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# Zumbo

> Zumbo is an open source dictation app for macOS. Press one key in any app, talk, and the text lands where the cursor is about 0.2 seconds later, transcribed on the Mac itself by a local speech model. No account, no cloud, one-time price. Source code: https://github.com/claudiusararu/zumbo (GPL-3.0).

## Facts

- Product: Zumbo, native macOS dictation and speech to text app, current version 1.0.2.
- Website: https://zumbo.app. Source code: https://github.com/claudiusararu/zumbo, GPL-3.0.
- Maker: Claudiu Sararu, Romania. Contact: hello@zumbo.app.
- Requirements: macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon. Download is one DMG of about 550 MB with the speech engine inside, so it works offline from the first launch.
- Speed: about 200 ms from the end of a sentence to text in the app, 190 ms median measured over 30 recordings. No server round trip.
- Privacy: audio and text never leave the Mac. The only network calls are the license activation, a daily update check, and a feedback message if the user writes one. Works with the network off, on an air gapped Mac too.
- Price: one-time purchase, no subscription. $15 for one Mac, $20 for three Macs, $79 for a team of ten Macs. Launch offer: $9 for the first 10 single-Mac buyers. Free updates. 14-day refund through Dodo Payments, the merchant of record.
- Trial: 3 days, everything unlocked, no card and no account.
- Languages: 25 European languages, English first.
- Dictation: one shortcut, tap to toggle or hold to talk, Escape cancels, works in every app that has a cursor (Terminal, Slack, Mail, Xcode, Notion, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT, Claude Code, browsers).
- Clean speech: filler words dropped, repeated words collapsed, false starts trimmed, numbers and currency written as digits, spoken punctuation; every rule is a switch, the group off gives verbatim.
- Vocabulary: 21 vocabulary packs (developer tools, languages, Go, Magento, AWS, cloud, AI, apps, formats, design, product, marketing, sales, finance, legal, medical, science, education, writing, video, workplace) plus the user's own words.
- Teach: correct a word once and it is heard that way from then on; corrections stay on the Mac.
- Notes: dictate into Zumbo itself, searchable, never pasted; a spoken time becomes a reminder.
- Meeting mode: live transcription through the microphone with a timestamp per paragraph and speaker labels, produced on the Mac by an optional 220 MB add-on. No bot joins the call, nothing is uploaded.
- Interface: lives in the MacBook notch (or a notch-shaped panel on other displays), with history, favorites, app filters and settings inside it.
- Engine: NVIDIA Parakeet TDT v3 through FluidAudio, with vocabulary boosting and a rules engine written by Zumbo. On the maker's own 30 recordings, technical terms come out right 93 percent of the time with the packs on, against 53 percent for the plain model.
- Open source: the whole app is on GitHub under GPL-3.0. A source build downloads the speech model on first launch; the paid build ships signed and notarized with the model inside and updates through the app.
- Creator bonus: post about Zumbo publicly and get 30, 50 or 100 percent of the price back at 1,000, 2,000 or 10,000 views. Details at https://zumbo.app/creator-bonus.
- Compared with: Superwhisper, Wispr Flow, MacWhisper, VoiceInk, Dragon, Apple Dictation, Otter.ai. Comparison pages below cite each vendor's own public pages.

