Hex icon

Hex

Press-and-hold hotkey to transcribe your voice and paste anywhere

Free Dictation Open Source

Overview

Hex is a lightweight macOS dictation utility that lets you press and hold a global hotkey to record your voice, then automatically transcribes and pastes the result wherever you're typing. It supports two recording modes: press-and-hold for quick dictation, or double-tap to lock recording and tap again when done. Built natively in SwiftUI for Apple Silicon, Hex offers two transcription backends — Parakeet TDT v3 via FluidAudio for cloud-based multilingual transcription, and WhisperKit for fully on-device processing. Free and open-source under the MIT license, Hex is a simple, focused tool for anyone who wants fast voice-to-text input across any app.

Architecture: Apple Silicon

Key Features

  • Press-and-hold hotkey to record and transcribe voice instantly
  • Double-tap to lock recording mode for longer dictation
  • Automatic pasting of transcribed text into any active application
  • Parakeet TDT v3 backend for fast multilingual transcription
  • WhisperKit backend option for fully on-device processing
  • Global hotkey activation works from any app
  • Built natively in SwiftUI for Apple Silicon Macs
  • Installable via Homebrew or direct DMG download
  • MIT-licensed and open-source

Tags

voice inputtranscription