Get Vocaldi for Mac.
Try every feature free for 7 days. Read aloud and dictate locally on your Mac. Core speech processing runs on-device, with no card or app account required.
Already using Vocaldi?
Get a license →- 7-day free trial
- No card required
- Every feature included
- No app account
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
System requirements
- Chip
- Apple silicon (M1 or newer)
- macOS
- Sonoma 14 or later
- Memory
- 16 GB recommended
- Core tools
- On-device and offline-capable
SET UP IN UNDER A MINUTE
Install in three steps.
Drag to ApplicationsOpen the DMG and drop Vocaldi into Applications. That is the install. - ONE-TIME LOCAL SETUPMeet Vocaldi.
Your voice, turned into text, and any passage read back naturally. Everything runs on your Mac.
✓ Dictate Ready✓ Read Aloud ReadyGET STARTEDFirst launchIt sets up its on-device models once, then feels instant. Two quick permissionsOnboarding requests Microphone and Accessibility up front and confirms both are granted.
No installer, no admin password, no bundled model weights. Vocaldi fetches its on-device models itself on first launch.
A LOOK AT THE APP
It lives in your menu bar.
No window to manage. Vocaldi sits in the menu bar and surfaces a small overlay only while it’s listening or reading, then gets out of your way.
WHAT TO EXPECT
On first launch.
First launch downloads Vocaldi’s on-device models once, about 950 MB (the Parakeet dictation model and the Kokoro voice model); after that core dictation and read-aloud run offline. On disk it settles around 2 to 2.5 GB once set up.
Microphone and Accessibility permissions are requested up front during the guided first launch, with a clear reason for each.
Models live in a dedicated app-owned folder that Time Machine skips. Vocaldi’s built-in uninstall flow can remove them; dragging only the app to the Trash may leave models and settings behind.
The app is designed to feel instant after the initial setup pass completes.
Turn off Wi-Fi and it works exactly the same. Nothing is sent to a server.