Guides

Spokenly pricing: what is free, what Pro adds, and where it runs

By Ryleigh Newman · Published October 5, 2026

Spokenly pricing starts at free: its local Whisper and Parakeet models are free with no word caps and no account, and Pro costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year on spokenly.app as of October 5, 2026. Bringing your own API keys for cloud models is free too, and Spokenly adds no fee on top of what the provider charges. What Pro buys is the cloud, managed for you: high-accuracy cloud models, AI text cleanup and sync across devices, on Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone.

I built YapToText, a free dictation app that runs on the Mac, so read the last sections with that in mind. Everything about Spokenly here comes from spokenly.app and its documentation, read on October 3 and October 5, 2026, and the prices matched on both days. Each source is listed at the end of the page.

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. On the permissions page of the tour, press Continue next to Microphone and next to Accessibility, and switch YapToText on in System Settings.
3. Quit Spokenly, click into any text field, tap Right Command, talk, and tap Right Command again.
4. End a dictation with make that formal while Auto mode is on, and the dictation is rewritten on your Mac.

Every Spokenly plan and price

Checked October 5, 2026, on spokenly.app. Prices are in US dollars, as listed on Spokenly's website. If you buy inside an app store, check the price there. Prices change, so check before you buy.

Spokenly's pricing page says Pro bought on spokenly.app comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee: you email Spokenly within 14 days for a full refund. Spokenly's free plan is a whole dictation app; Pro is for people who want the cloud without managing keys.

What the free plan includes

Spokenly's free plan is not a trial. Its site says local Whisper and Parakeet models are free forever, with no account, no time limits and no word caps. Free in Spokenly means unlimited local dictation, as long as you pick a local model. Here is what else comes with it, per Spokenly's own pages:

• Unlimited local dictation. Whisper and Parakeet models that run on the device, with no word caps and no account.
• A local model, once you choose one. Spokenly's own summary says it uses cloud models by default, and your audio stays on the device once you download a local model. So download one before you rely on the free plan for privacy.
• Local Only Mode. Blocks all network access except local model downloads, and an organization can lock it on.
• Your own keys. Cloud models through your own API key, billed by the provider, with no Spokenly fee.
• Files. Spokenly's MP3 guide says file transcription is free with local models, with no length limit, exported as TXT, SRT or VTT.
• AI Instructions. Strip filler words, fix grammar and format for the app you are in, using Apple Intelligence or your own model key on the free plan. Its privacy policy says a mode with AI Instructions may send your transcript to an AI service even when transcription runs locally.

Spokenly's pages also describe modes that switch on by themselves for an app or website, Word Replacements and Smart Spacing, which fixes spacing and capitalization mid-sentence, without tying them to Pro in what I read. If one of them matters to you, check in the app before you count on it. On a Mac, Right Command is the default key, held while you talk.

Two things to know. The app sends anonymous usage analytics, never audio or transcripts, unless Local Only Mode is on. And Spokenly's docs say its Mac App Store version cannot paste on its own, so you press Command V after you stop; the build from its website pastes for you, and Spokenly's changelog says the App Store version is no longer updated. The offline dictation guide shows how to check that any app keeps working with Wi-Fi off.

What Pro adds, and what it costs over a year

Pro is Spokenly's managed cloud. According to its pricing page and site, Pro adds:

• Managed cloud models. High-accuracy cloud transcription with models such as GPT-4o Transcribe, Deepgram Nova 3 and Soniox, without your own API keys.
• AI text cleanup and polish. Hosted cleanup, so you do not need Apple Intelligence or a model key of your own.
• Sync across devices. For people who dictate on more than one machine.

The free route to the same cloud models is your own API key, where you pay the provider directly. Whether that costs more or less than Pro depends on how much you dictate and which provider you use, so check the provider's rates before you choose. Pro buys convenience: the same kind of cloud models, with no keys to manage.

Worked out from spokenly.app prices, checked October 5, 2026.

The yearly plan saves $19.89 a year over paying monthly, about two months free. Spokenly's pricing page lists Pro by the month or the year only, with no one-time price like superwhisper's $249.99 once or VoiceInk's one-time licenses.

Climb this ladder, smallest commitment first:

1. Free with a local model. Download Whisper or Parakeet, and turn on Local Only Mode if you want the network off.
2. Free with your own key. Cloud models at the provider's rates, with no Spokenly fee.
3. Pro, monthly. $9.99 for a month of managed cloud models, with the 14-day refund on a website purchase.
4. Pro, yearly. $99.99, if a month showed you will keep it.

Platforms and requirements

Spokenly runs on more kinds of computer than most Mac dictation apps, and the free local models come with it everywhere it runs. One app on Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone is the strongest part of Spokenly's offer.

Checked October 5, 2026, on spokenly.app/download.

Spokenly lists more than 100 languages, with automatic detection. YapToText, for comparison, is one Mac app for Apple silicon with macOS 14 or later, in 29 languages plus auto-detect, and the languages guide lists them.

Where Spokenly is the better buy

Spokenly is good software, and its free plan is generous. If your dictation has to follow you off the Mac, Spokenly goes where YapToText cannot. It is the better choice if you need any of these:

• Other computers. Windows, Linux and iPhone, with the free local models on each. YapToText runs only on the Mac.
• Cloud models when you want them. Managed on Pro, or through your own keys for free. YapToText has no cloud option at all.
• Model choice. Whisper and Parakeet locally. YapToText runs Whisper only, and the Parakeet vs Whisper page explains the difference.
• Files and meetings. Spokenly transcribes files with speaker labels, timestamps and subtitle export, and on a Mac it records your microphone and system audio without a meeting bot. YapToText transcribes files as plain text and has no meeting recorder.
• Older Macs and more languages. macOS 13.3 and Intel Macs with some limits, in more than 100 languages.
• Automation. Agentic Actions, an MCP server for coding agents and a command line tool. YapToText has nothing like them.

