon runs
Works with Wi-Fi offYes, the App Store buildNo, per its Mac page
AccountNoneSign in after you install
Open sourceYes, GPL-3.0Not stated
PlatformsMac onlyMac, Windows and iPhone; Android by waitlist
Mac requirementmacOS 14 or later, Apple siliconSeparate builds for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, from aquavoice.com/download
Default keyRight Command, tap to start and stopFn, held while you talk
Edits selected text by voiceYes, Quick EditYes, Edit Mode, on every plan
Context it readsThe words around your cursor, plus your selection or clipboard when a mode asks for themWhat is on screen, with Deep Context, off until you turn it on
Speech modelWhisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5), on the MacAvalon, Aqua's own, in the cloud
Languages29 plus auto-detect49, with Auto-Detect
For teamsNothingBusiness adds SSO/SAML, SCIM, Zero Data Retention and team-wide dictionaries

Aqua calls its free plan a test drive, and it is measured in words. YapToText has one tier, so nothing counts down. The roundup of Wispr Flow alternatives puts Aqua next to six other apps, and the Willow Voice alternative page covers Willow, another cloud dictation app with a free plan.

What you keep, and what changes

Here is the switch job by job: what Aqua does first, then what YapToText does instead.

  • Dictating into any app. On a Mac, Aqua's default is to hold Fn, talk and let go, and it inserts the text at your cursor without a browser extension. In YapToText you tap Right Command to start and tap it again to stop, or choose Hold to talk if your hands already know the Aqua habit. Intelligent Insert reads the words around your cursor first, so a sentence dropped into the middle of a paragraph gets the right capital and spacing.
  • Editing by voice. Aqua's Edit Mode rewrites a selection: select text, hold the Aqua key and say the change, on any plan. YapToText's Quick Edit works the same way on its own key: select text, tap Right Option, say the change and tap again. For 30 seconds after a dictation lands, scratch that removes it and replace X with Y fixes a word, with no key at all. The Quick Edit guide lists what you can ask for.
App Store poster headed Edit anything by voice: the Quick Edit card listening, applying the edit, and done.
Figure 1. Quick Edit, the counterpart to Aqua's Edit Mode: the card listens for your change, applies it to the selection and says Done, all on the Mac.
  • Formatting. Aqua formats what you say for the app you are using. Custom Instructions, on Pro, set your writing rules, and Deep Context, off until you turn it on, uses what is on screen to get names and code right. YapToText's Auto mode, on by default, reads each dictation and picks a mode: a letter with a greeting and a sign-off becomes an email, a short chat stays exactly as spoken, and everything else gets a conservative pass that fixes what was misheard and rewrites nothing. You can rewrite any mode's instructions in plain language, for free. The Auto mode guide has the details.
  • Your names and words. Aqua has a custom dictionary, expanded on Pro, and Replacements that turn a short spoken phrase into longer text. YapToText's Dictionaries shape what the speech model hears, not just what it types, and its Commands page holds snippets you trigger by saying insert and the phrase. The Dictionaries guide shows how.
  • Price. Aqua's free plan is 1,000 free words with its Avalon model and no credit card, which its Mac page puts at about 7 minutes of talking. Pro, with unlimited words, is $8 a month billed yearly or $10 month to month. YapToText is free with no paid tier, and the optional tips buy no features.
  • Where your voice goes. Aqua's Mac page says it processes audio in the cloud, where Avalon runs, and that there is no offline mode. Aqua says its Privacy Mode is off by default, and that with it off, transcripts may be stored on its servers to improve the product; with it on, they are not, though session metadata may still be collected. Its Realtime Mode, on Max, streams audio to a third-party speech provider. To be fair to Aqua, it says it has a SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001 certification. In YapToText your voice never leaves the Mac, and the only network use is a model download you start yourself. The offline dictation guide shows how to test that with Wi-Fi off.
App Store poster headed Nothing leaves your Mac, over YapToText's AI Models page with both models marked Included.
Figure 2. No cloud model to sign in to: both models show as Included on the AI Models page, which is why the App Store build dictates with Wi-Fi off.

You give up Windows, iPhone and Aqua's own model, and your voice stays on your Mac with nothing counting down.

Move over in about ten minutes

The switch takes four steps and no account. The second is the one to watch, because macOS makes you turn on Accessibility yourself. Quit Aqua, grant two permissions, and your dictation runs on your own Mac.

Step 1: Install YapToText

  • You: Get YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
  • YapToText: Opens a short welcome tour. Both models are already inside the App Store version, so there is nothing else to download.
  • Check: The tour's second page is titled A couple of permissions.

Step 2: Allow the microphone and Accessibility

  • You: On that page, press Continue next to Microphone, then 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 do that part for you.
  • Check: Both cards read Granted. If Accessibility will not stay on, press Show in Finder in the Get set up card on the Home page, drag the app into the list, and press Recheck. Without Accessibility, every dictation goes to the clipboard instead of your cursor.

Step 3: Quit Aqua, pick your key and dictate once

  • You: Quit Aqua first, so two apps are not listening for your keys at once; that is caution, not something I measured. On the tour's Your controls page, keep Right Command or record another key. If your hands learned Aqua's Fn habit, record Fn/Globe and choose Hold to talk. Then click into a text field and dictate a sentence.
  • 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. If the wave stays flat, the app is not hearing your microphone yet.

You can change the key and how it responds later, in the Keys card on the Dictation page. The keys and shortcuts guide lists every key that can start a dictation.

