Your OpenAI key. Direct billing.
OpenAI charges the OpenAI Platform account connected through your key. HoldType adds no monthly fee.
The most honest Wispr Flow “clone”.
No account. Full control over your dictation. You pay OpenAI, not HoldType.
Free app · OpenAI API usage billed separately · macOS 14+
100 dictations
≈ $0.10
at the current estimated rate
Hold. Speak. Release. The transcript appears at the cursor.
-
⌘
Hold
Hold Right Command where you can type
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Speak
Dictate the text you need
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Release
Release Command
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Inserted
The transcript appears at the cursor
What “honest” means for HoldType
gpt-4o-transcribe model
OpenAI reports fewer word errors, better language recognition, and higher accuracy than its original Whisper models.
No mandatory second pass
By default, the transcript returns without a second model pass. Turn correction on only when you want it.
The HoldType data path is explicit
Your Mac → OpenAI → your cursor.
The limits are visible
HoldType is Mac-only. It does not pretend to be a team cloud platform; optional recording-cache retention stays local.
A dictation app. Not an AI writing platform.
HoldType does three practical jobs: text at the cursor, translation on command, and spelling context for names and technical terms.
Dictation where you work
Dictate prompts directly into Codex, Claude, or ChatGPT. No intermediate editor and no required rewrite stage.
No intermediate editor
Dictate mail, reviews, documentation, chats, and notes directly at the cursor.
Translation when requested
Use the translation shortcut when you want it. Ordinary dictation does not trigger a translation request.
Product features
The current HoldType app and the product screenshots use an English interface.
Language and vocabulary
Translate only when you ask for it.
Choose a target language, then use Right Command + Right Option. Translation runs as a separate text request after transcription.
Local Dictionary entries add spelling context for names, project terms, and file names to the transcription request.
Recovery and control
Keep the transcript when insertion fails.
If insertion fails, the accepted transcript remains available as Last Result. Paste it with Control + Command + V without replacing the macOS system clipboard.
Model-based OpenAI correction is off by default. The menu bar keeps dictation, translation, recovery, history, and settings together.
Quick Fixes
Dictate the text, then finish it in the same field.
Quick Fixes runs a prompt on selected text or the contents of the current text field—no pasting it into ChatGPT and copying the result back.
Built-in fixes correct, shorten, improve, summarize, or translate. Add custom prompts for formatting and other edits you repeat.
No HoldType account or backend
Your Mac → OpenAI → your cursor.
HoldType has no account system, product backend, telemetry, analytics, or cloud sync. Audio goes directly to OpenAI through the API key you provide.
- Microphone
- HoldType
- OpenAI transcription
- Active app
The limits are visible
- Your API key stays in macOS Keychain.
- Your Mac → OpenAI → your cursor.
- The rewrite pass is optional. Translation runs only when requested.
- Recoverable failures may keep bounded session-only audio for Retry; completed audio is not retained by default.
- HoldType is Mac-only. It does not pretend to be a team cloud platform; optional recording-cache retention stays local.
The bill has a source
HoldType uses the key you provide. OpenAI charges the connected OpenAI Platform account; HoldType does not collect a monthly fee or meter dictation through a product account.
100 dictations. About $0.10.
100 dictations represent roughly 17 minutes of recorded speech. Repeat that amount for 30 days and the estimated transcription cost is about $3.
The Billing screen is a local estimate for successful audio transcriptions. It is not an OpenAI invoice and does not include correction or translation requests.
OpenAI API pricing
Why I built HoldType
I wanted a dictation tool. Not all the bullshit.
I wanted to know who charged me and why every transcript had to be rewritten by a second model. I did not want another black box between my voice and the cursor.
In my daily work, OpenAI transcription gave me the first pass I trusted most often. The optional rewrite pass stays off unless I turn it on.
HoldType is the native Swift app I built for that: your API key, direct OpenAI billing, no product account, and no monthly fee.
Get started
From download to first dictation.
- Download the latest disk image from GitHub Releases.
- Drag HoldType into Applications and launch it.
- Grant microphone, global-shortcut, and insertion permissions.
- Add your OpenAI Platform API key in Settings.
Prefer Homebrew?
The project tap installs the same disk image published on GitHub Releases.
brew tap holdtype/tap
brew trust holdtype/tap
brew install --cask holdtype
open -a HoldTypeNew to API keys?
Create an API key, then add it in Settings.
An API key is a private credential that lets HoldType send audio for transcription through your OpenAI Platform account. It is separate from your ChatGPT login and subscription.
- Sign in to OpenAI Platform and open the API key page.
- Create a secret key and copy it when OpenAI shows it.
- In HoldType, open Settings → OpenAI, paste the key, and save.
OpenAI shows the full key only when it is created. Keep it private and paste it only into HoldType, which stores it locally in macOS Keychain. API billing is separate from ChatGPT, and a new OpenAI Platform account may require prepaid credit.
Also on iPhone
HoldType for iPhone is already in the source.
The app and HoldType Keyboard are not in the App Store yet. Release work is still in progress, but you can build and run them yourself in Xcode today.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the decisions that matter before installing.
Why is an OpenAI API key required?
HoldType sends transcription requests through your own OpenAI Platform account. The key is stored locally in macOS Keychain. If API keys are new to you, follow the three-step guide above.
Is ChatGPT Plus enough?
No. ChatGPT subscriptions and OpenAI Platform API billing are separate. HoldType needs an API key with OpenAI Platform billing configured.
What does dictation cost?
HoldType has no fixed fee. OpenAI deducts API usage from your OpenAI Platform balance, and new API accounts may require prepaid credit. HoldType’s Billing screen estimates successful transcriptions on this Mac; optional correction and translation are separate requests.
What data is sent to OpenAI?
Audio is sent for transcription. Optional correction and translation send transcript text in separate requests, and optional nearby context sends a short excerpt with the transcription request.
Is audio stored?
Completed audio is not retained by default. A recoverable failure may keep bounded session-only audio for Retry, and optional recording-cache retention is local and user-controlled.
Which Mac apps work?
HoldType inserts accepted text in most Mac apps through macOS Accessibility support. If handoff fails, Last Result remains available for recovery.
Which languages are supported?
Transcription can use automatic or fixed source-language settings. Translation uses the target language you configure in HoldType.
Why does HoldType need macOS permissions?
Microphone access records speech, Input Monitoring supports the global shortcut, and Accessibility enables text insertion into the active app.
Is HoldType open source?
HoldType is source-available under FSL 1.1 with an MIT future license. Each released version converts to MIT two years after release.
Full control over your dictation.
Free app · Your OpenAI API key · No HoldType subscription · macOS 14+