Amical
Open-source AI dictation that auto-formats for any app, with free local and cloud options.
Amical earns a strong recommendation for privacy-conscious writers and coders. Its free local dictation with Whisper and Ollama is genuinely useful, and the $7/mo Premium undercuts rivals like Aqua Voice and Typeless. The smart formatting—auto-correct, pronoun fixes, emojis—outshines native OS dictation. Caveats: mobile is still labeled 'soon' on pricing, and heavy cloud users must pay. For a free, open-source dictation tool that respects your data, Amical is a top pick.
Verified 9h ago · liveness 73/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/amical
- Privacy-conscious writers and journalists
- Developers who want to code by voice
- Professionals needing tone-aware dictation
- Multilingual users
- Heavy cloud dictation users on the free tier
- Teams needing advanced collaboration without paying
- Users who prefer web-only apps
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Skip Amical if you need unlimited cloud dictation without paying, or if you require enterprise-grade security features like SSO/SAML and SOC 2 out of the box on a low tier—those are reserved for Premium and Enterprise respectively.
Going past 2,000 words of cloud dictation per week on the free tier requires an upgrade to Premium at $7/mo (yearly) or $10/mo monthly.
Amical's pricing shines for individuals and small teams: the free tier is genuinely useful, and Premium at $7/mo (yearly) undercuts rivals like Aqua Voice and Typeless which typically start at $10-15/mo. For enterprises needing private hosting and SSO, expect custom pricing—likely higher but tailored to security needs.
In short
Amical — Open-source AI dictation that auto-formats for any app, with free local and cloud options. Best for Privacy-conscious writers and journalists, Developers who want to code by voice, Professionals needing tone-aware dictation. Free to start; paid plans from $78410/mo.
What people actually say about Amical — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
61 mentions across 5 sources (Hacker News, App Store, Bluesky, GitHub, Lemmy) · researched Jul 5, 2026.
- +Open-source MIT license ensures privacy and community auditing.
- +Local dictation works offline with Whisper models.
- +Context-aware formatting adjusts tone per app (email, Slack, etc.).
- +100+ languages supported with auto-detection.
- +Unlimited local dictation on free tier.
- −Shortcuts cannot be customized — only modifier keys recognized.
- −Windows 11 install fails with ONNX Runtime error.
- −48 open issues suggest many unresolved bugs.
- −App Store reviews are about Amica insurance, not dictation.
- −Bluesky posts are mostly off-topic or in French.
- • Cloud dictation beyond 2,000 words/week requires Premium
- • Enterprise pricing not transparent
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is Amical? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: August 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Local AI dictation (offline, private)
- Cloud AI dictation (fast models)
- Smart context-aware formatting for any app
- Custom vocabulary for industry terms
- Custom voice shortcuts
- Supports 100+ languages with auto-detection
- Grammar correction, pronoun fixing, emojis
- Tone adaptation (professional vs casual)
- Cross-platform: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android
- Open-source (MIT license)
- Unlimited devices (even on free tier)
- Team management and shared vocabulary (Premium)
- No data retention, no training on user data
- Notes feature with export
- Desktop widget for quick dictation
About Amical
Amical is an open-source AI dictation app for macOS and Windows, with iOS and Android support. It turns your speech into formatted text in any focused app—email, chat, editor, or notes—using local AI models (Whisper for speech, Ollama for language) or fast cloud models when you sign in. The app adapts the tone and formatting to the context: a polished email in Gmail, a casual Slack message, code in your editor, or a friendly text to family. It supports 100+ languages with auto-detection, custom vocabulary for industry terms, and custom voice shortcuts to run commands. Amical is free to start with unlimited local dictation, unlimited devices, and 2,000 words of cloud dictation per week. The Premium tier ($7/month billed yearly, $10/month monthly) adds unlimited cloud dictation, shared vocabulary, and team management. Enterprise plans offer private model hosting, custom models, SSO/SAML, and centralized billing for security-focused teams. What sets Amical apart is its smart formatting and autocorrect: it auto-corrects grammar, fixes pronouns, and adds contextual emojis. It learns your writing style and vocabulary, delivering more accurate, natural-sounding text than native OS dictation. Since it's open source under MIT, your data stays private—Amical states no training on your data and no retention on cloud models. It's a rare voice-input tool that blends AI intelligence with local-first privacy. Compared to alternatives like Aqua Voice or Typeless, Amical stands out for its free local dictation and context-aware formatting. While Aqua Voice wins some users on preference, Amical's local-only mode and open-source nature make it a strong pick for privacy-conscious dictation users.
