Dictate or rewrite text anywhere on your Mac.
One shortcut. Speak or select text. Dictidy cleans it up and drops it right back where you're typing. Free, open source, and it runs on your Mac.
It's not transcription.
It's what you meant to say.
"um so I was thinking we could uh maybe reschedule that thing you know to next week? or tuesday? actually wednesday works better for me"
Hi, could we reschedule to Wednesday? Let me know what works for you.
"team meeting went well we discussed the q4 budget engineering needs more headcount also training is important and the action items are ship the beta and email the customers"
Great meeting today! Recap:
- Approved Q4 budget
- Engineering: hiring for more headcount
- Launching a training program
Action items: ship the beta, email customers
"i think the main problem is like we're not really thinking about the customer enough right we should focus on what they actually need instead of just building features"
Our core problem is that we aren't customer-focused enough. We should prioritize what customers actually need over shipping features.
Rewrite what's there. Or speak something new.
Rewrite
⇧⌘RSelect any text in any app, press ⇧⌘R, and Dictidy rewrites it in place: cleaned up, restructured, or in a style you chose.
Dictate
your hotkeyPress your hotkey, speak, and choose Dictate (raw) or Dictate + Clean (tidied). It pastes right at your cursor.
verbatim
tidied
Three steps. No window to open.
Press your shortcut
One global hotkey works from any app. Dictidy lives in your menu bar, ready.
Speak, or select text
Dictate out loud, or highlight text that already exists. Either way, Dictidy takes it from here.
It appears where you type
Cleaned text drops in at your cursor. The menu-bar equalizer shows state: idle, listening, working.
Everything you'd want from a dictation app, and a rewrite app.
Cleanup that actually cleans
Removes filler, fixes grammar and punctuation, and restructures rambling. It works on dictation and on any existing text.
Works in every app
One global shortcut, any text field. Mail, Slack, Notion, your editor, the browser, wherever your cursor is.
Private by design
Your voice never leaves your Mac (on-device Whisper). Choose on-device cleanup, or bring your own Claude API key. No telemetry.
Unlimited custom instructions
Seeded with Auto Clean (⇧⌘R), Formal, Friendly, and Translate to English. Add your own, each with its own shortcut.
Local or Claude, your call
Run the on-device Qwen model (no key, fully offline) or the Claude API, with automatic fallback if one's unavailable.
History with before/after diff
Every rewrite is saved with a word-level diff you can review, copy, or redo whenever you like.
Why Dictidy
Dictidy | Wispr Flow | superwhisper | SwiftPen | VoiceInk | Apple Dictation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dictation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rewrite existing text | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Cleanup (filler / grammar / structure) | ✓ | ✓ | partial | ✓ | partial | ✕ |
| Works in any app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Runs on-device option | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| No subscription | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Price | Free | ~$180/yr | ~$8.99/mo | ~$360/yr | $25–49 once | Free |
Competitor prices/features as of mid-2026; they may have improved. Cloud apps can have stronger context. We'll keep this honest.
No telemetry. Your voice stays on your Mac.
Read every line on GitHub. Cleanup can run fully on-device, or use your own Claude key. Opt-in only. MIT licensed.
Read the sourceUp and running in a minute.
Download for MacDictidy is open source and self-signed. It's not on the App Store and isn't notarized by Apple, so macOS asks once before opening it. Here's exactly what to click, and why it's safe (you can read all the code on GitHub).
Download the .zip from GitHub Releases and unzip it.
Drag Dictidy.app to your Applications folder.
First open: right-click the app → Open → Open (or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway). Or run this in Terminal:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Dictidy.appCopyGrant Accessibility when asked (needed to paste into other apps).
Optional: add your Claude API key, or download the on-device model, and grant Microphone for dictation.
In-app updates are signed, so your permissions carry over. You only do this once.
Questions, answered honestly.
Is it really free?
Yes. Dictidy is completely free and open source under the MIT license. No trial, no paywall, no upsell.
What Macs does it run on?
Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 13.3 (Ventura) or later. Intel Macs aren't supported.
Is my voice private?
Dictation is 100% on-device using Whisper large-v3-turbo, so your audio never leaves your Mac. Cleanup runs on-device too, or you can opt in to your own Claude API key.
Do I need a Claude API key?
No. The on-device Qwen model handles cleanup with no key and works fully offline. A Claude key is optional if you want to use it.
Why does macOS say "unidentified developer"?
Dictidy is self-signed, not notarized by Apple, so macOS asks once before the first open. Right-click → Open (or run the Terminal command in the Install section). You can read every line of the code on GitHub.
How is this different from Wispr Flow or superwhisper?
They're genuinely great at dictation, but they're mostly cloud and subscription-based, and they don't rewrite text that already exists. Dictidy adds cleanup plus rewrite-anywhere, free and open source.
Intel, Windows, or Linux?
Apple Silicon only for now. There's no Intel, Windows, or Linux build.
How do updates work?
There's a built-in Check for Updates. Update downloads are signed, so your granted permissions carry over automatically.
How do I contribute or report a bug?
Everything lives on GitHub. Open an issue or a pull request at github.com/danb235/dictidy.