Waffler
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
Voice is not just faster.
It's a different league.
Average words captured per minute
Typing
40
Fast typing
70
Waffler
153
3.8× faster than typing
From waffle to structured text in seconds
Step 1
Hold your hotkey
Press your shortcut from any app. The waffle pops up — you're live.
Step 2
Speak naturally
Talk like you normally would. Ramble, pause, waffle — it's all good.
Step 3
Release — text appears
Let go and watch your words type themselves out, right at the cursor.
Your voice, your business
See exactly where your data goes.
Your voice
Captured locally, never saved
Your provider
Your API key, your choice
Your clipboard
Paste anywhere
Your audio goes device → provider → clipboard. We're never in the middle.
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). You bring your own API key for the AI provider, which costs a tiny fraction of what subscription voice-to-text apps charge.
What it costs per month, by how much you dictate:
Light users dictate within Groq's daily free tier and pay nothing at all. Heavy users overflow into paid tokens, but each dictation still costs less than a penny. Most people land somewhere in the £0 to £2 range per month, then own those bills entirely (no subscription lock-in, no annual renewal, no price hikes).
What it costs per month, by how much you dictate:
| Usage | Waffler API cost | Wispr Flow | SuperWhisper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (15 dictations/day) | £0 / month | £12 / month | £7 / month |
| Medium (30/day) | ~£1.50 / month | £12 / month | £7 / month |
| Heavy (100/day) | ~£8 / month | £12 / month | £7 / month |
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