AloudA free dictation app for Mac
Aloud turns your voice into text in any app on your Mac. Hold a key, speak, let go. Your words appear where your cursor is. It's free, it runs on your Mac, and there's no account to make.
Free · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon
How it works
- Download Aloud and drag it to Applications.
- Allow the microphone and accessibility, and let the one-time voice download finish. It's about 500 MB.
- Hold your dictation key, speak, and let go. The text lands where your cursor is.
Press Esc while holding to cancel. Double-press the key to keep listening hands-free: edit, click around, keep talking. Press Esc or double-press again to finish. You pick the key in Settings.
Works in every app
Mail, notes, chat, documents, the browser, the Terminal. Anywhere a cursor blinks, you can talk instead of type. There's no window to switch to and nothing to paste. Aloud waits in your menu bar and shows a small indicator while you speak.
Clean text, not a raw transcript
Aloud tidies as it types. It drops the “um”s and honors “scratch that.” You choose how much clean-up you want in Settings, or turn it off for word-for-word text. Your exact words are always kept in History, so nothing is silently rewritten.
Your words, spelled your way
Add names, products and jargon to Vocabulary and Aloud spells them right every time. Snippets turn a short phrase into text you use often. Say “my email” and get your address.
Fast and private
Your voice becomes text right on your Mac, on the Apple Neural Engine. A sentence appears in a blink. Nothing is uploaded: no cloud, no account, no subscription. Read more about private, offline dictation, or see how Aloud compares in Aloud vs Superwhisper.
Good to know
- Free
- No account, no subscription, no ads.
- macOS 14 or later
- On any Mac with Apple silicon.
- Works offline
- A one-time download, about 500 MB for dictation. Meeting Notes fetches the rest in the background. Then no internet needed.
- Updates itself
- When a new version is out, one click from the menu bar.
Questions
Is Aloud really free?
Yes. There's no account, no subscription and no ads. Every feature is included.
Which apps does it work in?
Any app where you can type: Mail, notes, chat, documents, the browser, even the Terminal. If a cursor blinks there, Aloud can type there.
Does it need the internet?
Only once. Setup downloads the voice, about 500 MB. After that, dictation works fully offline.
Which Macs are supported?
Any Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 14 or later. Intel Macs aren't supported.
How is it different from the Dictation built into macOS?
Built-in Dictation is free too. Aloud adds hold-to-talk on a key you choose, clean-up that drops filler words, a Vocabulary for names and terms, Snippets, and a History of exactly what you said.
Say it aloud. It types.
Aloud lives in your menu bar, ready when you are.
Free · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon