How wispa works
wispa is a push-to-talk voice keyboard for your Mac or Windows PC. Hold a key, speak, and your words are typed into whatever app you are using.
3 min read
wispa turns speech into text. You hold a hotkey, talk, and the moment you finish your words are transcribed and inserted into the app in front of you, no copy and paste. It lives in your menu bar on Mac or your system tray on Windows, so it is there in every app without opening a window.
The dictation flow
- Hold the hotkey. The default is ⌥Space on Mac or Ctrl+Alt+Space on Windows. A small pill appears to show wispa is listening.
- Speak normally. A live waveform follows your voice. You can keep the key held down, or tap once to start and tap again to stop.
- wispa transcribes. Your audio becomes text using the model your current mode is set to, either on your device or through a cloud provider you have added.
- The text is inserted. wispa places the finished text at your cursor in nearly any app with a normal text field, then restores whatever was on your clipboard.
On your device or in the cloud
Every transcription takes one of two paths. Local models run entirely on your computer, so your audio never leaves it. Cloud models send your audio to a provider you choose using your own API key, and are quick to set up. You pick per mode, and you can use both. See Local vs cloud models.
FAQ
Questions and answers
Do I need an internet connection?
Not with a local model, everything runs on your device. You only need a connection if your mode uses a cloud provider for transcription or AI cleanup.
Which apps does it work in?
Nearly any app with a standard text field, because wispa inserts text the same way a paste does. If an app blocks that, wispa still leaves the text on your clipboard.
Does wispa need an account?
No. There is no account and no sign-up, and nothing about your usage is sent to us. wispa is free while it is in beta.