SpeechBee

Local Mac and iPhone dictation, plus keyboard-driven Read Aloud.

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SpeechBee is a menu-bar dictation app for Apple silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later, with a system keyboard for iPhone and iPad. Hold a hotkey to dictate at the cursor in any app; text appears when you release it. Select text on Mac and press another key to hear it read aloud, or use the Read Aloud tab on iOS. Recognition and voices run on device. The default model supports 25 languages; optional Whisper on Mac supports up to 99. Cleanup can use Apple's on-device model or your own API key, and translation requires macOS 26. Mac dictation history is held in memory only; iOS can optionally keep history on device. All features are available during a 7-day trial.

Pros

  • System-wide push-to-talk dictation on Mac and an alternate keyboard on iPhone and iPad
  • On-device recognition with 25 languages by default and optional Whisper support for up to 99 on Mac
  • Keyboard-triggered Read Aloud, custom vocabulary and voice commands

Cons

  • Text is inserted after you release the key, without live streaming
  • Translation requires macOS 26; optional AI cleanup may need your own API key
  • Mac dictation history is kept in memory only; iOS can optionally store it on device
Platforms
  • macOS
  • iOS
Speech processing
Hybrid
Works offline
Yes
Languages
25+

Pricing

Pricing model
Subscription
Free tier
All features free for 7 days
Monthly $9/mo
Annual $79/yr
Lifetime $99 once

Features

  • Yes Works in any app
  • No Real-time transcription
  • Yes Auto punctuation
  • Yes AI cleanup
  • Yes Custom vocabulary
  • Yes Voice commands
  • Yes Push to talk
  • No Auto language detection
  • Yes Translation
  • No File transcription
  • No Meeting notes
  • No Multilingual interface
  • Yes History

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Last verified 2026-10-16