# Speaklively for Mac Canonical page: https://macbase.app/apps/speaklively > The fastest writer in the room doesn't type. - Price: Free, with paid features - Requires: macOS 26 Tahoe or later - Languages: English, Spanish, French, German - Apple silicon: runs natively - Notarized by Apple: yes - Verified on MacBase: yes - Developer: Annamalai Vm - Categories: [Dictation](https://macbase.app/categories/dictation), [Transcription](https://macbase.app/categories/transcription), [Security & Privacy](https://macbase.app/categories/security-privacy) ## About The fastest writer in the room doesn't type. They talk. Speaklively lets you write with your voice in any app on your Mac. Hold the fn key, say what you mean, let go. Your words land wherever your cursor is: an email, a Slack reply, a doc, a prompt for ChatGPT or Claude. Most people talk far faster than they type. But speed isn't the real win. When typing is slow, you cut corners. You send the short reply instead of the clear one. You give your AI three lines when it needed ten. Talking takes that limit away. You say the whole thing, and it's written. WHO IT'S FOR • People who answer emails and messages all day and are tired of typing them. • People who talk to AI all day and want to give it the full picture, not the short version. • Anyone whose head moves faster than their fingers. HOW IT WORKS 1. Hold the fn key (the 🌐 key) anywhere on your Mac. 2. Talk. A small panel shows every word as you say it. 3. Let go. The text lands right where you were typing. No app switching. No copy and paste. No window to manage. SEE EVERY WORD BEFORE IT LANDS Most dictation makes you talk into the dark and hope for the best. Speaklively shows your words live, while you're still speaking. If it mishears a name, you know straight away, not after it's sitting in your email. Want to check one before it goes in? Press fn+Return and it waits in the panel. Fix it, then press Return to insert it. No more "wait, what did it just type?" CLEAN TEXT, NOT A TRANSCRIPT Real speech is full of "um" and "uh". Speaklively strips them out on your Mac, so what lands reads like you wrote it. Want it more polished? Turn on Polish for AI cleanup whenever you choose. Your voice never leaves your Mac. Polish sends only the text, and only when you use it. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Speech recognition runs on your Mac, using the engine built into macOS. • Works offline. On a plane, on bad Wi-Fi, anywhere. • No account and no sign-up to start. • No heavy model sitting in your memory. WORKS WHERE YOU WRITE Mail, Gmail, Slack, Messages, WhatsApp, Notes, Google Docs, Notion, ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor. If you can type there, you can talk there. BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO WRITE ALL DAY • Hands-free: press fn+Space and keep talking for longer thoughts. Tap fn when you're done. • Review first: fn+Return sends a dictation to the panel so you can check it before it goes in. • Pick your microphone: AirPods, a USB mic, or the one built into your Mac. • Teach it how you write: add a few samples in the Voice tab and AI cleanup sounds like you, not a robot. • Recent dictations are one click away in the menu bar, so nothing you said is lost. • Tell the Maker: send feedback straight to me from the menu bar. FREE. ACTUALLY FREE. Dictation is free, with no word limit and no trial clock. No credit card, no account. AI cleanup is an optional extra. FROM THE MAKER I built Speaklively because some days my hands just didn't want to type, even when my head knew exactly what to say. I wanted to talk to my Mac, watch the words appear as they came, and keep my voice on my own machine. So I built that. It started as an app for one person, me. Now people I've never met use it. – Annamalai "I didn't want to deal with setting up local models. I wanted something simple, sleek and optimized, and now I have it." – Harshinee, Product manager TRY IT NOW Download it, open it, hold fn, and say your next message out loud. Setup takes about two minutes. Your next email is already in your head. Say it. Requires a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later. ## An alternative to - [superwhisper](https://macbase.app/alternatives/superwhisper): 9 alternatives on MacBase - [VoiceInk](https://macbase.app/alternatives/voiceink): 6 alternatives on MacBase - [Wispr Flow](https://macbase.app/alternatives/wispr-flow): 9 alternatives on MacBase - [MacWhisper](https://macbase.app/alternatives/macwhisper): 2 alternatives on MacBase ## Get it - Website: https://www.speaklively.com Listed by [Annamalai Vm](https://macbase.app/@annamalai). ## Similar Dictation apps - [Halo](https://macbase.app/apps/halo): A Dynamic Island for your Mac ($9.99, 35% off for MacBase members, Menu Bar & Notch, Apple silicon, macOS 15 Sequoia or later, verified) - [Flit](https://macbase.app/apps/flit): Dictation that never leaves your Mac ($15, 20% off for MacBase members, Dictation, Apple silicon, macOS 14 Sonoma or later, in English, Spanish, French and 8 more languages, verified) - [ZenVoice](https://macbase.app/apps/zenvoice): Private on-device dictation for every Mac app ($19, 20% off for MacBase members, Dictation, Apple silicon, macOS 15 Sequoia or later, in English, Spanish, French and 8 more languages, verified) - [Jot](https://macbase.app/apps/jot): Capture notes as local markdown files ($9, 10% off for MacBase members, Notes & Knowledge, Apple silicon, macOS 12 Monterey or later, verified) - [Ida](https://macbase.app/apps/ida): Voice assistant for your Mac (Free, with paid features, AI Agents, Apple silicon, macOS 14 Sonoma or later, in English, verified) - [BetterAudio](https://macbase.app/apps/betteraudio): Per-app volume, EQ and audio routing for Mac (Free, with paid features, Music & Audio, Apple silicon, macOS 14 Sonoma or later, in English, Spanish, French and 5 more languages, verified)