## Core pages

- [Buy a Zumbo license](https://zumbo.app/buy): Choose a Zumbo license: one Mac, three, or ten for a team. One-time purchase through Dodo Payments, our merchant of record. Your key arrives by email.
- [Zumbo creator bonus: get up to 100 percent back](https://zumbo.app/creator-bonus): Post about Zumbo and get money back once it reaches enough people. 1,000 views is 30 percent back, 2,000 is 50 percent, 10,000 is a full refund.
- [Download Zumbo 1.0.2 for macOS](https://zumbo.app/download): Download Zumbo 1.0.2 for macOS. Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later, about 549 MB, works offline from the first launch.
- [Zumbo features](https://zumbo.app/features): Everything Zumbo does, and how each part works: dictation into any app, a vocabulary that learns, notes with reminders, meetings with speaker labels, and nothing leaving your Mac.
- [How Zumbo keeps your voice on your Mac](https://zumbo.app/how-it-stays-on-your-mac): The speech engine ships inside the app. No account, no API key, no network request is needed to transcribe, and there is no database to retain anything in.
- [Zumbo: open source dictation for macOS, instant and private](https://zumbo.app/): Open source dictation for Mac. Local AI models turn your speech into text in about a fifth of a second, with near perfect accuracy and complete privacy. Vocabulary packs, Notes, Meeting mode. Pay once.
- [Zumbo pricing. One payment, no subscription](https://zumbo.app/pricing): Zumbo is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. $9 for the first 10 buyers on a single Mac, then $15. $20 for three Macs. Free updates, 14-day refunds.
- [Privacy at Zumbo. Nothing to retain](https://zumbo.app/privacy): What leaves your Mac when you use Zumbo, and what never does. No account, no cloud transcription, no database of your voice.
- [Terms of sale and use for Zumbo](https://zumbo.app/terms): The Zumbo license, updates, trial, refunds through Dodo Payments, acceptable use and governing law.
- [Custom vocabulary for Mac dictation, 21 packs](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs): 21 vocabulary packs for Zumbo, from developer tools to legal, medical, design and marketing. Product names and technical terms come out spelled right the first time.

