Guides

Dictation software for Mac that costs nothing and uploads nothing

By Ryleigh Newman · Published September 17, 2026 · Updated October 6, 2026

Dictation software for Mac starts with Apple Dictation, which is built in and fine for short bursts. YapToText is free dictation software for the Mac that goes further: press one key, talk, press it again, and the finished text is typed into whatever app has your cursor, shaped for that app, with everything running on the Mac. People also call it a dictation program, a dictation tool or voice typing software; it is the same job.

Dictation software for Mac used to mean Dragon, and Nuance discontinued Dragon Professional Individual for Mac on October 22, 2018. I built YapToText because my hands make typing difficult, and nothing I could find on the Mac was good enough to replace typing, ran fully on the device and cost nothing. It is free with no paid tier, open source under the GPL, and on the Mac App Store for Apple silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later.

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

On this page: 12 sections

1. Steps
2. Look for six things
3. Apple Dictation and YapToText, job by job
4. Start it from a key or the menu bar
5. Know what runs where
6. Let it format and fix for you
7. Set it up for hands that cannot type
8. If the words go to the clipboard
9. What it cannot do
10. Guides by the work you do
11. The short version
12. Questions

Steps

1. Install YapToText free from the Mac App Store.
2. Allow the microphone, then allow Accessibility in System Settings so it can type into other apps.
3. Click into any text field and tap Right Command.
4. Say what you want to write, then tap Right Command again.
5. Check that the words landed at your cursor; if they went to the clipboard, Accessibility is not on yet.

Look for six things

Dictation software has to stand in for a keyboard, and that comes down to six jobs. These are the ones I judge every app by, my own included. An app that does all six disappears into your day.

• A trigger you can hit without looking. One key, tapped, not a chord you have to hold.
• Text where your cursor is. In any app, not a separate window you copy from.
• Punctuation where you said it. Spoken names for the marks the model cannot guess.
• A shape that fits the app. An email that reads like an email, a chat message left casual.
• Editing by voice. A way to fix a word or rewrite a sentence without going back to the keys.
• Your voice staying put. Recognition on the Mac, not on someone else's server.

Apple Dictation and YapToText, job by job

Checked October 3, 2026, against Apple's Mac User Guide and the YapToText 1.5.3 app.

If Apple Dictation does every job you need, keep it. My ranking of the best dictation software for Mac compares seven free options, and the guide to using dictation on a Mac covers turning Apple's on.

Start it from a key or the menu bar

The dictation key is Right Command by default, set to Tap to start / stop. In the Dictation page's Keys card you can switch it to Hold to talk, or pick another key: Right Control, Fn or Globe, Caps Lock, or any single key, such as an F-key. A tap only counts when no other key was pressed while it was down, so Command-C and Command-Tab never start a dictation.

• The backup shortcut. Control Option Space, in Settings, General, Shortcuts. It works even without Accessibility.
• The menu bar. Click the capybara and press Start Dictation. It does the same job as the key, and Voice Control can press it by name.
• A shortcut per mode. Any mode can have its own shortcut that starts a dictation in that mode.

The keys and shortcuts page has every option, and the first dictation page walks through the first try.

Know what runs where

Two models ship inside the App Store version: Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5), 574 MB, for speech, and Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct, shown as 2.3 GB, for cleanup when a mode asks for it. Both run on the Mac. There is no account and no analytics, and the only network use is a model download you start yourself. Nothing you say is uploaded, because nothing in a dictation uses the network.

The Homebrew build is the same app without the models: about 12 MB, at 1.5.2 while the App Store has 1.5.3, and it cannot dictate until you download a speech model on the AI Models page. The offline dictation software page shows how to test any app with Wi-Fi off.

Let it format and fix for you

Typing exactly what you said is only half the job. Auto mode, on by default, reads where you are dictating: an email comes out as an email, a chat message stays as spoken, and everything else gets a conservative pass that fixes what was misheard. The built-in modes are Raw Transcription, Clean Up, Note, Email, Message and Code Comment; press a number key while you talk to pick one for that dictation, or write your own mode as a paragraph of plain instructions on the Modes page.

Dictionaries teach it your names and jargon, and fixing the same word twice makes it offer to remember the fix. Quick Edit rewrites text you already wrote: select it, tap Right Option, say the change. The Auto mode page and the Dictionaries page have the details. If you write in Word or Google Docs, the guides to dictation in Word on a Mac and dictation in Google Docs on a Mac cover those apps, and the AI dictation page explains what the cleanup model does.

Set it up for hands that cannot type

The defaults lean toward hands that cannot type. Tapping is the default instead of holding, and any key can be the trigger, so anything that presses one key can run it; I have not tested every switch interface. Every state is announced to VoiceOver, from Listening to the text landing. Auto-amplify quiet speech, on by default, lifts a quiet voice by measuring it against the room.

The accessibility page and the one key, switch or pedal page go further, and the guide to typing on a Mac without hands pairs YapToText with macOS Voice Control.

If the words go to the clipboard

When a dictation is copied instead of typed, climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. Click into another app. YapToText never types into its own window.
2. Turn on Accessibility. In System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility, switch YapToText on. Without it, every dictation goes to the clipboard.
3. Check Insert text automatically. It is in the Dictation page's Delivery card, on by default.
4. Pin a method for that app. In Settings, Advanced, add the app under Per-app method and choose Type character-by-character.

The troubleshooting page covers the rest.

What it cannot do

• Intel Macs. It needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and nothing is claimed for Intel.
• Windows, iPhone or iPad. It is a Mac app only.
• Speakers and timestamps. It does not label who said what, or when.
• Clicking around. It writes; macOS Voice Control does the clicking.

Guides by the work you do

The same app does different jobs depending on what you write all day. Each of these guides starts from the work, not from the settings:

• Writing. The guides to dictation for writers, dictation for academic writing, dictation for content creators and voice journaling.
• School. The guides to dictation for students and dictation for teachers.
• Work. The guides to legal dictation, dictation for coding, voice coding with AI agents and private dictation for confidential work.

The short version

• Start with Apple Dictation. It is built in and enough for short bursts.
• Move to YapToText when you need more. Formatting for the app, editing by voice and no silence cutoff, for nothing.
• Check Accessibility first. It is the one switch that decides whether words are typed or copied.

The right dictation software is the one you stop noticing. If something here does not match what you see, 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

• The best dictation software and apps for Mac in October 2026
• Speech to text for Mac that runs on the Mac
• Dragon Dictate for Mac is gone. You do not have to switch to Windows.
• Dictation modes: the same words, shaped for where they are going

Sources

• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/14.0/mac/14.0 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/commands-for-dictating-text-on-mac-mh40695/mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://nuance.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27843/~/dragon-professional-for-mac-6:-end-of-life,-end-of-support-dates (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://wisprflow.ai/privacy (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://superwhisper.com/docs/billing/plans (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/pricing (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://www.getharker.com (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-03)

Questions