Behind the Verdict
Amical is a breath of fresh air in the dictation space. Most dictation tools are closed-source, subscription-heavy, and send your voice data to the cloud by default. Amical flips that: it's MIT-licensed, runs locally with Whisper and Ollama, and only touches the cloud when you explicitly sign in. For privacy-conscious users, that's a massive win. The free tier is unusually generous: unlimited local dictation, unlimited devices, and 2,000 words of cloud dictation per week. That's enough for light dictation, and it's free forever. Upgrade to Premium ($7/mo yearly) for unlimited cloud dictation and team features—still cheaper than many rivals that charge monthly. Where Amical shines is its context-aware formatting. It doesn't just transcribe; it writes like you. In Gmail it formats a professional email; in Slack it adds a casual tone and emojis; in a code editor it understands commands. This is beyond what native OS dictation offers, and it's a big productivity boost. Weaknesses: the mobile apps are still catching up ('soon' on the pricing page, though a Mobile Beta exists). The free cloud limit is 2,000 words/week, so heavy users will need Premium. Enterprise features (SSO/SAML, SOC 2) are locked to Custom plans. Some users on Reddit noted the AI formatting can be 'over-aggressive' at times, but that's a minor trade-off. Overall, Amical is a must-try for anyone who types a lot and values privacy. It's free to start, open source, and genuinely useful. Start with the free tier and upgrade if you hit cloud limits.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Amical actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
Dictating a blog post into a Google Doc
Outcome: Amical formats the text with proper grammar, punctuation, and a professional tone, cutting writing time by half.
Coding hands-free in an IDE
Outcome: With custom vocabulary for API names, Amical transcribes complex code snippets accurately, reducing typing strain.
Dictating quick updates in Slack
Outcome: Amical adds a casual tone and emojis automatically, making communication faster and more engaging.
Use Cases
- Dictate a professional email in Gmail with automatic formatting and signature.
- Write code hands-free by speaking into your editor with custom vocabulary.
- Capture meeting notes by dictating into the Amical notes feature.
- Compose a casual Slack message with automatic emoji insertion.
- Transcribe multilingual conversations with auto-detection.
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-08-21
Limitations
- Cloud dictation is capped at 2,000 words/week on the free plan.
- Mobile apps are listed as 'soon' for iPhone and Android in the pricing comparison, with a Mobile Beta link available.
- Enterprise features like private model hosting, custom models, SSO/SAML, and SOC 2 are only available on Enterprise plans.
- The docs state the desktop app supports macOS and Windows.
as of 2026-08-24
Verification history
We have re-verified Amical 6 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-checked, vendor evidence unchanged
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published Amical tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free
$0/mo
Ideal for
Individuals who want unlimited local dictation without paying, and are okay with a 2,000-word/week cloud limit.
What this tier adds
Starting tier: unlimited local dictation, unlimited devices, but capped cloud dictation at 2,000 words/week.
Premium
$7/mo (billed $84/year) or $10/mo monthly
Ideal for
Power users and small teams that need unlimited cloud dictation, shared vocabulary, and team management.
What this tier adds
Adds unlimited cloud dictation, shared vocabulary, team management, priority access to new features.
Enterprise
Custom
Ideal for
Security- and scale-focused organizations needing private model hosting, SSO/SAML, and centralized billing.
What this tier adds
Adds private model hosting, custom models, ultra-low latency, SSO/SAML, SOC 2 (in progress), and centralized billing.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Amical's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Amical's pricing shines for individuals and small teams: the free tier is genuinely useful, and Premium at $7/mo (yearly) undercuts rivals like Aqua Voice and Typeless which typically start at $10-15/mo. For enterprises needing private hosting and SSO, expect custom pricing—likely higher but tailored to security needs.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Amical — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Desktop (Mac/Windows): under 5 minutes to download, install, and start dictating. Mobile (iOS/Android): join the beta and install; under 10 minutes to configure permissions and test.
Switching to or from Amical
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From native OS dictation: install Amical, grant microphone permissions, and replace your native dictation hotkey with Amical's.
- ↗To Aqua Voice or Typeless: export your notes (if any) and manually recreate custom vocabulary; Amical stores data locally and doesn't lock you in.
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
Official links
Tools that pair well with Amical
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Amical, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
Amical vs Gem
These tools serve fundamentally different needs. Gem is a full-stack recruiting platform for talent teams, offering AI agents for sourcing, screening, and fraud detection. Amical is an open-source dictation app for individuals to type faster by voice. Choose based on whether you need to streamline hiring or accelerate personal typing—they are not competitors.
Amical vs Poke Interaction Co
Poke and Amical serve fundamentally different needs: Poke is a messaging-native AI assistant for managing email, calendar, and automations, while Amical is a dictation tool for faster typing across any app. If you need a personal assistant integrated into your chat apps and workflows, go with Poke. If you want to speed up text input via voice in any desktop app, Amical wins hands-down.
Amical vs Guesty
These products serve entirely different needs and are not direct competitors. Guesty is a full-stack property management system for vacation rental operators, while Amical is a desktop dictation tool for individuals. Your choice depends on whether you need to automate rental operations or speed up typing across apps. There is no overlap in use case.
Alternatives to Amical
View all
Open Wispr
Free, open-source, 100% local voice dictation for macOS — no cloud, no accounts, no telemetry.
Openwhispr
Open source voice-to-text dictation with local AI, BYOK cloud, and privacy by design.
OmniVoice Studio
Free, open-source local voice cloning, dubbing, and design for 600+ languages.
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