OpenDictation

Open Dictation is a lightweight macOS utility that captures speech and inserts the transcribed text at the cursor position. It works with a simple hotkey (Option + Space) to start and stop recording, providing visual feedback in the Dynamic Island (or audio cues on non‑notch Macs). The tool runs silently in the background, delivering instant text insertion without floating windows or sidebars.

The application supports two processing modes. In local mode it runs Whisper models on the Apple Silicon Neural Engine, keeping all audio data on the device. In cloud mode it can connect to OpenAI‑compatible APIs, allowing users to supply their own API keys and pay only the raw usage cost. Configuration includes options such as auto‑paste and model management in the user’s Library folder.

Designed for developers and technical users, Open Dictation handles camelCase, file paths, and domain‑specific terminology without timing out. It is open‑source, MIT‑licensed, and requires macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon hardware.