YapToText's Dictation settings page on a Mac: the Keys, Recording, Microphone and Delivery cards.
Figure 3. The Keys card on the Dictation page, where you swap tapping for holding, or record Fn/Globe if that is the key your hands know.

Step 4: Bring your words over

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

add this to my dictionary

What happens: The Quick Edit card says the word was added to your dictionary, and from then on YapToText spells and capitalizes it the way you selected it.

  • You: Use the phrase above on names already on screen, and add the rest from your Aqua dictionary on the Dictionaries page, each with the spelling it gets heard as and the spelling you want. For your Aqua Replacements, open Snippets on the Commands page, press Add Snippets, and put the phrase under Say this and the text under Inserts.
  • YapToText: Uses your dictionary words to prime the speech model, so it hears them as well as types them.
  • Check: Dictate a sentence with one of them. It comes out spelled your way.

While the insert prefix is on, which is the default, you say insert before a snippet's phrase. The first dictation guide covers the floating panel and the keys you can press while you talk.

YapToText's Commands page: Enable voice commands on, Require the word insert before a command on, and the Snippets tab.
Figure 4. Where your Aqua Replacements go: the Snippets tab on the Commands page, with the phrase under Say this and the text under Inserts. Require the word insert before a command is on by default.

Where Aqua is better

Aqua is good software, and some of what it does, I do not do at all. If you dictate on a PC, a phone or an Intel Mac, Aqua goes where YapToText cannot.

  • Windows and iPhone. Aqua has apps for Mac and for Windows 10 and 11, and a voice keyboard for iPhone on iOS 17 or later, with Android on a waitlist. Your dictionary, replacements and instructions sync between iPhone and desktop. YapToText runs only on the Mac.
  • Intel Macs. Aqua has separate builds for Apple silicon and Intel Macs. YapToText needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later.
  • A speech model built for jargon. Aqua publishes its own benchmark, AISpeak, built from AI and technical vocabulary, and says its Avalon model beats Whisper Large v3 on it by a wide margin. That is Aqua's test, and I have not repeated it. If you dictate a lot of code and product names, try both on your own words.
  • Your screen as context. Deep Context uses what is on screen, when you turn it on, and File Tagging turns a spoken file name into an editor tag in Cursor or Windsurf. YapToText reads the words around your cursor, and a mode can add your selection or clipboard, but it has nothing like Deep Context or File Tagging.
  • More languages. Aqua lists 49, against YapToText's 29 plus auto-detect. The languages guide lists all 29.
  • Undo by voice. Aqua says Edit Mode changes stack, and that saying "undo that" or "go back to the original" walks them back.
  • Voice commands on Max. Send It submits a message when you end with "send it", and Computer Control, a macOS beta on Max and Business, works your cursor and keyboard from plain requests. YapToText can press Return after a dictation lands in apps you choose, but it does not control your Mac.
  • Teams. Business adds SSO/SAML, SCIM, advanced reporting, Zero Data Retention and team-wide dictionaries. Aqua says it is GDPR and HIPAA compliant, and asks you to talk to it about BAA terms before you use it with health information.

The short version

  • Who should switch. Anyone whose dictation lives on one Apple silicon Mac and should stay there, with no account and no word count to watch.
  • Who should stay. Anyone who needs Windows, iPhone, an Intel Mac, a team plan, or Aqua's own model for technical vocabulary.
  • What it costs. YapToText is free. Aqua's free plan is 1,000 words, and Pro is $8 a month billed yearly or $10 month to month, checked October 3, 2026.
  • How long it takes. About ten minutes: install, Accessibility, one test dictation, then your words.

The same job, one key and your words at the cursor, with the cloud and the word count taken out. If something here no longer matches Aqua's site, tell me on GitHub. Every issue gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload 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.

Sources

Questions

Is there a free alternative to Aqua Voice?

Yes. YapToText is free for Apple silicon Macs, with no word cap, no account and no paid tier, and it transcribes on the Mac instead of in the cloud. Aqua's own free plan is 1,000 words.

Is Aqua Voice free?

Partly. Aqua's free plan includes 1,000 free words with its Avalon model and no credit card, which its Mac page puts at about 7 minutes of talking. Pro, with unlimited words, is $8 a month billed yearly or $10 month to month, checked October 3, 2026.

Does Aqua Voice work offline?

No, not on the Mac, according to Aqua's Mac page: it processes audio in the cloud, where its Avalon model runs, and there is no offline mode. Its FAQ adds that offline availability varies by platform, app version and mode. The App Store build of YapToText works with Wi-Fi off, because both of its models run on the Mac.

Is Aqua Voice open source?

Not as far as its site says: none of the Aqua pages I read mention published source code. YapToText is open source under GPL-3.0, with its source on GitHub.

Is Aqua Voice available for Windows?

Yes. Aqua lists apps for Mac, Windows and iPhone, with Android on a waitlist. YapToText is a Mac app only, so on Windows, Aqua is the one of the two that works.

Aqua Voice vs Wispr Flow: what is the difference?

Price, the free plan and platforms. Aqua Pro is $8 a month billed yearly and Wispr Flow Pro is $12 a month billed yearly; Aqua's free plan is a 1,000-word test drive, while Wispr Flow's allows 2,000 words a week on desktop. Both transcribe in the cloud, and Wispr Flow also runs on Android, where Aqua has a waitlist. Checked October 3, 2026.