Acousmos
Verified Oct 15, 2026 ActiveMac dictation app that saves every transcription to a private, searchable local archive instead of throwing it away.
Listed on EffectHub ·
Pricing
- Pricing model
- Paid
- Paid options from
- $8.25/mo
- Billing
- Monthly
One month of Pro free with no signup or card (20,000 managed-cloud words). Plus is $12.99 a month or $99 a year (about $8.25 a month billed yearly); Pro is $17.99 a month or $149 a year and adds your own API keys or offline local models. Both paid plans cover up to 2 Macs.
Use tool ↗About Acousmos
Acousmos is a hotkey-triggered dictation app for macOS that transcribes speech into any app and, unlike most dictation tools, keeps a searchable archive of everything you have said. The archive stays on the Mac in an open, exportable format, and the company states it never trains on users' voices. Beyond transcription it offers AI cleanup to strip filler words and reformat text, a custom dictionary for names and jargon, and cross-language dictation that lands already translated. It needs Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. The operator, Arrway Ltd, is registered in England and Wales; Pro adds a privacy mode on your own API keys or local models.
- Platforms
- macOS
- API
- Not confirmed
- Last verified
- Oct 15, 2026
Verified sources
- Pricing page: one-month Pro trial at $0 with 20,000 words; Plus $12.99 a month or $99 a year (about $8.25 a month billed yearly); Pro $17.99 a month or $149 a year with your own keys and local models; up to 2 Macs (15 October 2026)acousmos.com ↗
- Home page: hotkey dictation anywhere on macOS, local searchable archive, AI clean-up, custom dictionary and cross-language dictation; Apple Silicon and macOS 14+ (15 October 2026)acousmos.com ↗
- Terms of service: binding agreement with ARRWAY LTD, registered in England & Wales, governed by the laws of England and Wales (15 October 2026)acousmos.com ↗
Is Acousmos legit?
We don’t label tools safe or unsafe. Below are the records we checked ourselves, each with the date we read it.
- Domain registered
- Apr 21, 2026Registry record (RDAP), registrar Cloudflare, Inc., looked up Sep 6, 2026
- TLS certificate
- Issued by Google Trust Services, valid until Jan 4, 2027Seen in our own connection to the site on Oct 15, 2026
- Last checked
- Oct 15, 2026The site answered
- On the market since
- 2023The vendor's own material, read by us
- Operated by
- Arrway Ltd, United KingdomOur research, card verified Oct 15, 2026
Pros & cons of Acousmos
Acousmos does what most dictation apps do, but the searchable local archive of past dictations is a real differentiator if you ever need to find something you said last week rather than retype it. The privacy-mode tier is the more interesting option for anyone wary of cloud transcription, though it asks you to bring your own API keys or run models locally.
Pros
- Searchable local archive of past dictations, not just one-off transcription
- Custom dictionary support for names and technical terms
- Separate privacy-mode tier for user-supplied keys or local models
- Cross-language dictation with translation built in
Cons
- Mac-only, with no Windows or Linux version
- Two-tier pricing (Plus vs. Pro) adds a decision most competitors don't require
Best for
- Mac users who want a searchable history of everything they've dictated
- people who need cross-language dictation with translation
- privacy-conscious users willing to supply their own API keys for local processing
Not for
- Windows or Linux users, since it's Mac-only
- anyone who just wants the cheapest possible dictation tool without extra archive features
Alternatives to Acousmos
Acousmos head-to-head
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