00:00 · Cold open
Hold · Speak · Release
Talk instead of typing, on your Mac and your PC. Free.
Hold a key, say what you want written, let go. The cleaned-up text appears in whatever you were already typing in. Nothing you say leaves your computer, and you never have to make an account.
Ready now for Windows PCs and for Macs with an Apple chip. Older Intel Macs are not ready yet.
00:08 · The receipt
00:14 · The three-second version
What happens when you press the Quickword shortcut?
Quickword sits in your tray or menu bar and does nothing until you press your shortcut. Hold Ctrl and Shift, speak, and let go. The text appears in whatever you were already typing in: an email, a chat box, a document, a form in your browser, anything. You never have to click into Quickword first.
- 01Press and hold your shortcut. A small pill appears to show it is listening.
- 02Speak. The pause before you start and after you finish is trimmed for you.
- 03Let go. The text lands where your cursor was, punctuated, with the ums removed.
three-step strip showing the shortcut held, the pill listening, and text appearing in a text field
three-step-strip · 1280x420
00:29 · Free
Is Quickword really free, and is there a word limit?
Quickword turns your voice into text on your own computer, so it keeps working on a plane, on hotel wifi, or with the internet off entirely. There is no account, no sign-in screen, and no cap on how much you can dictate.
- No word cap. Wispr Flow's free tier stops you at 2,000 words a week on desktop, and Quickword has no limit at all.
- No account. You install it and press the key. Sign-in only appears if you turn syncing on.
- Nothing is uploaded. Your voice stays on your computer.
00:44 · Quickword Pro
How do I get one dictation history across my Mac and my PC?
Switch Quickword Pro on. The free app has one real limit, which is that the history lives on the computer that recorded it. Turn Pro on, sign in with a link we email you, and every dictation from your Mac, your PC and the Android build lands in the same list.
If one comes out wrong you can run it again from another device, because the recording was kept and not just the text. It is one setting per computer, so a work laptop can stay entirely private while a personal machine syncs.
- One history across your own devices, and across a team when the team-visible setting is on.
- Redo a dictation from the original recording, on any signed-in device, not only the one that made it.
- Recordings are deleted 14 days after they are made by a job that runs every day, not by a promise.
Quickword Pro is in early access and free while it is. Pricing will be announced before anything is charged.
history list on a laptop and the same list on a phone, showing one identical row selected on both
history-laptop-and-phone · 1280x720
01:03 · The combination
Which dictation app is free, offline and syncs across devices?
Quickword, and the reason is that most apps do one half of this. The free tools let you dictate as much as you like on one computer and never join your devices up. The subscription ones sync across platforms but send everything you say to their servers, cap the free tier by the word, and have no offline mode at any price.
Superwhisper and the other free tools leave cross-device history as the single most requested item on Superwhisper's own public feedback board. Wispr Flow and Willow Voice charge $15 a month and still keep transcripts on the device that made them. Quickword is free and uncapped on your own computer, and the syncing is something you switch on rather than something you are billed into.
| Quickword | Wispr Flow | Superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs with no internet | Yes, with the internet off | No, needs the internet | Yes, with the internet off |
| Free tier word limit | No limit | 2,000 words a week on desktop | None on its free options |
| Mac and Windows | Both | Both | Mac first, Windows status contested |
| History shared across your devices | Yes, in Pro early access | No, transcripts stay on the device that made them | No |
| Price to start | Free | Free tier, then $15 a month | Free tier, then $8.49 a month |
01:24 · Where people use it
Which apps can I dictate into?
Quickword types into whatever you were already in: your email, a Slack or WhatsApp message, a Google Doc, a form in your browser, the box you type into ChatGPT or Claude. If you write long messages, that is the case it was built for. Saying a paragraph takes about as long as thinking it. Typing the same paragraph does not.
- Answer a long email by talking through it once, instead of typing it twice.
- Add a word list so names, product names and jargon come out spelled the way you spell them.
- Hold a key while you talk, or tap once to start and once to stop. You pick the keys.
- Quickword works in a terminal and a code editor too, if that is your day.
01:38 · Honest limits
What Quickword does not do yet
Quickword is a young product built by one person. Four things about it are genuinely rough, and the fastest way to lose your trust would be to hide them until you hit one yourself. Here they are, before you download anything.
- The installers are not certified by Microsoft or Apple. Windows shows a SmartScreen warning and macOS blocks the first launch. The download page tells you exactly which buttons to click.
- There is no iPhone app and none is planned. The Android version is an early test version you install by hand. It is not on the Play Store.
- No published speed claim. Other apps quote words per minute against typing. Quickword has not run that test, so it does not quote a number.
- Quickword Pro is early access. It works, it is not a finished service, and the pricing is not set.
01:55 · Home FAQ block
Common questions
Does Quickword work without an internet connection?
Yes. Quickword turns your voice into text on your own computer, so it works on a plane or with the network off. Only Quickword Pro, which is off until you turn it on, needs a connection.
Is my audio uploaded anywhere?
No. Your recording is turned into text on your own computer and is never sent anywhere. If you turn syncing on yourself, the recording is sent to be transcribed and is deleted 14 days later.
What does it cost?
The desktop app is free, with no word cap and no account. Quickword Pro is free during early access, and pricing will be published before anything is charged.
Which operating systems does it run on?
Windows PCs and Macs with an Apple chip, today. Older Intel Macs are not ready, so there is a notify form for that one on the Mac page. There is an early Android test version you install by hand. There is no iPhone app.
02:12 · Final CTA
Install it and dictate one sentence
The install takes a couple of minutes, including the security warning you will have to click past. If it does not earn its shortcut key in a day, delete it.
Built on Handy by CJ Pais, MIT.