Voice for AI coding
Talk to your coding agent.
In every app, not just one.
Working with Claude Code, Cursor or Codex means writing long instructions in plain language. Speaking them is much faster than typing them. TypeAloud, a free dictation app for Mac, puts your words at the cursor in the terminal, the editor, a pull request or Slack, and transcribes on your Mac.
Prompts are prose, and prose is faster spoken
A good prompt for a coding agent explains what is wrong, what you tried and what done looks like. That is paragraphs, not code. Most people speak at around 130 words a minute and type at around 40, so a two-minute explanation spoken is several minutes saved, many times a day.
Hold Ctrl+Shift, explain the task, release. For a long brief, double-tap the shortcut to record hands-free and press it once more when you are done.
Works wherever the cursor is
Claude Code has its own voice mode, but it lives inside Claude Code. Your day also includes Cursor's chat, Codex in another terminal, commit messages, code review comments and the message to your team. TypeAloud inserts text into whichever app has focus, so the same shortcut works in all of them.
Knows the words developers say
TypeAloud ships with a list of about 140 common tech terms, such as Claude Code, Cursor, TypeScript, Kubernetes, Next.js and llama.cpp. When it hears something close, like "Nematron", it corrects it to the term. Add your own project names and libraries to the dictionary, and set automatic replacements for anything it should always rewrite.
For exact identifiers, file paths and flags, typing is still quicker. Speak the intent, type the camelCase.
Mixed languages, private repos
Many developers explain code in Chinese and name things in English: "把这个 component 的 props 改成 optional". TypeAloud's Qwen3-ASR model detects the language from the audio, so that sentence comes out as you said it.
In local mode nothing is uploaded. Client names, internal service names and unreleased features stay on your Mac. It is free, with no word limit.
Common questions
- Does it work in the terminal?
- Yes. TypeAloud inserts text into the focused app on macOS, including Terminal, iTerm, VS Code's terminal and Cursor.
- How is this different from Claude Code's /voice?
- Claude Code's voice mode works inside Claude Code. TypeAloud works in every app on your Mac and transcribes locally, so you can use one shortcut for the agent, the editor and chat.
- Will it write camelCase or snake_case names?
- It writes what it hears. Add names you use often to the dictionary or automatic replacements; type one-off identifiers.
- Is it free?
- Yes. Local transcription needs no account, subscription or API key, and has no word limit.
TypeAloud: free dictation for Mac, transcribed on your Mac.
Hold Ctrl+Shift, speak, release, and the text appears at your cursor. No word limit, no account, open source.
Download for Mac