## Guides and comparisons

- [Why 200 ms matters: dictation speed on Mac](https://zumbo.app/200ms-dictation-speed): Dictation has a threshold, not a score: below about a quarter of a second you keep talking, above it you start waiting. Why the architecture decides which side you are on.
- [Apple Dictation alternative for Mac (no timeout, no cloud)](https://zumbo.app/apple-dictation-alternative): Where the dictation built into macOS runs out: it ends a sentence on its own, there is no vocabulary you can teach, and no terms for your field. What to use when a sentence has to come out right.
- [Best Mac dictation apps in 2026 (tested, one buyer's view)](https://zumbo.app/best-mac-dictation-apps-2026): Six Mac dictation and transcription apps, what each one actually costs, which run on your machine, and the case for each one including the ones I did not build.
- [Add custom words to Mac dictation (the fix that actually works)](https://zumbo.app/custom-vocabulary-mac-dictation): macOS hides the custom vocabulary under Voice Control, capped at 1000 terms. Here is where it is, what it can and cannot do, and the faster way to make dictation spell your field's words.
- [Dictate prompts into ChatGPT on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-chatgpt): Long prompts are the ones that work, and long prompts are what nobody types. Dictate them into ChatGPT on a Mac, composed on your own machine, and edit before sending.
- [Dictate into Claude Code on your Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-claude-code): Claude Code takes prompts in the terminal, and prompts are long. How to talk them instead of typing them, with the developer vocabulary so library and command names come out right.
- [Dictate into Cursor on Mac (not just the chat box)](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-cursor): Cursor's voice input covers talking to the agent. Here is how to dictate into every other field in Cursor on a Mac: the editor, the commit box, the terminal pane and every dialog.
- [Dictate emails in Gmail on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-gmail): Voice typing for Gmail on a Mac: the body, the subject line, the search box, and Mail or Outlook too. Composed on your own machine, with names that come out right.
- [Dictate into Google Docs on Mac (without Google's own dictation)](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-google-docs): Google Docs has voice typing under Tools, in Chrome, Edge and Safari. Here is what it covers, what it does not, and how to dictate into Docs and everything else on a Mac.
- [Dictate into Linear on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-linear): Voice typing for Linear on a Mac: issue descriptions, comments, project updates and titles, in the desktop app or a browser tab, composed on your own machine.
- [Dictate into Notion on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-notion): Voice typing for Notion on a Mac: page bodies, database properties, comments and titles, in the desktop app or a browser tab, composed on your own machine.
- [Dictate into Obsidian on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-obsidian): Voice notes into Obsidian on a Mac, with no plugin: the editor, titles, the quick switcher and search. Local files, local transcription, nothing uploaded.
- [Dictate into Slack on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-slack): Voice typing for Slack on a Mac: the message box, threads, direct messages, search and status. Real text rather than a voice clip, composed on your own machine.
- [Dictate shell commands and text into Terminal on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-terminal): Voice input in Terminal, iTerm2 and the terminal pane in your editor. What it is good for, what it is not, and how to make tool and path names come out right.
- [Voice typing in VS Code on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-vscode): VS Code has no general dictation in the editor. Microsoft's Speech extension covers chat. Here is how to dictate into files, commit messages, the terminal pane and every dialog on a Mac.
- [Dictate into Xcode on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictate-into-xcode): Voice input for Xcode: documentation comments, commit messages, test names and release notes, with a vocabulary that spells framework and module names correctly, all on your own Mac.
- [Dictation for developers on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictation-for-developers): Zumbo dictates commit messages, PR descriptions, Slack replies and agent prompts on your Mac, with developer vocabulary so Postgres, Xcode and kubectl come out spelled right.
- [Dictation for lawyers on Mac (private, no cloud)](https://zumbo.app/dictation-for-lawyers): Dictation where the audio never leaves the machine: no account, no upload, no processor to assess. Legal vocabulary, speaker labelled attendance notes, one time price.
- [Dictation for writers on Mac](https://zumbo.app/dictation-for-writers): Dictation built for first drafts rather than call centres: no session limit, a vocabulary that learns your character and place names, and nothing leaving your Mac.
- [Dictation software for Mac, compared](https://zumbo.app/dictation-software-mac): The dictation apps for Mac side by side: Zumbo, Superwhisper, Wispr Flow, MacWhisper, VoiceInk and Apple Dictation. Price, offline use, vocabulary, meetings and accounts, from each vendor's own pages.
- [Dragon for Mac is dead. Here is what to use instead](https://zumbo.app/dragon-alternative-mac): Nuance discontinued Dragon for Mac in 2018. What replaces it on a modern Mac: on device dictation into any app, a vocabulary that learns from your corrections, and no subscription.
- [Mac dictation stops after 30 seconds? Here is the real fix](https://zumbo.app/mac-dictation-stops-after-30-seconds): Why dictation on the Mac ends part way through a sentence, the setting in System Settings that controls it, what to check when that does not help, and how to dictate with no session limit at all.
- [How Meeting mode tells speakers apart, on device](https://zumbo.app/meeting-mode-speaker-labels): Speaker labels on a live meeting transcript, produced on your own Mac: how it works, what the 220 MB add on does, and why nothing joins the call.
- [Local meeting transcription for Mac, with speaker labels](https://zumbo.app/meeting-transcription-mac): Meeting mode transcribes the room through your microphone, live, with a timestamp per paragraph and each speaker labeled. It runs on your Mac and uploads nothing.
- [Voice notes that turn into reminders on Mac](https://zumbo.app/notes-with-reminders): Press New note, talk, and if you said a time it becomes a reminder. Kept inside the app on your own Mac, searchable, with no account and nothing uploaded.
- [Offline dictation for Mac](https://zumbo.app/offline-dictation-mac): Zumbo dictates with the Wi-Fi off. The speech engine ships inside the app, so there is no cloud round trip, no API key and no account to sign into.
- [Dictation apps you buy once, no subscription](https://zumbo.app/one-time-purchase-dictation-mac): Which Mac dictation apps are a one time purchase, what a subscription is actually paying for, and how to tell the difference between renting a service and renting software.
- [Otter.ai alternative for Mac (private, on device)](https://zumbo.app/otter-ai-alternative-mac): Meeting transcription with speaker labels that never leaves your Mac. No bot joining the call, no account, no recording uploaded to anyone's systems.
- [Speaking versus typing speed](https://zumbo.app/speaking-vs-typing-speed): Speech was measured at 161 words a minute against 53 for typing, and composing by keyboard at 32.5. What that gap does and does not buy you, with the studies, and why latency decides whether dictation sticks.
- [Speech to text for Mac (offline, one time price)](https://zumbo.app/speech-to-text-mac): Speech to text that runs on your own Mac: no upload, no account, about a fifth of a second to the screen, vocabulary packs for your field and a one time price.
- [How Teach corrections make Zumbo learn your voice](https://zumbo.app/teach-corrections-explained): Correct a word once and it is heard your way from then on. How Teach works, where the corrections live, and why a list you fill in advance is a different thing.
- [Voice typing on Mac, without the subscription](https://zumbo.app/voice-typing-mac): The voice typing apps for Mac with what each one actually costs over three years, which of them run on your own machine, and which ask for an account.

