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A free Typeless alternative that keeps your voice on your Mac

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YapToText is a free Typeless alternative for the Mac: its speech model and its cleanup model run on your Mac, so it works with the Wi-Fi off, with no account and no weekly word allowance. Typeless does real things I do not. It runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, hears more than 100 languages, translates as you speak, and its free plan allows 8,000 words a week. I built YapToText, so read this with that in mind. Every Typeless fact here comes from typeless.com and its help center, read on October 5, 2026.

My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day with YapToText. I wanted that dictation to keep working when the internet does not.

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: 10 sections
  1. Steps
  2. What Typeless is, per its own site
  3. Side by side
  4. What you keep, and what changes
  5. Move over in about ten minutes
    1. Step 1: Install YapToText
    2. Step 2: Allow the microphone and Accessibility
    3. Step 3: Quit Typeless, pick your key and dictate once
    4. Step 4: Bring your words over
  6. Typeless vs Wispr Flow, and where YapToText sits
  7. Which one I would pick
  8. What each one cannot do
    1. Typeless
    2. YapToText
  9. The short version
  10. Questions

Steps

  1. Install YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
  2. Allow the microphone, then switch YapToText on in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility.
  3. Quit Typeless, keep Right Command or record Fn/Globe, and dictate one sentence into a text field.
  4. Select a name on screen, tap Right Option, say add this to my dictionary, and add the rest of your Typeless words on the Dictionaries page.

What Typeless is, per its own site

Typeless describes itself as a voice AI keyboard that replaces typing in every text-based app, and as smart voice dictation that turns speech into clear, polished writing. It says it is about 4 times faster than typing; that is its claim, and I have not measured it.

  • Dictation in any app. Click into a text field, press the shortcut once, talk, and press it again. The default is Fn on a Mac and Right Alt on Windows, and it works in apps such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Docs and Notion.
  • Different tones for each app. It adapts tone and style to the app you are using, from work email to casual chat.
  • A personal dictionary. Names, terms and expressions that matter to you stay accurate across apps.
  • Ask Anything. Select text and speak a command to make it shorter, longer or a different tone, or select a paragraph and ask for a summary, an explanation or a translation.
  • Translate. It translates your speech into a language you choose as you dictate.
  • Languages. More than 100, and it detects which one you are speaking.
  • Everywhere. Apps for macOS, Apple silicon or Intel, plus Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

Typeless is a cloud voice keyboard that goes nearly everywhere you type, with a large free allowance.

Side by side

Checked October 5, 2026, on Typeless's own pages: typeless.com and its help center. Prices change, so check before you switch.

YapToTextTypeless
PriceFree, no paid tierFree plan; Pro $12 per member a month billed yearly, or $30 billed monthly; Enterprise, check its site
The free versionEverything8,000 words a week, standard accuracy, and standard access during high demand
Where speech is processedOn the MacOn cloud servers, discarded once the result is returned, per its privacy policy
Works with Wi-Fi offYes, the App Store buildNo, per its FAQ
AccountNoneSign in with Google, Apple or email
Dictation historyOn the Mac, on the History pageOn your device, unless you turn on Cloud Sync, a Pro feature
Open sourceYes, GPL-3.0Not stated
PlatformsMac onlyMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android
Mac requirementmacOS 14 or later, Apple siliconApple silicon or Intel; check its site for the macOS version
Default keyRight Command, tap to start and stopFn, pressed once to start and again to finish
Edits selected text by voiceYes, Quick EditYes, Ask Anything
Translates while you dictateNo; Quick Edit can translate a selection afterwardYes, Translate
Languages29 plus auto-detectMore than 100, with automatic detection
For teamsNothingPro adds team management, central billing and usage analytics; Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM, audit logs and enforced HIPAA controls with a BAA available

The free plans are both real. Typeless's is measured in words a week with standard accuracy; YapToText has one tier, so nothing is measured. The deciding row is Wi-Fi off: Typeless needs the internet for every feature, and YapToText needs it for none. The roundup of Wispr Flow alternatives ranks more apps like these.

