Install for Mac
LOCAL-FIRST VOICE FOR MAC / 01

Speak it.
Keep it yours.

Dictate into any app, turn meetings into searchable notes, and transcribe audio—starting privately on your Mac.

Install Macaw free See how it works
Apple silicon · macOS 13+ · no account for local transcription
Macaw desktop dashboard showing dictation history and private local transcription.

THE PRODUCT ISN’T A CHAT WINDOW.

It is a quieter layer
between thought and work.

THE WORKFLOW

One voice.
Three modes.

02 / CAPTURE WITH INTENT
01

Dictate, without
switching windows.

Hold Option. Say the thing. Macaw transcribes locally and returns the text to the cursor that was already waiting for it.

02

Keep a meeting
in its own place.

Capture system audio and your microphone into a named session: speaker-labelled transcript, summary, and your own notes.

03

Polish only when
you choose to.

Select text anywhere and use Fn + 1. AI polish is an explicit add-on, never a silent rewrite of your work.

LOCAL FIRST / 03

A useful
default.

Most voice software treats your recording as an upload. Macaw treats it as yours. The standard dictation engine runs on-device; cloud services sit behind a deliberate choice and a clear allowance.

Why that matters
MACAW SETTINGS
Macaw Settings showing the NVIDIA Parakeet V3 engine running locally and ready on this Mac.

WHAT STAYS YOURS

Useful power.
Clear boundaries.

Macaw begins with a desktop-first local core, then makes paid intelligence a deliberate choice—not the price of entry.

You keep the workhorse on your Mac and add cloud compute only when it earns its place in your workflow.

Core speech engine
Macaw local by default
Cloud tools upload by default
AI polish
Macaw optional add-on
Most tools bundled into subscription
Meeting records
Macaw private session archive
Most tools provider-managed archive
Published Pro pricing
Macaw choose only what you use
Wispr Flow Pro $15/mo, or $12/mo annually

Wispr Flow pricing is based on its published US individual plan pricing, checked August 2026. Plans and availability may change.

BUILD YOUR OWN STACK / 05

Start local.
Add signal.

The desktop core is built for long-term access. AI polish and cloud transcription are separate, so the cost always has a name.

LOCAL CORE

Macaw
license

  • Unlimited local dictation
  • Private meeting sessions
  • Speaker labels & notes
Install Macaw

OPTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

AI Polish

$10/ ₹100 monthly
  • Fn + 1 selected-text polish
  • Intent-aware cleanup
  • Meeting transcript polish
Add polish

OPTIONAL CLOUD

Cloud
transcription

$10/ ₹100 monthly
  • Two cloud audio hours
  • Clear monthly allowance
  • Both add-ons: $18 / ₹180
Explore cloud

INSTALL MACAW

Ready to speak
without switching.

Macaw installs directly to your Applications folder. The installer verifies the app before opening it.

Terminalcurl -fsSL https://macaw.live/install.sh | bashApple silicon · macOS 13 or later · free local mode included

THE SHORT ANSWERS / 06

What is Macaw?

Is Macaw a Wispr Flow alternative?

Macaw is a desktop voice workspace for people who want dictation and meeting notes with a local-first core. AI polish and cloud transcription are optional add-ons—not a required upload path.

Does Macaw send every recording to the cloud?

No. Local dictation, local audio uploads, and local meeting transcription run on your Mac. Cloud transcription is a deliberate engine choice for users with that add-on.

What can I do with it?

Hold Option to dictate into the focused app, capture a meeting into a private session, or upload audio up to 20 minutes for a saved transcript.

How much does Macaw cost?

Start with the free local mode. AI Polish is $10 / ₹100 monthly, Cloud Transcription is $10 / ₹100 monthly, and both add-ons are $18 / ₹180 monthly.