You can get fully offline voice-to-text on your Mac in under two minutes. Download Chirp, grant two permissions, and press the Fn key to start dictating. No internet connection, no cloud account, and no subscription wall standing in your way. Every word is transcribed locally on your machine using whisper.cpp.
Why Offline Voice-to-Text Matters
Most speech-to-text tools send your audio to remote servers for processing. That means your words travel through the internet, get processed on someone else's hardware, and pass through systems you have zero control over. For anyone who works with sensitive information — medical notes, legal documents, journal entries, business strategy — that is a real problem.
Offline voice-to-text eliminates these concerns entirely. When transcription runs locally, your audio never leaves your device. There is no network request, no server log, and no third party with access to what you said. Beyond privacy, offline processing is also more reliable. It works on planes, in basements, in rural areas, and anywhere else with spotty Wi-Fi.
What You Need
- A Mac running macOS 12 (Monterey) or later
- About 80 MB of free disk space
- A working microphone (built-in or external)
- No internet connection required after initial download
Step-by-Step Setup
Step 1: Download Chirp
Visit chirp.la and download the macOS installer. There are separate builds for Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, so pick the one that matches your hardware. If you are not sure which chip you have, click the Apple menu, then “About This Mac” — it will say either “Apple M1/M2/M3/M4” or “Intel.”
Step 2: Install the .dmg
Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Chirp into your Applications folder. Launch Chirp from Applications or Spotlight. On first launch, macOS may ask you to confirm you want to open an app from an identified developer — click Open.
Step 3: Grant Microphone and Accessibility Permissions
Chirp needs two permissions to work. First, microphone access so it can hear you. Second, accessibility access so it can paste transcribed text into whatever app you are using. macOS will prompt you for both on first launch. You can also enable them manually in System Settings > Privacy & Security.
Step 4: Press the Fn Key to Start Recording
Once permissions are granted, you are ready. Press the Fn key (bottom left of your keyboard) to start recording. Chirp will display a small indicator showing it is listening.
Step 5: Speak Naturally
Talk at your normal pace. You do not need to speak slowly or robotically. The whisper.cpp engine handles natural speech patterns, filler words, and varying cadences well. Speak in complete thoughts for the best results.
Step 6: Press Fn Again — Text Auto-Pastes
When you are done speaking, press Fn again to stop recording. Chirp processes the audio locally, transcribes it, and automatically pastes the text wherever your cursor is. The entire flow takes a few seconds.
How It Works Under the Hood
Chirp uses whisper.cpp, a C/C++ port of OpenAI's Whisper model optimized for local execution. The bundled model is ggml-tiny.en, which is roughly 30 MB in size. Despite its small footprint, it delivers strong accuracy for English dictation.
On Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3, M4), Chirp takes advantage of Metal GPU acceleration for faster inference. This means transcriptions typically complete in one to three seconds, even for longer passages.
Tips for Better Accuracy
- Use an external microphone if you are in a noisy environment. Even a basic headset mic improves quality significantly.
- Speak in complete sentences rather than isolated words. The model uses context to improve accuracy.
- Minimize background noise. Close windows, mute notifications, and move away from loud equipment.
- Check your transcription history. Chirp saves all transcriptions locally so you can review and copy previous entries.
- Try different pacing. Speaking a bit slower than your normal conversational speed can help with technical vocabulary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Chirp work without any internet connection at all?
Yes. After the initial download and install, Chirp never contacts the internet. You can disconnect Wi-Fi entirely and it will still transcribe.
Is there a word limit per transcription?
There is no hard word limit. Chirp works best for dictation sessions up to a few minutes long. For very long recordings, consider breaking them into shorter segments for optimal accuracy.
What about languages other than English?
The bundled ggml-tiny.en model is optimized for English. Chirp also supports multilingual models for other languages through model selection in settings.
How much does it cost?
Chirp includes 28 free transcriptions to start. After that, an annual license costs $9.99/year for unlimited transcriptions across up to 5 devices.