## Head to head

- [Zumbo vs Apple Dictation](https://zumbo.app/vs/apple-dictation): Zumbo against the dictation already on your Mac, row by row: session length, custom vocabulary, learning from corrections, history, meetings, languages and price.
- [Zumbo vs Voice Control's vocabulary workaround](https://zumbo.app/vs/apple-voice-control): macOS hides a custom vocabulary inside Voice Control, capped at 1000 terms. What it can fix, where it runs out, and how a dictation app built around corrections differs.
- [Zumbo vs Dragon (Nuance)](https://zumbo.app/vs/dragon): Dragon for Mac was discontinued in 2018. What a modern on device dictation app does instead, row by row, including the things Dragon did that nothing replaces.
- [Zumbo vs MacWhisper](https://zumbo.app/vs/macwhisper): MacWhisper transcribes files you already have. Zumbo puts words where your cursor is while you talk. Row by row on price, offline use, meetings, speaker labels and vocabulary.
- [Zumbo vs Superwhisper](https://zumbo.app/vs/superwhisper): Zumbo and Superwhisper row by row: price model, offline use, vocabulary, learning from corrections, meetings, speaker labels, languages and trial, from each vendor's own pages.
- [Zumbo vs VoiceInk](https://zumbo.app/vs/voiceink): Zumbo against VoiceInk row by row: both open source, on device and bought once. Price, vocabulary packs against a word list, learning from corrections, meetings and speaker labels.
- [Zumbo vs Wispr Flow](https://zumbo.app/vs/wispr-flow): Zumbo against Wispr Flow row by row: one time price against a subscription, on device against the cloud, vocabulary, learning from corrections, meetings and speaker labels.

## Vocabulary packs

- [Dictation for people building with AI models on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/ai): The AI vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 43 terms used by people building with AI models, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who live in everyday software on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/apps): The Apps vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 150 terms used by people who live in everyday software, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who run infrastructure on AWS on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/aws): The AWS vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 60 terms used by people who run infrastructure on AWS, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people on other clouds and platforms on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/cloud): The Cloud vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 62 terms used by people on other clouds and platforms, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who design interfaces on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/design): The Design vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 95 terms used by people who design interfaces, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who ship code on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/devtools): The Devtools vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 173 terms used by people who ship code, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who teach or study on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/education): The Education vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 85 terms used by people who teach or study, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who watch the numbers on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/finance): The Finance vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 106 terms used by people who watch the numbers, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who move files around on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/formats): The Formats vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 54 terms used by people who move files around, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for Go developers on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/golang): The Go vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 86 terms used by Go developers, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who write code on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/languages): The Languages vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 118 terms used by people who write code, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who read contracts on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/legal): The Legal vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 87 terms used by people who read contracts, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for Magento and Adobe Commerce developers on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/magento): The Magento vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 118 terms used by Magento and Adobe Commerce developers, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for marketers, paid and organic on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/marketing): The Marketing vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 329 terms used by marketers, paid and organic, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people in clinical settings on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/medical): The Medical vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 89 terms used by people in clinical settings, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who manage the roadmap on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/product): The Product vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 80 terms used by people who manage the roadmap, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people who work a pipeline on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/sales): The Sales vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 83 terms used by people who work a pipeline, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people doing research on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/science): The Science vocabulary pack teaches Zumbo 86 terms used by people doing research, so they come out spelled right the first time.
- [Dictation for people editing and streaming video on Mac](https://zumbo.app/vocabulary-packs/video): The Video vocabulary p