Waffler
Quick update on the project timeline. We're on track for the beta launch next week. The design team finished the onboarding flow and it looks great — just need to sort the payment integration.
Less typing.
More waffling.
Voice-to-text that works in Slack
Press a hotkey, speak, release — your polished text lands straight in the app you're using.
Free & open source · Bring your own API key
👩💼
Hey, any updates with the client?
👨💻
Fn (Mac)
Ctrl+Win (Windows)
What you said
Works with everything
ChatGPT
Claude
Slack
Teams
VS Code
Gmail
Notion
Google Docs
Discord
WhatsApp
Cursor
Linear
Perplexity
X
iMessage
Telegram
Say goodbye to your keyboard.
Average words captured per minute
Typing
40
Fast typing
70
Waffler
153
3.8× faster than typing
Step 1 Hold your hotkey
Step 2 Speak naturally
Step 3 Release, text appears
See how it works for different tasks
Pick a scenario. Watch one voice memo become the right kind of writing for the job.
You said
Hey Sam, um, thanks for sending the report over yesterday, really appreciate it. Quick thought, could we jump on a call tomorrow at 10? Cheers, James.
Waffler wrote
Hi Sam,
Thanks for sending the report over yesterday, really appreciate it.
Quick thought: could we jump on a call tomorrow at 10?
Cheers,
James
You said
So for the launch we need three things, the marketing copy finalised, the demo video shipped, and the support team briefed.
Waffler wrote
For the launch we need three things:
• Marketing copy finalised
• Demo video shipped
• Support team briefed
You said
Um, yeah, so I was thinking, like, maybe we, you know, should push the deployment to next week, I mean, just so we have more time for testing, you know what I mean?
Waffler wrote
I was thinking maybe we should push the deployment to next week, just so we have more time for testing.
You said
Let's meet on Tuesday, no wait Wednesday, actually let's just do Thursday at 2.
Waffler wrote
Let's meet on Thursday at 2.
Speaks your language
Add tricky words once. Names, acronyms, internal jargon — Waffler gets them right every time, even when generic speech-to-text models stumble.
+ Siobhan
+ JSON
+ Postgres
+ macOS
+ |
Names
Shavon Siobhan
Acronyms
Jason JSON
Tech
post grass Postgres
Casing
Mac OS macOS
Set it up in Settings → Vocabulary. One word per line. No regex, no special syntax — just type the word the way you want it written.
How much would you actually pay?
Waffler routes through your own API keys — Groq's free tier first, Cerebras paid second, OpenAI as a fallback. Here's what each usage tier costs.
Light user
~5 dictations / day
$0 / month
Groq free tier · never hits the cap
Daily user
~30 dictations / day
$0 / month
Groq free tier · ~6% used
Heavy user
~120 dictations / day
$0–0.30 / month
Mostly Groq free · occasional Cerebras overflow
Power user
~300 dictations / day
~$1.20 / month
Groq + Cerebras paid ($10 lasts ~9 months)
Versus typical subscriptions: Wispr Flow $12/mo SuperWhisper $8.49/mo Otter $16.99/mo
even our power-user tier is 90% cheaper
You bring an API key. Groq covers 100k tokens/day for free — about 250 typical dictations. Cerebras takes over when Groq runs out (paid, fast). OpenAI sits as a fallback when both are down. The app is open source — yours to keep, forever.
Inside the app
Talk naturally. Waffler handles the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about Waffler.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no account needed for Waffler. Download the app, add your API key, and you're ready to go.
Is it really free?
Yes. Waffler itself is 100% free and open source (MIT licensed). The only cost is what your API provider charges per dictation. Pricing below is based on Cerebras Qwen-3 235B (roughly 0.3p per dictation), with the first ~15 dictations per day free via Groq's daily allowance.
What it actually costs per month:
What it actually costs per month:
| How much you dictate | Waffler (API only) | Wispr Flow (no BYOK) | SuperWhisper (sub + API) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casual (10/day) | £0 / month | £12 / month | £7 + API / month |
| Moderate (25/day) | ~£1 / month | £12 / month | £7 + API / month |
| Power user (50/day) | ~£3.50 / month | £12 / month | £7 + API / month |
Wispr Flow doesn't let you bring your own API key, so every word goes through their cloud at a flat fee. SuperWhisper allows bring-your-own-keys only on the Pro plan (£7/month), and the API costs sit on top of that subscription.
Most Waffler users dictate within Groq's daily free tier and pay nothing at all. Even at high volume, the API bill stays a fraction of a subscription, and unlike subscription apps, you only pay for what you actually use. A quiet month costs you nothing (no annual renewal, no auto-charge, no price hikes).Is my data private?
Waffler has no servers and no backend — it runs entirely on your machine. Audio and transcripts are sent directly from your device to your chosen AI provider (Groq, Cerebras, or OpenAI) using your own API key. All three are US-based and explicitly state they don't train on API data. Waffler never sees or stores your audio. Your transcription history is saved only on your device. See how each provider handles your data →
Which provider should I use — Groq, Cerebras, or OpenAI?
Start with Groq. Its free tier covers most users for everyday dictation and the styling quality on Llama 3.3 70B is excellent. Add a Cerebras key (with $10 of credit) if you want sub-500ms styling on long transcripts or you regularly hit Groq's daily free-tier cap. Add OpenAI only if you want a last-resort safety net for the rare case both Groq and Cerebras are unavailable. Waffler tries them in that order automatically: Groq → Cerebras → OpenAI.
Is the data secure if Cerebras runs an Alibaba model?
Yes. Qwen is open-source (released by Alibaba on Hugging Face for anyone to download and run). Cerebras hosts the weights on their own data centres in Sunnyvale, California — Alibaba never sees the requests. The relationship is the same as Meta open-sourcing Llama and Groq hosting it. All inference happens on US infrastructure under US data protection laws.
Does Waffler update itself?
Yes. From v3.8.5 onwards, Waffler has a Check for Update button in Settings → About. It compares your version with the latest release, downloads the new installer, and relaunches the app automatically. On macOS the update swaps the signed app bundle; on Windows the Inno Setup installer performs a silent upgrade.
Is the app signed?
The macOS build is fully signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple — it opens cleanly with no "unidentified developer" warnings. The Windows installer is currently unsigned (code-signing certificates are on the roadmap). If Windows SmartScreen warns on first run, click "More info" then "Run anyway".
How do I get an API key?
It takes about 2 minutes. Start with Groq — it's free and covers most users. Just sign up at console.groq.com, create a key, and paste it into Waffler. Cerebras and OpenAI keys are optional extras for speed or fallback. Full step-by-step for all three: How to Get an API Key.
Mac or Windows?
Both are supported. Head to the download page and pick your platform.
Free. Fast. Private. Yours.
Open source voice-to-text with no account, no subscription, no data collection. Just download and start talking.
Free & open source · Mac + Windows · No account required