Mac dictation · Free

Just talk — get text you can send.

Vara turns your speech into clean, finished text — not a raw transcript. Hold a key, say what you mean, let go. Free. No subscription.

For macOS 14+. Forged in Denmark by Brokk & Sindre.

What it costs

Dictation is usually a subscription. Vara isn’t.

Most Mac dictation apps bill you every month. Vara uses either your own free Groq key or transcribes right on your Mac with WhisperKit — so the price is zero.

Wispr Flow 110 kr / md
Superwhisper 60 kr / md
MacWhisper ~250 / engang
Vara kr 0 forever

You don’t even need a key: WhisperKit runs free on your Mac. Prefer the cloud with OpenAI or ElevenLabs? You can — but you don’t have to. No subscription.

Why free?

When something’s free, you’re usually the product. Not here.

It’s not how we make money

Brokk & Sindre builds software for others. Vara isn’t our business — it’s a tool we made for ourselves.

We use it ourselves every day

We dictate all the time and were missing it. So it’s not going anywhere — we depend on it too.

You don’t pay with your data

No account, no tracking, no cookie banner. And choose WhisperKit and Vara transcribes on your Mac — your voice never leaves the machine.

How it works

Three moves. The rest is forged away.

01

Hold the key

Pick your shortcut. Vara only listens while you hold it down — never in the background.

02

Talk freely

Ums, repeats, false starts, mid-sentence corrections. Speak as you think. Vara cleans it up.

03

Let go

The finished text lands right where your cursor is — mail, chat, document, anywhere.

Modes

Same voice. The tone you need.

Vara runs your speech through the mode you pick — from verbatim to polished. Switch with one keypress, or let Vara choose automatically per app.

Raw

Insert verbatim, no cleanup. No LLM involved — just what you said.

Press 1

Clean text

Removes ums, fillers and false starts. Fixes punctuation and capitalization. Your everyday mode.

Press 2

Professional

Rewrites your speech into polished, professional text — without losing your meaning.

Press 3

VibeCode

Turns spoken developer intent into a precise prompt for your AI coding agent.

Press 4

Ask AI

Treats your speech as a question and inserts the answer where you type.

Press 5

Build your own modes with your own system prompt — or bind a mode to a specific app.

Danish & private

Speaks Danish. Stays on your Mac, if you want.

Most dictation tools are built for English and guess at the rest. Vara speaks Danish — and you decide where your words end up.

  • Speaks Danish

    æ, ø and å — not an English app guessing. Switch between Danish, English or automatic language detection.

  • Two free paths

    Groq in the cloud is blazing fast, or WhisperKit runs on your Mac with nothing to set up — no key, fully offline. Want the cloud with OpenAI or ElevenLabs? They’re there too.

  • No tracking, no account

    No ads, no cookie banner, no profile. Choose on-device and your words never leave your Mac.

Private beta

Want to forge with us?

Vara is in private beta. We let a small group of testers in at a time so we can actually listen. Sign up and we’ll tell you when there’s a seat for you.

Only for the beta invite. No newsletter spam, and you can opt out any time.

FAQ

The things you’re probably wondering

Is Vara really free?
Yes. The app itself is free, and you have two free paths to the text: a free Groq key in the cloud, or WhisperKit transcribing right on your Mac — no key and no internet. Want a specific paid engine like OpenAI or ElevenLabs? You can choose it, but you don’t have to. There’s no subscription.
Does it work in Danish?
Yes. Vara is made in Denmark with Danish at its core, including æ, ø and å. You can lock the language to Danish or English, or let it detect automatically.
Does my voice leave my Mac?
You decide. Choose WhisperKit and everything stays on your Mac — audio and text never leave the machine. Use a cloud engine (Groq, OpenAI, ElevenLabs) and the audio is sent only to the provider you choose, used solely to produce the text.
Which Mac do I need?
macOS 14 Sonoma or newer. WhisperKit, which transcribes on the Mac itself, needs an Apple Silicon Mac (M-series). The cloud engines run fine on anything with macOS 14+.
What is a “mode”?
A mode decides what happens to your speech before it’s inserted: verbatim, cleaned, professional, a prompt for an AI coding agent, or an answer to a question. You switch with a keypress and can build your own.
When can I get it?
Vara is in private beta now. Join the waitlist and we’ll let you know when a seat opens up.