Voice coding on a Mac: dictate into Cursor, VS Code and Terminal
How to dictate prompts, comments and commits on a Mac in Cursor, VS Code, Terminal and Claude Code. Free built-in ways first, then what each tool can't do.
Read this first
Is there a real alternative to Talon Voice?
For full hands-free control of a Mac, there are only two serious options: Talon, and Apple's own Voice Control. Talon lets you write, code, browse and move the mouse without touching the keyboard, using speech, an eye tracker and mouth noises. Most of the other apps on this page, Koi included, are dictation apps. They save your hands a lot of typing, but you still press a key to start.
We make Koi, and we want to be plain about it: Koi is not a hands-free control system. Each dictation and each call with Koi starts with a key tap, a click, or a Shortcut or koi:// link that another tool opens; Koi doesn't listen for a wake word. It has no eye tracking, no noise commands, no voice commands for moving the mouse, and no way to write your own commands. If you can't use your hands at all, Talon or Voice Control is what you need, not Koi.
Facts about each app come from its own site, docs or changelog, checked October 21, 2026, in USD.
What Talon is
What Talon does, and why people look elsewhere
- Price. Talon is free to use, funded by Patreon. Talon+, through Patreon, adds more features, faster updates and better support.
- Platforms. macOS and Windows. Linux on X11 too, but the changelog says Talon 1.0, released September 20, 2026, is planned to be the last public Linux release.
- Speech. Its Conformer engine is free, installed from Talon's menu, and runs on your computer. Talon+ adds a GPU-accelerated Conformer and Whisper hybrid engine powered by Whisper Large.
- Mouse. Eye tracking moves the pointer, with Tobii eye trackers. A pop sound clicks and a hiss scrolls.
- Commands. You write your own in .talon files and Python, and most people start from the shared command set, talonhub/community, on GitHub.
It's the tool many developers with RSI rely on. People look for an alternative for a few reasons: they don't need the hands-free part and only wanted better dictation; the command set takes time to learn; they write in a language other than English, where Talon's community wiki says the main model has been English; or they want natural sentences typed with punctuation and cleanup rather than spoken commands. Talon itself isn't open source; it ships under its own license agreement. More on Talon's site and the community wiki.
The picks
Talon Voice alternatives for Mac
1. Koi
Best for: Fast, local dictation if you can still tap a key. Not hands-free control
Koi is for the person who found Talon because typing hurts or is slow, but who can still press two keys. Tap Fn + ⌥, talk in plain sentences, and the words are typed where your cursor is, in any app: a code editor, Terminal, Slack. It stops by itself when you go quiet. Speech is turned into text on the Mac, so it works offline, and there's no command language to learn.
It tidies as it types: filler words go, a correction said out loud in English keeps only the fix, and in code tools and chat apps there's no full stop at the end. Say “new line”, “new paragraph” or “clear all”. Your words keeps up to 300 names and terms, so function and library names come out spelled your way, and the names on your screen are read on the Mac as you start. Our voice coding guide shows the setup.
On a call (tap Fn + ⌘), you can ask Koi to use the Mac for you: “open YouTube and search for lo-fi”, “click Skip”, “scroll down”. That uses cloud AI, and Koi never buys, sends, posts, deletes or types a password. It's help, not a replacement for the mouse.
Where Talon wins: everything hands-free, and it's free. Koi costs money: Pro is $20 a month after a 3-day trial with a card, or Lifetime paid once, $59 for the first 25 buyers, rising to $199.
2. Apple Voice Control
Best for: Free, built-in hands-free control of the whole Mac
The real Talon alternative is already on your Mac. Turn it on in System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control. Say “Show numbers” or “Show names” to label what's on screen and click by saying the label, or “Show grid” to point at a precise spot. It has dictation, spelling and command modes, and a Swift mode for writing Swift code. It works with VoiceOver.
It's less scriptable than Talon, and there's no eye tracking. While Voice Control is on, the Mac's regular Dictation isn't available.
3. Superwhisper
Best for: Dictation with custom modes, free locally
If what you liked about Talon was shaping your own setup, Superwhisper's modes are the closest thing in a dictation app. Free has unlimited local Whisper dictation, a vocabulary, text replacements and two modes without AI. Pro, $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year or $249.99 once, adds AI modes and cloud models. You still press a key to start.
