Apple Dictation alternative
Apple's Dictation is free and good. It is not a meeting recorder.
Dictation came with the Mac and most people never pay for it: hold the microphone key, talk, the words land in whatever app you were already in. On a recent Mac with macOS 27 it also cleans up after itself. That is a hard act to follow, and for plain dictation it is the right answer. Parlo is for the rest of the job: the meeting you were in, the note that comes out of it, and a Mac you can talk to instead of type into.
Parlo requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs aren't supported.
Parlo vs Apple Dictation
What is being compared.
Marks are our reading of each cell: a check is a plus for you, a cross is a limit, a dash is neither. We make one of these two products, so read this as argued rather than neutral. Apple Dictation's prices and features were checked on its own pages on 3 November 2026; plans move, so verify before you buy.
| Apple Dictation | Parlo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Plus.Free, part of macOS | Plus.$8/mo, or $80 once (first 100) |
| Free plan | Plus.Free and built in, no trial and no subscription | Neither.14-day trial, then paid |
| Dictation in any app | Plus.Yes, anywhere you can type | Plus.Hold fn (or any shortcut you pick), speak, text lands in any app. On-device |
| Accuracy cleanup | Plus.Auto-punctuation; ambiguous words underlined in blue to pick another; macOS 27 on-device model for spelling and punctuation on M3+ with 12GB+ memory, English only | Neither.Open models on your Mac (WhisperKit, Parakeet). Dictation lands in the app as spoken; the model step is for meeting notes |
| Meeting notes | Limit.No. Dictation types into an app; Apple's transcription of recorded audio lives in Notes, as a separate Apple Intelligence feature | Plus.Auto-detects meetings, records without a bot, writes notes |
| Voice commands for your Mac | Plus.Yes, through Voice Control in Accessibility: 'Open Mail', 'Click Done', 'Scroll Down'. It replaces standard Dictation while it is on | Plus.Hold fn+ctrl: open apps, move files, set reminders, run Shortcuts |
| Where the audio goes | Limit.General text dictation can be processed on your device instead of going to Siri servers, but that is a setting you check in Keyboard; dictating in a search box is not covered. Opting in lets Apple store samples of your Dictation audio and transcripts | Plus.On your Mac, open speech models (WhisperKit, Parakeet). Audio never leaves the machine |
| Works offline | Limit.You may need an internet connection, and on-device processing depends on the Mac and the setting | Plus.Yes, models run on the Mac |
| What you get after the meeting | Limit.Nothing: Dictation has no notion of a meeting, a transcript or a summary | Plus.Markdown files in ~/Documents/Parlo Meetings, plus a folder or Google Drive you pick |
| Macs it runs on | Plus.Every Mac with macOS, Intel included. The macOS 27 on-device model needs M3 or later and 12GB+ memory | Limit.macOS 15+ on Apple Silicon only |
| Team features | Limit.None; it is a macOS setting | Limit.Team plans by request. Sharing via a shared folder or Drive |
| Maturity | Plus.Ships with macOS and is maintained by Apple | Limit.Young, in alpha, built by one person |
Where the two actually differ.
Dictation is not a meeting recorder
Apple Dictation does one thing: it turns speech into text in the app you were already using. It does not know a meeting happened, does not capture what came out of the speakers, does not write a note and does not draft the follow-up. Parlo notices the meeting, records the mic plus the system audio with no bot joining, names the speakers from the calendar invite, writes the notes and drafts the follow-up while you are still on the call.
Apple's cleanup is real, and it depends on your Mac
In macOS 27, Dictation with Apple Intelligence runs an on-device model that improves spelling, punctuation and capitalization, and it underlines an ambiguous word in blue so you can click it and pick the other meaning. That model is English only and needs an M3 Mac with at least 12GB of unified memory, so on an older Apple Silicon Mac you get the earlier behaviour: automatic commas, periods and question marks, and the blue underline. Parlo's dictation runs on open models on any Apple Silicon Mac with no hardware tier, and the model in Parlo does its work on the notes instead of rewriting what you just said.
Free is Apple's strongest card here
Dictation is part of macOS. It costs nothing, there is no trial to run out of, and nothing to install. Parlo is $8 a month after 14 days, or $80 once for the first 100 founders. If words into an app is all you need, Apple's is the better buy and we would rather say so than hide it.
Where Apple Dictation is the better answer.
You want to pay nothing.
Apple Dictation is in the operating system, free, with nothing to install and no trial to run out of. Parlo has a 14-day trial and then charges $8 a month, or $80 once for the first 100 founders.