If you need any of those, Spokenly is worth installing, and its free plan may be all you ever need. The roundup of free speech to text apps puts it beside the other free options.

Where a free on-device app fits

YapToText is free with no paid tier and nothing locked. Tips are optional and buy no features. Where Spokenly is free if you set it up for local use, YapToText is local from the first launch: the App Store download ships both models, and there is no cloud mode to switch away from. The cleanup that Spokenly sells on Pro, or asks a key for, runs on your Mac in YapToText.

• Cleanup with no key. Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct runs every AI mode on the Mac, with no Apple Intelligence, API key or Pro plan. Auto mode, on by default, picks the treatment for each dictation.
• Editing by voice. Quick Edit rewrites a selection: select text, tap Right Option, say the change. Spokenly's site does not describe rewriting a selection by voice. The Quick Edit guide has examples.
• No analytics. YapToText collects none, with no switch needed. Its only network use is a model download you start yourself.
• Source you can read. YapToText is open source under GPL-3.0. Spokenly's own open-source page says it is not open source and keeps its code proprietary.

The trade is real. It runs only on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, the download is about 2.9 GB against Spokenly's 20 MB, it lists 29 languages plus auto-detect, and there is no cloud model, no speaker labels and no Windows, Linux or iPhone version. My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day, and I wanted the app I depend on to be one anyone can read. The free Spokenly alternative page walks through the switch, including moving your Word Replacements over.

Try the free route in ten minutes

Before you pay for Pro for its cleanup, try YapToText on the same Mac. Both apps start on Right Command, so quit Spokenly before your first test, and only one app answers that key.

Step 1: Install YapToText

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

Step 2: Grant Microphone and Accessibility

• You: 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.
• Check: Both cards read Granted. Without Accessibility, dictations go to the clipboard instead of your cursor.

Step 3: Quit Spokenly, then dictate once

• You: Quit Spokenly. Click into any text field, tap Right Command, say a sentence, and tap it again. If you would rather hold the key as you did in Spokenly, 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, with no Command V.
• Check: The words land where your cursor was. If the wave stays flat, the app is not hearing your microphone yet.

Step 4: Ask for the cleanup out loud

Say: End a dictation with this while Auto mode is on.

make that formal

What happens: The phrase is not typed. Auto mode rewrites the dictation in a formal, professional tone, on your Mac, with no key or plan.

The Auto mode guide lists the other endings, such as as a bullet list, and the first dictation guide covers the keys you can press while you talk. If YapToText does the job, you keep the $9.99; if it does not, Spokenly's free plan is still there.

What each one cannot do

Both are free on a Mac, and the gaps point in different directions. Spokenly asks you to pick a model and a key; YapToText asks you to stay on one Mac with Whisper.

Spokenly

• Cloud by default. Its own summary says so, so free local dictation starts with a model download.
• Cleanup needs help on the free plan. Apple Intelligence or your own key, and a mode with AI Instructions may send your transcript to an AI service.
• Analytics unless you switch them off. Anonymous usage analytics, until Local Only Mode is on.
• Not open source. Its own page says the code is proprietary.

YapToText

• One kind of computer. An Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, with no Windows, Linux, iPhone or Intel version.
• Whisper only. No Parakeet and no cloud models.
• Plain-text files. A transcribed file has no speaker labels, timestamps or subtitles, and there is no meeting recorder.
• No automation. Nothing like Agentic Actions, an MCP server or a command line tool.

The short version

• Free. Local Whisper and Parakeet models with no word caps and no account, plus your own API keys at no Spokenly fee.
• Pro. $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year on spokenly.app, for managed cloud models, AI cleanup and sync, with a 14-day refund.
• Platforms. Mac on macOS 13.3 or later, Windows 10 and 11, Linux and iPhone, with Android on a waitlist.
• The free alternative. YapToText, open source, with both models and the cleanup inside, on Apple silicon Macs.

Spokenly charges for the cloud; YapToText charges nothing and never uses one.

If a price or feature here no longer matches Spokenly's site, open an issue on GitHub and I will fix it. 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

• A free Spokenly alternative, open source with both models inside
• The best free speech to text and voice to text apps for Mac in October 2026
• superwhisper pricing: what the free plan includes, and what Pro and lifetime add
• VoiceInk pricing: the trial, the one-time licenses, and what is free
• Offline dictation software for Mac, with no internet at all
• superwhisper vs Spokenly on a Mac: two free local plans, and a free open-source third option

Sources

• https://spokenly.app/pricing (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://spokenly.app/download (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://spokenly.app/open-source (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://spokenly.app (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/dictation-for-mac (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/android (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/privacy (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/llms-full.txt (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/local-only-mode (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/mac-app-store (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/macos/smart-spacing (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/word-replacements (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/custom-dictionary (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/whisper-prompting (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/modes (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/modes/agentic-actions (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/macos/voice-for-agents (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/docs/macos/cli (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://superwhisper.com/docs/billing/plans (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://tryvoiceink.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-05)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-03)
• https://spokenly.app/changelog (checked 2026-10-06)
• https://spokenly.app/blog/mp3-to-text-mac (checked 2026-10-06)

Questions