Comparison
Talki vs Apple Dictation
Apple Dictation is already on your Mac, and for many people it is enough. Talki is for when you want to keep what you said and do more with it.
The short answer
Use Apple Dictation for quick, live typing by voice with nothing to install. Use Talki when you want every dictation saved as a recording, a library of voice notes by project, your own spelling rules, or a cloud model of your choice.
Side by side
| Apple Dictation | Talki | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Built into macOS | App for macOS 14 or later |
| Start | Microphone key, a shortcut such as pressing Fn twice, or Edit > Start Dictation | ⌘ ⇧ Space, the floating control, or Fn in the direct edition |
| Text appears | Live at the cursor | After you finish, pasted or copied |
| Saved recording | Not offered | Every recording, replayable |
| Notes library | No | Notes, projects, search, Markdown export |
| Spelling of names | System vocabulary | Personal dictionary you control |
| Models | Apple | Apple on-device, or your OpenRouter model |
| Stops on silence | After 30 seconds without speech | When you stop it, up to 5 minutes |
Apple Dictation facts come from Apple's Dictate messages and documents on Mac guide, checked on 19 October 2026.
Where Apple Dictation is stronger
- Live text. Words appear as you speak, and on Apple silicon you can keep typing while dictating.
- Zero setup. Turn it on in System Settings and it works in almost every text field.
Where Talki is different
- A second chance. Apple Dictation writes text and moves on. Talki keeps the audio, so a misheard sentence can be replayed and transcribed again.
- Thinking out loud. Longer spoken notes go to a project instead of a text field.
- Your words, your spelling. Dictionary replacements fix names you use every day without touching the original transcript.
New to dictation on a Mac? Start with how to dictate on Mac.