Voice dictation that works offline
Glimpse runs speech-to-text on your own computer, so it keeps typing with the wifi off. Free, unlimited, and open source, on Mac and Windows.
Dictate where the wifi isn't
Planes, trains, basements, hotel wifi that barely loads a webpage, locked-down work networks. The places you most want to capture a thought are often the places with the worst connection. Offline dictation also means your audio never leaves your machine, so it's the private option by default.
The model lives on your computer
Pick a local model once (Whisper, Parakeet, and others), and Glimpse downloads it and runs transcription on your device. On Apple Silicon it can use the Neural Engine, and on supported Macs you can use Apple's built-in speech model with nothing to download. Turn your wifi off and it still works, at the same speed and accuracy.
What works offline
Dictation, your dictionary, replacements, history, and transcribing files in the Library all run offline. AI Cleanup and Edit Mode need a language model, and that can be local too: Apple Intelligence, Ollama, or LM Studio. Only a cloud provider you choose to set up needs the internet.
Common questions
Does Glimpse work without an internet connection?
Yes. Transcription runs on your device, so dictation keeps working with wifi off, on a plane, or on any disconnected machine. You only need a connection to download a model the first time.
Where does my audio go when I dictate offline?
Nowhere. It's transcribed locally on your machine and never uploaded. That's true online too, unless you turn on a cloud speech provider yourself.
Is offline dictation free?
Yes. Glimpse dictation is free forever with every local model, with no word or time limit, on both macOS and Windows.
Try Glimpse
Free dictation, local by default, no subscription. Five minutes to find out if it fits.