Is AuraScribe really free?

Yes. AuraScribe is free forever and open source under the MIT license. There is no paid tier, no subscription, and no account to create.

Does my voice get sent to the cloud?

No. Every word is transcribed on your own PC. The only network request the app ever makes is downloading a speech model once, after which it works fully offline.

How is it different from Wispr Flow, Superwhisper, or Dragon?

AuraScribe is free, open source, and 100% offline, with no account required. Wispr Flow and Superwhisper are paid and cloud-based; Dragon is expensive. It is the private, local alternative.

Which languages does it support?

English plus 25 European languages, roughly 40 Asian languages, and Malayalam and Kannada, using four on-device engines. Each auto-detects the language within its region.

What are the system requirements?

A microphone and one of: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), macOS on Apple Silicon, or Linux (Debian or Ubuntu). The download is about 9 MB and runs faster than real time on an ordinary CPU, no GPU required. No internet is needed after the first model download.

Is there a macOS or Linux version?

Yes. As of version 2.0, AuraScribe runs on Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon), and Linux (Debian and Ubuntu), all from the releases page. Windows is the most battle-tested; macOS and Linux are newer. On macOS you approve it once in Privacy and Security (it is not notarized) and grant an Accessibility permission; on Linux it works best in an X11 session. The download button picks the right build for your system automatically.

Does it work in every application?

Yes. Press the hotkey in any window and the finished text is typed straight into whatever app has your cursor: browsers, editors, terminals, chat boxes, and form fields.

The best free offline dictation app for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Most dictation tools are paid, cloud-based, or single-platform. AuraScribe is free, open source, and 100% offline on all three, a private alternative to Wispr Flow, Superwhisper, and Dragon.

Almost every good dictation tool asks you to give something up. The polished ones cost a monthly fee, stream your microphone to a server, or run on only one operating system. AuraScribe was built to avoid all three of those trade-offs at once: it is free, it is open source under the MIT license, and it runs entirely on your own machine on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

What “offline” actually buys you

When dictation runs locally, the whole path from your microphone to the finished text happens on the computer in front of you. Your speech is captured, recognised, cleaned up, and typed into your app without leaving the device. That has three practical effects: there is nothing to leak, there is no per-minute usage meter, and there is no round trip to wait on, so the text lands the moment you stop talking. After the one-time model download, you can switch off Wi-Fi and keep dictating.

The same app on all three platforms

AuraScribe ships as a small native installer for each system, and the experience is the same everywhere: press a hotkey in any window, talk, release, and clean punctuated text is typed where your cursor already is.

Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit): run the installer, pick a voice model, and start dictating. This is the most battle-tested build.
macOS on Apple Silicon: open it once from System Settings, Privacy and Security, then grant an Accessibility permission so it can type for you. See the macOS setup guide.
Linux (Debian or Ubuntu): install the .deb and use an X11 login session for the global hotkey. See the Linux setup guide.

How it compares

Wispr Flow and Superwhisper are well made, but they are paid and lean on the cloud. Dragon is powerful and expensive. Windows Voice Typing is free but sends what you say to Microsoft. AuraScribe sits in the gap none of them fill: free, open source, fully offline, no account, and cross-platform. It also handles languages the fast tools tend to skip, including twenty-five European and around forty Asian languages, plus Malayalam and Kannada, using four on-device engines.

Try it

The download button on the homepage picks the right build for your system automatically, or you can grab any platform from the releases page. If you are coming from a paid tool, the free Wispr Flow alternative write-up covers the differences in more detail.

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