What you keep, and what changes

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

  • Dictating into any app. Typeless starts with one press of Fn and stops with another. YapToText works the same way on Right Command: tap to start, tap to stop. If your hands know Fn, record Fn/Globe as the dictation key. Intelligent Insert reads the words around your cursor first, so a sentence dropped into a paragraph gets the right capital and spacing.
  • Tone for each app. Typeless adapts tone to the app. YapToText's Auto mode, on by default, reads each dictation on the Mac: a letter becomes an email, a short chat stays exactly as spoken, and everything else gets a careful pass that fixes what was misheard and rewrites nothing. When the words leave it open, Mail and Outlook lean email, Slack and Messages lean chat, and code editors lean Code Comment. The Auto mode guide lists every app.
  • Editing by voice. Ask Anything is the Typeless way to rewrite a selection. In YapToText you select text, tap Right Option, say the change, such as make this shorter or turn it into bullet points, and tap again; the result replaces the selection. 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 Ask Anything: the card listens for your change, applies it to the selection and says Done, all on the Mac.
  • Translation. Typeless translates while you speak. YapToText's Auto mode keeps the language you spoke and never translates; to translate, select the text afterward, tap Right Option and say translate it to Spanish, or name another language.
  • Your names and words. Typeless has a personal dictionary. YapToText's Dictionaries shape what the speech model hears, not just what it types. The Dictionaries guide shows how.
  • Price. Typeless Free is 8,000 words a week; Pro, with unlimited words and enhanced accuracy, is $12 per member a month billed yearly or $30 billed monthly. YapToText is free, and the optional tips buy no features.
  • Where your voice goes. To be fair to Typeless, its privacy policy says audio and context data are processed in real time on cloud servers and discarded once the result is returned, that dictation is not used to train models, and that your history stays on your device unless you turn on Cloud Sync. It also says it is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR and HIPAA compliant. Still, its FAQ says every feature needs an internet connection. 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. Both models show as Included on the AI Models page, so YapToText dictates with Wi-Fi off from the first launch.

You give up Windows, Linux, phones and live translation, and your voice stops leaving the Mac.

Move over in about ten minutes

Four steps and no account. Setting up Typeless asked for the same two permissions, Microphone and Accessibility, so the second step will feel familiar. Quit Typeless, 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 Typeless, pick your key and dictate once

  • You: Quit Typeless, 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 Fn/Globe and keep Tap to start / stop to match the Typeless habit. 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 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 record Fn/Globe if that is the key your hands learned with Typeless.

Step 4: Bring your words over

Say: Select a name 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 Typeless dictionary on the Dictionaries page, each with the spelling it gets heard as and the spelling you want.
  • YapToText: Uses those 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.

The first dictation guide covers the floating panel and the keys you can press while you talk.

Typeless vs Wispr Flow, and where YapToText sits

Typeless vs Wispr Flow comes down to the free plan and the monthly price. Typeless Free allows 8,000 words a week; Wispr Flow's free plan allows 2,000 words a week on desktop and 1,000 on mobile. Billed yearly, both Pro plans are $12 a month, but month to month Typeless is $30 and Wispr Flow is $15. Both transcribe in the cloud, and both run on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with Typeless adding Linux.

Checked October 5, 2026, on typeless.com; Wispr Flow checked October 3, 2026, on wisprflow.ai and docs.wisprflow.ai.

YapToTextTypelessWispr Flow
PriceFreePro $12 a month billed yearly, or $30 monthlyPro $12 a month billed yearly, or $15 monthly
Free versionEverything, no word limit8,000 words a week2,000 words a week on desktop, 1,000 on mobile
Where speech is processedOn the MacIn the cloudAlways in the cloud
Works with Wi-Fi offYesNoNo
DevicesMacMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, AndroidMac, Windows, iPhone, Android
Edits text by voiceYes, Quick EditYes, Ask AnythingCommand Mode, experimental, for paid plans and trials
Open sourceYes, GPL-3.0Not statedNot stated

Where YapToText sits: free with no word limit, like neither of them, and offline, like neither of them, but only on an Apple silicon Mac. The Wispr Flow alternative page compares Wispr Flow with YapToText in detail, and the Wispr Flow pricing page lists every plan.