You have an Intel Mac.
Dictation ships with macOS on every Mac, Intel included, and Apple's own on-device model needs an M3 or later. Parlo needs macOS 15 on Apple Silicon, so on an Intel Mac it does not run at all.
You want to drive the whole Mac by voice, for free.
Voice Control is built in and it is good: say 'Open Mail', 'Scroll Down', 'Click Done', or show a numbered grid and click anything by number. The catch is that it lives in Accessibility and replaces standard Dictation while it is on, so you choose one or the other. Parlo gives you both at once: hold fn to dictate, hold fn+ctrl to command.
You are on an M1 or M2 Mac, or one with less than 12GB.
Apple's improved on-device dictation model is limited to M3 Macs with 12GB or more of unified memory. Parlo's on-device models run on any Apple Silicon Mac from the M1 up.
If none of those are you, and what you wanted was the part Parlo does well, that is what Parlo is for.
Best for.
Parlo
Someone whose week is full of calls, who wants the call written down as files they own and a Mac they can talk to, and who is fine paying for one app.
Apple Dictation
Someone who only wants to talk into a text box, on whatever Mac they already own, for free.
Parlo, pros
- The meeting ends as notes you own, with the follow-up drafted.
- Speech recognition always on your Mac; the audio never leaves it.
- Dictation, meeting notes and voice commands in one app, not three.
Parlo, cons
- No free tier: 14 days, then $8 a month or $80 once.
- macOS 15+ on Apple Silicon only; Intel Macs cannot run it.
- Alpha software, built by one person.
Asked before switching
Questions people search first.
Is Apple Dictation good enough?
For dictating into an app, on a recent Mac, yes, and it is free. What it does not do is record the meeting, write the notes or give you commands alongside the dictation. If your week is mostly typing, Apple's Dictation is the right answer and we will not pretend otherwise. If your week is mostly calls, that is what Parlo is for.
How much does Apple Dictation cost?
Nothing. It is part of macOS, checked on 3 November 2026 in Apple's Mac User Guide. Parlo is $8 a month after a 14-day trial, or $80 once for the first 100 founders.
Does Apple Dictation work offline?
Not always. Apple's own troubleshooting page says you may need an internet connection, and that you can look in Keyboard settings to see whether your general text dictation is processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers. Dictating in a search box is not covered by that. Parlo's speech models run on the Mac, so dictation works with the Wi-Fi off.
Can Apple Dictation run commands on my Mac?
Dictation itself cannot: its commands are text formatting, like 'new paragraph', 'all caps' and 'no space on'. The thing that can is Voice Control, an Accessibility feature: say 'Open Mail', 'Click Done' or 'Scroll Down'. Apple's guide is explicit that while Voice Control is on you dictate through it and standard Dictation is not available. Parlo keeps both in one app: fn to dictate, fn+ctrl to command, without giving up either.
Does Apple Dictation record meetings?
No. It types into whatever app you are in. Apple's transcription of recorded audio lives in Notes, as a separate Apple Intelligence feature. Parlo records the meeting itself, mic plus system audio and no bot joining, and writes the notes as Markdown files on your Mac.
Is my dictation audio sent to Apple?
It depends on what you dictate and what you opt into. Apple's guide says you can check in Keyboard settings whether your general text dictation is processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers, and that dictating in a search box is the exception. If you opt into Improve Siri & Dictation, Apple stores and reviews samples of your Dictation audio and transcripts. Parlo's audio never leaves the Mac.
Pricing
Dictation. Meeting notes. Voice commands.
One membership.
A power user pays $30+/month across point-solutions today: one app to dictate, another for meeting notes, nothing that acts. Parlo replaces the stack.
Audio never leaves your Mac · no usage limits
Monthly
- Dictation, meeting notes and voice commands in one app*
- Parlo Cloud meeting notes included · no API key
- Speech and dictation on-device · no usage limits
- Direct line to the founder
- Price locked in as long as you stay subscribed
14 days free, then $8/month. Cancel anytime before and you won't be charged.
*Voice commands are in alpha.
Founder First 100
- Lifetime access, no recurring billing, ever
- Everything in Monthly, forever, Parlo Cloud included
- Direct line to the founder
- Push Parlo's development further, up front
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Rolling Parlo out across a company? We set it up for everyone, priced for your team size.
- A license for each person's work email, no checkout per person
- Everything in Monthly, Parlo Cloud included
- Audio never leaves each Mac, notes can stay on-device too
- Rollout help straight from the founder
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Requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs aren't supported.
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