Local-first dictation for macOS

Don’t type it.
Say it.

Hold a key and talk. FlowKit turns what you say — ums, rambles and all — into clean, polished text at your cursor, in any Mac app, without your voice ever leaving your Mac.

Get FlowKit Download the beta

Beta for Apple Silicon · macOS 14+ · needs a license key (get one below) · SHA-256

First open: macOS will ask you to “Open Anyway” — a one-time step, here’s how.

  • ~0.3 s speech → text
  • 100% on-device
  • 1 permission
  • ₹99/mo (~$1.2)

Works in every app where your cursor blinks

  • Mail
  • Slack
  • Notes
  • Safari
  • VS Code
  • WhatsApp
  • Cursor
  • ChatGPT
  • Claude
  • Messages
  • Notion
  • Gmail
  • Linear
  • Obsidian
  • Figma
  • Terminal
  • Pages
  • Discord
  • Telegram
  • Xcode

Speed

You think at 200 words a minute.
You type at 45.

Speaking is the fastest interface you own. FlowKit lets you write with it — everywhere.

Speaking150–220 wpm
Typing~45 wpm
3–4×faster than typing it out
~0.3 sfrom release to text, on-device
0servers hearing your voice

Conversational speech runs about 150–220 words per minute; average typing is around 40–50. Speech-to-text time measured on an M-series Mac with the default model — typically 0.3–0.5 s for a sentence.

Where it fits

Whatever you write all day,
say it instead.

Founders

The Monday investor update, four intro replies, and that overdue follow-up — cleared before the 9 a.m. standup.

Developers

Commit messages, PR reviews, and long Cursor or Claude prompts — spoken at the speed you think them, straight into the editor.

Writers

First drafts are faster out loud. Ramble the ugly version into Notes, then spend your energy editing instead of typing.

Sales

Call notes into the CRM and the follow-up email out the door while the conversation is still warm.

Students

Lecture thoughts into structured notes, essay outlines into real paragraphs — without staring at the keyboard.

Hold ⌥

Right Option by default — hold to talk, quick-tap to latch for longer thoughts, remap to any key.

Speak

Whisper runs on your Mac’s GPU — Metal-accelerated, fully offline, no server in the loop.

Release

Polished text lands at your cursor in whichever app has focus — in about a third of a second.

Features

Small app. Sharp edges filed off.

Smart structure

Speak a list, get a list. FlowKit hears the shape of what you say — errands become to-dos, steps become numbers, rambles become paragraphs with actual punctuation.

Live transcript pill

Watch your words appear in a floating pill as you speak — glance, confirm, release. It never steals focus from the app you’re in.

Per-app tone

Casual in iMessage, professional in Mail — FlowKit adapts to the frontmost app automatically, and you can override it with your own rules.

Personal dictionary

Teach it the names, jargon, and product terms you actually use — spelled right, every time.

Spoken snippets

Say “insert my calendar link” and the full text appears. Build shortcuts for anything you type twice.

Optional AI cleanup

Polish the raw transcript with a local model via Ollama — or bring your own Claude or Groq key. Off by default, always your choice.

Private history & stats

Search everything you’ve dictated; see words dictated, time saved, and your streak. Stored locally in SQLite — or switch it off entirely.

Featherweight

Lives in your menu bar, no dock icon. About 150 MB of RAM idle, 0% CPU when you’re quiet — and the whole download is 6 MB.

The part that matters

A dictation app hears everything.
Ours keeps it all on your Mac.

Drafts, ideas, half-formed thoughts, the message you almost sent — dictation is the most intimate input there is. FlowKit is built on one rule: your voice never leaves your Mac.

  • Speech-to-text runs 100% on-device. whisper.cpp, Metal-accelerated. Unplug your router — FlowKit keeps working.
  • Your words are never sent anywhere. No audio uploads, no screenshots, no text leaving the device. The only thing FlowKit ever checks online is your subscription — a tiny yes/no, never your content.
  • AI cleanup is opt-in, and yours. Run it locally with Ollama, or use your own Claude/Groq API key. Off by default.
  • History stays home. A local SQLite file on your disk — searchable by you, and you alone. Don’t want a record? Turn it off.
  • One permission. macOS Accessibility is all FlowKit asks for — it’s what lets it type at your cursor.