4. VoiceInk
Best for: Open source local dictation, paid once
VoiceInk transcribes on your Mac, keeps a dictionary and switches modes by app or URL. Its shortcuts can be keyboard or mouse buttons, including push-to-talk, which helps if one is easier on your hands than the other. It's open source under GPLv3, $25 once for one Mac, and needs Apple silicon. See VoiceInk alternatives.
5. Handy
Best for: Free, open source, scriptable from the command line
Handy is free and MIT-licensed, on Mac, Windows and Linux, and runs Whisper or Parakeet locally. Like Talon, it can be driven from outside: it has command-line flags such as toggling transcription, so you can trigger it from your own scripts or a Raycast command. See Handy alternatives.
Side by side
Talon vs its alternatives
| Koi | Talon | Voice Control | Superwhisper | Handy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $20 a month, or Lifetime from $59 | Free; Talon+ on Patreon | Free, built in | Free; Pro $8.49 a month | Free |
| Hands-free control | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Start without hands | No, a key tap | Yes | Yes | No, a key | No, a key or a script |
| Mouse by voice or eyes | No | Eye tracking, noises | Numbers, names, grid | No | No |
| Custom commands | No | Python and .talon files | Yes, in Voice Control settings | Modes | CLI flags |
| Natural dictation with cleanup | Yes, on the Mac | Dictation mode | Dictation mode | AI modes on Pro | Optional post-processing |
| Speech to text | On your Mac | On your computer | Apple | Local or cloud | On your computer |
| Platforms | Mac | Mac, Windows, Linux X11 | Mac | Mac, Windows, phones | Mac, Windows, Linux |
The table makes the split clear: Talon and Voice Control replace the keyboard and mouse; the rest replace typing. Plenty of Talon users run both kinds, a dictation app for prose and Talon for everything else. See Koi's pricing if you're weighing that.
When to stay
When Talon is the right tool
Stay on Talon if
- You can't use a keyboard or mouse, or you're protecting your hands from an injury.
- You move the pointer with an eye tracker, or click and scroll with noises.
- You've built up your own commands and they make you fast.
- You code by voice with structural editing tools built on Talon.
- You need it on Windows as well as the Mac, for free.
Try both
How to add a dictation app next to Talon
- Keep Talon running for control, and install a dictation app for long prose: emails, docs, commit messages.
- Give the dictation app a shortcut you can reach easily. Koi's koi://dictate link starts and stops dictation, so a Talon command that opens a URL can trigger it.
- In Talon, switch to command mode or sleep while the dictation app is listening, so both don't act on the same words.
- In Koi, add your project's names in Settings, Dictation, Your words.
- Dictate a real paragraph in each and keep whichever needed fewer fixes for that job.
If you want a gentler start with voice on a Mac, our guides on dictating on a Mac and dictation for ADHD cover the basics.
Keep exploring
The best VoiceInk alternatives for Mac
VoiceInk alternatives for Mac, checked October 2026: open source apps, Intel Mac options and one-time prices, with a fair look at where VoiceInk still wins.
The best Handy alternatives for Mac
Handy alternatives for Mac, checked October 2026: apps that add cleanup, a word list and snippets to local dictation, open source picks and one-time prices.
Dictation for ADHD on a Mac: tools and a simple setup
Dictation software for ADHD on a Mac: the free built-in setup, what to look for in an app, and simple ways to talk a draft out. A guide to tools, not medicine.
Support
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Talon is free to use and funded by Patreon. Talon+, through Patreon, adds more features, such as a GPU-accelerated engine powered by Whisper Large, plus faster updates and better support.
Yes. Talon runs on macOS and Windows, and on Linux with X11, though Talon 1.0 is planned to be the last public Linux release.
No. Each dictation and each call with Koi starts with a key tap, a click, a Shortcut or a koi:// link, and it has no eye tracking, noise commands or custom commands. On a call, Koi can click, scroll and open things you ask for, using cloud AI.
Apple Voice Control, built into macOS under System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control. It labels things on screen with numbers or names, has a grid for precise clicks, and includes dictation.
No. Talon ships under its own license agreement. Its shared command set, talonhub/community, is on GitHub, and the community wiki is maintained there too.