Aiko Review 2026: Great for Files, No Live Dictation

Aiko is one of the most-loved free transcription apps on the Mac, and for good reason. It turns audio and video files into text right on your device. But if you came here hoping it would type your words into your apps as you speak, that is where the story changes.

What Aiko actually does

Aiko is a free app for Mac, iPhone and iPad that transcribes audio and video files using local Whisper speech recognition. You drag in a recording, a podcast episode, a lecture or a voice memo, and it produces a transcript on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and there is no per-minute meter running in the background.

That combination of free, private and simple is exactly why Aiko has such a loyal following. For anyone who mostly needs to convert files that already exist, it is hard to beat. The one thing to understand before you download it is the difference between file transcription and live dictation, because they solve two very different problems.

The one thing Aiko does not do: live dictation

Live dictation means you press a shortcut, speak, and the words appear wherever your cursor is: an email, a chat box, a code comment, a Google Doc. Aiko does not do this. It is designed around files, so there is no global shortcut that drops clean text into the app you are using right now.

This matters because dictation is where the real time savings live. Most people speak around three to four times faster than they type, so the biggest wins come from talking directly into whatever you are working on, not from processing a recording afterward. If your goal is to draft emails, messages and notes by voice, a file transcriber is the wrong shape of tool. Our guide on how to dictate long documents on a Mac walks through what that workflow looks like in practice.

Aiko vs a live dictation app

The clearest way to see the gap is to line Aiko up next to a dedicated dictation tool. This is not a knock on Aiko: it is simply built for a different job. File transcription and live voice typing sit at opposite ends of the same workflow.

If your work is mostly after-the-fact transcription of recordings, Aiko is a fine, free choice. If you want to write with your voice throughout the day, you want a system-wide tool. Some people even use both: Aiko for the occasional interview file, and a dictation app for daily typing. For the wider landscape, see our roundup of the best dictation software for Mac in 2026.

Myths worth clearing up

Who should use Aiko, and who should not

Use Aiko if you regularly have recordings to convert and you value a free, private, no-fuss tool. Journalists cleaning up interview audio, students transcribing lectures and anyone with a folder of voice memos will get real value from it. Because it runs locally, it is also a sensible pick for sensitive recordings you would never want to upload.

Look elsewhere if you want to write by voice all day. People who send a lot of email and chat, or who find typing tiring, tend to want dictation that is always one shortcut away. That is also true for many neurodivergent writers, which is why we cover voice-to-text for ADHD in its own guide. Faster input speed is the whole point, and the words-per-minute gap between talking and typing is why. You can compare specific tools on the pricing page to see what fits.