Handy for Mac: Free Dictation App, Setup and Is It Safe? (2026)

You heard about Handy, the free speech-to-text app, and you want 3 things: whether it’s really free, whether it’s safe to install on your Mac, and how to set it up.

Short answer: Handy is free and open source (MIT license), with no paid tier. You hold a shortcut, speak, let go, and the text is pasted into whatever app you’re in. The speech model runs on your Mac, so your audio isn’t sent anywhere. Version 0.10.0 came out on 2 November 2026, and we checked its Mac build: it’s signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple. Get it from handy.computer or GitHub.

The price: free

Yes, fully. Its site puts it plainly: “Accessibility tooling belongs in everyone’s hands, not behind a paywall.” There’s no trial, no license key and no subscription.

What	Handy
Price	Free
License	MIT, open source on GitHub
Latest Mac	0.10.0, released 2 November 2026
Mac builds	Apple silicon and Intel
Also runs on	Windows and Linux
Paid for by	Sponsors (Wordcab, Epicenter, Bolt AI, Canty Digital) and donations

That’s from handy.computer, the README and the releases page, read on 3 November 2026. If you like it, the site links a donate page and GitHub Sponsors.

Safety: we checked the build

We downloaded the 0.10.0 Apple silicon DMG and ran Apple’s own checks on it with spctl and codesign:

• The app inside is signed with a Developer ID (Christopher Pais, team UWFLB4GC25).
• Gatekeeper accepts it as notarized, so Apple scanned it for known malware.
• The DMG wrapper itself isn’t notarized, which is normal. The app is what macOS checks when you open it.

The code is public, so anyone can read what it does with your audio. The README says transcription “happens on your own computer without sending any information to the cloud.” There’s one exception you’d have to turn on yourself: an optional post-processing step can send the finished text to an AI provider you pick, to clean it up. Leave it off and nothing leaves your Mac.

It’s also a busy project. The GitHub repo has over 37,000 stars and 178 open issues as of today, and the developer calls 0.10.0 “roughly feature complete as we move towards V1.”

The Macs it runs on

The GitHub release has 2 Mac downloads: aarch64 for Apple silicon (M1 and later) and x64 for Intel. The download button on handy.computer gives you the Apple silicon one.

The app itself asks for macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. If you install through Homebrew, the cask asks for macOS 13 Ventura or later. A Mac on Sonoma, Sequoia or Tahoe is fine either way.

Installing it

1. Download the DMG from handy.computer or the releases page. The Apple silicon one is about 15 MB.
2. Open it and drag Handy into Applications. Or run brew install --cask handy. The README notes that cask isn’t kept up by Handy’s own developers.
3. Launch it. A new onboarding flow, added in 0.10.0, walks you through setup.
4. Grant Microphone and Accessibility when macOS asks. The README lists both as needed.
5. Pick a model and set your shortcut in Settings.

Updates come in on their own: the app checks GitHub’s latest release for a new version.

Setting it up

The shortcut. By default you hold it to record and let go to stop. You can switch to tap once to start and tap again to stop.

The model. You choose what does the listening. The README lists Whisper (Small, Medium, Turbo and Large) and Parakeet V3, which it calls CPU-optimized. Since 0.10.0, every model can detect the language you’re speaking.

2 things the README warns about on a Mac:

• A shortcut with the fn (Globe) key only works on an Apple keyboard. On a third-party keyboard it never fires, so pick ctrl, option, shift or command if you switch keyboards.
• Using AirPods or another Bluetooth headset as the mic can make your music drop in quality while you record. Pick the Mac’s built-in mic in Handy and keep the headphones for sound.

0.10.0 also added transcribing audio files into your history, and there’s a Raycast extension to start and stop it from Raycast.

Handy vs Seam

Seam is our app, so read this table with that in mind. Seam is a notch app, and dictation is one of its features.

	Handy	Seam
Price	Free	$19.90 once, 2 Macs
Source	Open source (MIT)	Closed
Runs on	Mac, Windows, Linux	Mac only, Apple silicon, macOS 14+
Voice stays on Mac	Yes	Yes
Choice of models	Whisper or Parakeet	Built in
Notarized by Apple	Yes (0.10.0)	Yes
Beyond dictation	Transcribing audio files	Now playing, focus timer, calendar, drop zones in the notch
Trial	Not needed	48 hours, no credit card

Our pick

Pick Handy if all you want is to speak and have the words land in a text box, for free. It’s open, it’s notarized, it runs on older and Intel Macs, and the same app works on Windows and Linux.

Look elsewhere if you’d rather have dictation as one part of the MacBook notch, next to your music, a focus timer and your next meeting. That’s Seam, $19.90 once for 2 Macs. We tested CPU use for both in Seam vs Handy, and our Mac transcription roundup covers more dictation apps, free and paid.

Frequently asked questions

Is Handy free on Mac?

Yes. Handy is free and open source under the MIT license, with no paid tier. Sponsors and donations pay for it.

Is Handy safe to install?

Version 0.10.0 for Mac is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, which we checked with Apple’s own tools. Its code is public, and your audio is transcribed on your Mac.

Does Handy work offline?

Yes. Once a model is downloaded, transcription runs on your Mac with no internet. Only the optional AI post-processing step sends text out, and it’s off unless you set it up.

Does Handy run on Intel Macs?

Yes. The GitHub releases page has an Intel (x64) DMG beside the Apple silicon one.

What macOS does Handy need?

The app asks for macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. The Homebrew cask asks for macOS 13 Ventura or later.

Related reading

• Seam vs Handy
• Best Mac Transcription App
• Mac Voice Typing and Dictation Guide
• Spokenly vs VoiceInk