Spokenly
Privacy-first Mac and iOS dictation with free local models and optional cloud AI
Mac and iOS dictation app that runs local Whisper and Parakeet models for free with no time or word limits. A paid Pro plan adds managed cloud transcription for users who prefer not to manage their own API keys, which the free tier also supports.
Index summary: Spokenly scores 7.0 ± 0.3 out of 10 on The Dictation Index, rank #2 of 12 and statistically tied with ranks 1 to 8, from 244 public posts on X dated Jun 20 to Sep 16, 2026.
Where Spokenly wins and loses
Most favorable: Speed (28 positive, 1 negative). Least favorable: Accuracy (23 positive, 3 negative). Topics with fewer than 15 labelled posts are marked as thin and left out of that comparison.
| Topic | Posts | Positive | Negative | Neutral | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usability | 66 | 57 | 6 | 3 | |
| Price | 42 | 40 | 2 | 0 | |
| Speed | 29 | 28 | 1 | 0 | |
| Accuracy | 27 | 23 | 3 | 1 | |
| Platform support | 27 | 14 | 1 | 12 | |
| Reliability thin | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | |
| Privacy thin | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| Support thin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
A post can discuss several topics or none, so these counts do not add up to n = 244. Counts are published in tools.json.
What people say
Example posts from the sample, each linked to the original on X and edged with the label it was given. A handful of posts cannot stand in for 244, so read the score and the topic table first. Quoted here and want it removed?
4 speech-to-text apps later, I'm done switching. Superwhisper → VoiceInk → Spokenly → FluidVoice. The last one stuck. Instant visual STT, free and open source.
Finally followed through on @KingBootoshi 's recommendation to use Spokenly and wow this feels like a massive workflow upgrade. Also bonus: running on local models for free forever.
Tried WisprFlow, switched to Spokenly 6m ago for the local model / data privacy advantage. Now FluidVoice and its my daily driver now. Can’t believe its free.
I went hunting for alternatives to Apple’s built-in speech-to-text engine and discovered Parakeet via the Spokenly app on my phone. I first gave Whisper a shot and it was pretty good, but Parakeet blew me away with its speed and accuracy.
the reason to use willow was that it polished the text after transcription, which spokenly wasn’t very good at
I’ve tried Spokenly and SuperWhisper but actually came to @WisprFlow because the former two were too buggy
Registry facts on this page were checked against Spokenly's own site on 2026-09-16. See something wrong, or represent Spokenly? Request a correction or send a reply. Comparing options? See alternatives to Spokenly.