Typeless if you want the bigger free plan on every device, Wispr Flow if you pay month to month, and YapToText if you want it all on your Mac.

Which one I would pick

I built one of these, so here is my honest split, by what you need:

  • You dictate on Windows, Linux or a phone. Typeless. YapToText has no app off the Mac.
  • You dictate in other languages or need live translation. Typeless, with more than 100 languages and Translate. YapToText hears 29 plus auto-detect.
  • Your team needs SSO, SCIM or a BAA. Typeless Enterprise. YapToText has no team features.
  • You work where the internet is unreliable. YapToText. Typeless's FAQ says it needs a connection for every feature.
  • You want no account and no word count. YapToText. There is nothing to sign in to, and no weekly allowance to reset.
  • You want to read the code. YapToText, under GPL-3.0 on GitHub.

If your dictation lives on one Apple silicon Mac, start with the free one that never needs the internet.

What each one cannot do

Typeless

  • Work offline. Its FAQ says dictation, Ask Anything and translation all need an internet connection.
  • Skip the account. You sign in with Google, Apple or email, and a new account starts on the Free plan.
  • Unlimited words for free. Free is 8,000 words a week with standard accuracy; unlimited words and enhanced accuracy are Pro.
  • Keep processing on your machine. Its privacy policy says transcription is performed in the cloud.

YapToText

  • Other devices. It runs only on the Mac: no Windows, Linux, iPhone or Android, and no sync.
  • Intel or older Macs. It needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later.
  • Translate as you speak. Auto mode keeps the language you spoke; translation is a Quick Edit afterward.
  • Languages. 29 plus auto-detect. The languages guide lists them.
  • Teams. No shared dictionary, admin console or single sign-on.
  • A tested screen reader path. It announces every state to VoiceOver, but I have not run a VoiceOver test pass yet.

Typeless trades the internet for reach; YapToText trades reach for a Mac that needs nothing else.

The short version

  • Who should switch. Anyone whose dictation lives on one Apple silicon Mac and should keep working offline, with no account and no word count.
  • Who should stay. Anyone who needs Windows, Linux or a phone, live translation, more than 29 languages, or a team plan.
  • What it costs. YapToText is free. Typeless Free is 8,000 words a week, and Pro is $12 a month billed yearly or $30 month to month, checked October 5, 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 weekly count taken out.

If something here no longer matches Typeless's site, tell me on GitHub. Every one 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 Typeless?

Yes. YapToText is free for Apple silicon Macs, with no account, no paid tier and no weekly word limit, and it transcribes on the Mac instead of in the cloud. Typeless's own Free plan allows 8,000 words a week.

Is Typeless free?

Yes, with a limit. Typeless Free includes 8,000 words a week with standard accuracy. Pro, with unlimited words and enhanced accuracy, is $12 per member a month billed yearly or $30 billed monthly, checked October 5, 2026.

Does Typeless work offline?

No. Typeless's FAQ says it needs an internet connection for all features, including dictation, Ask Anything and translation. The App Store build of YapToText works with Wi-Fi off, because both of its models ship inside the app.

Does Typeless store my voice?

Its privacy policy says audio and context data are processed in real time on cloud servers and discarded once the result is returned, and that dictation is not used for model training. Your history stays on your device unless you turn on Cloud Sync.

What platforms does Typeless run on?

Typeless lists apps for macOS on Apple silicon or Intel, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. YapToText runs only on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later.

Typeless vs Wispr Flow: which is better?

It depends on the plan. Typeless's free plan allows 8,000 words a week against Wispr Flow's 2,000 on desktop, and both Pro plans are $12 a month billed yearly, but month to month Typeless is $30 and Wispr Flow is $15. Both process speech in the cloud.