Utter, a local-first dictation app for Mac and iPhone
I use dictation a lot for writing, notes, and prompting agents. After trying a bunch of dictation tools, I kept running into the same issues: recurring cost, unclear privacy/data handling, and not much control over how the final text was cleaned up. So I built Utter. The main idea is simple: it should work as both a fast dictation tool and a longer-form voice note / meeting capture tool, while still giving the user control over where processing happens and what the output looks like. A few things it does today: - global dictation with customizable shortcuts - saved modes for…
Utter, a local-first dictation app for Mac and iPhone launched on March 8, 2026 with 6 votes, #1,631 of 23,380 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches.
What it does
Utter is a smart dictation app for macOS and iOS that understands intent—not just words. Instead of raw transcription, Utter runs your voice through custom AI prompts to clean up, rewrite, or structure text before inserting it directly at your cursor. • System-wide: works in any app • Custom prompts: emails, Markdown, JSON • Free with BYOK • Privacy-first: no accounts, no data retention • iOS companion: custom keyboard for dictation anywhere, with cross-device sync
Dictate into any app on Mac and iPhone. Choose local models or BYOK, polish your text with AI, and keep searchable voice history.
Your thoughts move faster than your fingers. Always have. Now your tools can keep up: just speak, and utter takes care of the rest. Download Utter free and turn your voice into polished text wherever you work. Use a keyboard shortcut to start and stop dictation from anywhere. Hold to talk, cancel instantly, and paste your last transcription without breaking flow. Every recording and transcript—saved, synced, and searchable. Quarter one was very fruitful. We've got planning for quarter two... Choose a mode for email, notes, summaries, or chat and Utter rewrites your words with the right structure and tone. Switch in one click. Speaker-separated transcripts you can rename, merge, and fix in…from utter.to
In the maker’s words, at launch
I use dictation a lot for writing, notes, and prompting agents. After trying a bunch of dictation tools, I kept running into the same issues: recurring cost, unclear privacy/data handling, and not much control over how the final text was cleaned up. So I built Utter. The main idea is simple: it should work as…
Does a similar job
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DictlyOct 2025 · dictly.app · ▲240TL;DR: I built a native macOS dictation app that transcribes locally and instantly. Text appears as you speak (measured ~100 ms first‑character latency). No accounts, no servers, no tracking. Links: • Website: https://dictly.app • Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/dictly-no-keys-just-clarity/id... • Free download; optional Pro tier (pipelines, unlimited history, etc.) What it does Real‑time transcription — streaming text while you talk, not after you stop. Quick‑Capture Overlay (macOS) — global hotkey, drop text into any app/field.…
SaylineJan 2026 · sayline.app · ▲83I built a voice dictation app for macOS mostly because I was tired of how awful Siri is and I didn't want to pay a subscription for cloud tools. The app uses NVIDIA's Parakeet v3 (TDT) as the primary engine. Inference is handled by the FluidAudio library. It's insanely fast on M-series chips. For Intel users, I added local Whisper support ranging from Tiny up to Large v3 Turbo (quantized to save space). The interesting part was the AI integration. I originally tried to pipeline the ASR output into Apple's Intelligence Foundation Model. It was a nightmare, because the content moderation…
CodictateApr 2026 · codictate.app · ▲72I've built an AI dictation tool (like many others), but this time I have taken the time to benchmark all of the 34 models that we provide, so users can actually make a qualified choice on what model should be the daily driver. The best is that it's open source, so if you think we can improve something, please come and help out.
DictatoFeb 2026 · dicta.to · ▲93I built a macOS dictation app where everything runs on-device. Transcription, auto-correct, translation. No audio or text leaves your machine. It ships with 4 transcription engines you can swap between: WhisperKit (99 languages), NVIDIA Parakeet TDT 0.6B (25 European languages, fastest of the bunch), Qwen3-ASR 0.6B (30 languages), and Apple Speech on macOS 26+. They all run through CoreML/Metal. Whisper is the most versatile, Parakeet wins on raw latency for European languages, Qwen3 does better with CJK. I went with a protocol-based architecture so you pick the engine that fits your…
SpokeMar 2026 · usespoke.app · ▲102Dictate into any Mac app by holding a key. Spoke runs fully on-device using local AI — no cloud, no account, no subscription. $9.99 one-time.
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