The honest comparison

Everything Wispr Flow does.
At a tenth of the price.
None of the cloud.

FlowKit Wispr Flow
Price ₹99 / month (~$1.2) ~$12–15 / month
A year of dictation ₹499 (~$6, yearly plan) ~$144–180
Works offline Fully — transcription is on-device Cloud-based
Where your audio goes Nowhere — never leaves your Mac Processed on their servers
Screenshots of your screen Never — FlowKit can’t see your screen Screen-aware “context” features
Permissions One — macOS Accessibility Several, plus an account
AI cleanup Optional — local (Ollama) or your own key Built into their cloud

Wispr Flow pricing and behavior based on their public materials as of mid-2026; plans change — verify for yourself. FlowKit is not affiliated with Wispr.

Pricing

All of FlowKit, from ₹99 a month.

Both plans include everything

  • On-device transcription, offline-capable
  • Per-app tone, dictionary & snippets
  • Private local history & stats
  • Optional AI cleanup (Ollama or your own key)
  • macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon (Intel support coming)

Billed in INR (₹) everywhere — your card converts automatically. Your license key arrives by email right after checkout. Not for you? There’s a 14-day money-back promise.

FAQ

Quick answers.

macOS says it “could not verify FlowKit” — is that normal?

Yes — the beta isn’t notarized with Apple yet, so macOS is cautious the first time. It’s a one-time step, and your download is verifiable against the SHA-256 checksums.

macOS 15 or 26 (Sequoia / Tahoe): double-click FlowKit and click Done (not “Move to Trash”!), then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to “FlowKit” was blocked… and click Open Anyway.

macOS 14 (Sonoma): in Applications, right-click (or Control-click) FlowKit → Open, then click Open again.

After that, FlowKit opens like any other app. The public release will be notarized and skip this dance entirely.

What permissions does FlowKit need?

Just one: macOS Accessibility. That single permission is what lets FlowKit type text at your cursor and detect the frontmost app for per-app tone. No screen recording, no cloud accounts. (macOS will also ask for the microphone the first time you dictate — standard for anything that listens.)

Which Macs does it run on?

macOS 14 (Sonoma) or newer on Apple Silicon — M1 and up. Intel support is coming.

Do I need an account or an API key?

No account, no sign-in. After checkout your license key arrives by email — paste it into FlowKit once and you’re set. An API key (Claude or Groq) is only needed if you opt into cloud AI cleanup, which is off by default. Local cleanup via Ollama needs no key at all.

How much disk space do the speech models take?

The app itself is a 6 MB download. Speech models are downloaded once and stored locally — from about 74 MB (fast, good) to 1.6 GB (slower, best). Start small; you can swap models any time in Settings.

How does billing work?

FlowKit is a subscription: ₹99/month or ₹499/year — about $1.2 and $6 respectively. Payments run through Razorpay, and prices are in Indian rupees (₹) wherever you live; your card or bank converts automatically at the day’s rate.

Does the subscription break dictation when I’m offline?

No. Transcription is fully on-device and needs no connection at all. FlowKit just re-checks your subscription roughly once a day when you happen to be online, with a 14-day offline grace period — so flights, cabin weeks, and spotty hotel Wi-Fi change nothing.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes, in a couple of clicks — and you keep what you paid for. Cancel a monthly plan and FlowKit keeps working until that month ends; cancel a yearly plan and it keeps working until the year ends. No lockouts mid-term.

Is there a free trial?

No trial — instead, a simple promise: get FlowKit, use it on your real work, and if it doesn’t stick within 14 days, reply to your purchase receipt and we’ll refund you in full. No questions asked. That’s a fairer test than a feature-limited trial.