Chirp lets you voice-type into any application on your computer using a single hotkey. Press Fn (or Option+M) on Mac or Alt+M on Windows to start recording, speak, and press the key again. On Mac, the transcribed text is pasted at your cursor automatically. On Windows, it's copied to your clipboard so you can paste it with Ctrl+V. Either way it works in email, Slack, VS Code, Google Docs, terminal apps, and anything else that accepts pasted text.
The Problem with Built-In Dictation
Both macOS and Windows include built-in dictation, and both have limits. Apple's dictation works best in standard text fields and stops after about 30 seconds of silence. Windows voice typing (Win+H) uses Microsoft's online speech recognition by default, so your audio is sent to Microsoft. Windows 11 also has Voice Access, which runs on the device and can control your PC by voice, but it isn't available on Windows 10.
App support is the other issue. Some apps use non-standard text fields, custom rendering, or embedded web views that don't work smoothly with the OS dictation pipeline, so results vary from app to app.
How Chirp Solves This
Chirp takes a simpler approach. Instead of integrating with each app's text input system, it uses the clipboard. When you stop recording, Chirp transcribes the audio locally and copies the text to the clipboard. On Mac it then sends a Cmd+V keystroke for you, so the text appears at your cursor. On Windows, you press Ctrl+V yourself. Paste is supported almost everywhere, which is why this works in virtually every app.
One thing to be aware of: the transcript replaces whatever was on your clipboard before, and Chirp doesn't restore it.
The Workflow in Detail
On macOS
- Default hotkey: Fn (the globe key on newer Macs), or Option+M
- Click into any text field in any application
- Press Fn to start recording (you'll hear a start sound)
- Speak your text naturally
- Press Fn again to stop
- Chirp transcribes locally via whisper.cpp and pastes the text at your cursor
On Windows
- Default hotkey: Alt+M (customizable in settings)
- Click into any text field in any application
- Press Alt+M to start recording
- Speak your text naturally
- Press Alt+M again to stop
- Chirp transcribes locally and copies the text to your clipboard; press Ctrl+V to paste it
Each recording can run up to five minutes, with a countdown in the last 20 seconds.
Apps Where This Works
Because Chirp uses the clipboard, it is compatible with essentially every desktop application. Here are some examples writers and professionals use daily:
Email Clients
Dictate replies in Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird, or any webmail interface in your browser. Especially useful for longer replies where typing feels tedious.
Messaging Apps
Voice-type messages in Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, or Telegram. Instead of switching to your phone for voice messages, dictate clean text directly into the chat window.
Code Editors
Dictate comments, documentation, commit messages, or even pseudo-code in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Sublime Text, or Vim. Developers who need to write documentation alongside code find this particularly useful.
Writing and Note-Taking Apps
Works with Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Notion, Obsidian, Bear, Scrivener, and any other writing tool. Dictate first drafts at speaking speed, then edit at your own pace.
Terminal and Command Line
Built-in dictation often struggles in terminal emulators (Terminal.app, iTerm2, Windows Terminal, Alacritty). Because Chirp uses paste, you can dictate text into a terminal session. Useful for writing long git commit messages or composing text in terminal editors.
Web Forms and CRM Software
Dictate into Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, or any web-based tool. Customer support agents and sales reps can voice-type notes and responses instead of typing them out. Works in any browser.
Customizing the Hotkey
The default Option/Alt+M shortcut can be changed in Chirp's Settings > Keyboard to any key combination that suits your workflow. On Mac, the Fn key always works as well; it can't be reassigned.
Privacy and Offline Operation
All transcription happens locally on your device using whisper.cpp. No audio is sent to any server, and each recording is deleted as soon as it's transcribed. Your transcripts are kept in a local history on your computer until you delete them. Chirp has no analytics and no account. It only goes online to check for updates when it launches and, once you have a license, to check it about once a day. For more detail, see our guide to private, offline dictation on Mac and Windows.
Performance Across Platforms
Chirp is built with Tauri 2 and a Rust backend, so it's small and quick to start. On Apple Silicon Macs, Metal GPU acceleration makes transcription especially fast — a short dictation typically takes 0.2–0.6 seconds. On Intel Macs and Windows PCs, transcription runs on the CPU and takes a little longer depending on your hardware. Chirp uses a small, English-only model, so it's best for clear English speech; it may need the odd correction for names, jargon, or noisy rooms.
Getting Started
Download Chirp for Mac (macOS 13+) or Windows (10 and 11, 64-bit). You get 28 free transcriptions to test the full experience, and a $9.99/year license unlocks unlimited use on up to 5 devices after that. No account required — just install and press the hotkey.