Amical is an open-source AI dictation application for macOS and Windows that enables users to type up to 4 times faster by speaking instead of typing. Released under the MIT license, Amical runs locally on the user's machine using Whisper for speech recognition and Ollama for language processing. The application is designed for professionals, developers, writers, and anyone who spends significant time typing — from drafting emails and messages to writing code and documentation.
How It Works
Amical operates through a push-to-talk or hands-free mechanism. Users hold a configured hotkey or click a floating desktop widget to start dictating, and the transcribed text appears in whatever application is currently focused — email clients, code editors, chat apps, document processors, or web browsers. The transcription runs locally through Whisper models for offline use or in the cloud for improved accuracy when signed in. Users can also take notes directly inside the application that persist across sessions.
Key Capabilities
Amical offers context-aware dictation that automatically adapts the tone and formatting to the target application — professional in Gmail, casual in Discord or Instagram, and technical in code editors like Cursor. The AI formatting layer includes auto-correction of grammar, pronoun fixes, and contextual emoji suggestions. Custom vocabulary support allows users to teach the AI industry-specific terminology, jargon, names, and acronyms. Personalized voice shortcuts let users create custom commands for common workflows, while custom prompts enable fine-tuned control over how dictations are processed. The application supports 100+ languages with native-level accuracy, including mixed-language dictation.
Integration with Applications
Amical works system-wide in any application, with specific optimizations shown for Gmail, Slack, Cursor, Notion, Jira, ChatGPT, Discord, and WhatsApp. The application detects the active application and adjusts formatting and tone accordingly. Users can reference the Desktop Widget guide, Custom Hotkeys documentation, and MCP Integrations documentation for deeper customization. For developers, Amical can integrate with custom tools through its MCP integration system.
Privacy and Data Security
Amical is designed with privacy in mind. Local models run entirely on the user's machine with no data leaving the device. The company's stated policy is no data retention and no training on user data. Cloud dictation processing also follows the same no-retention, no-training policy. For teams with enterprise-grade requirements, Amical offers private model hosting, SSO/SAML, OAuth, and SOC 2 compliance.
Pricing
Amical offers a free tier with unlimited local dictation, unlimited devices, and 8,000 cloud dictation words per month. The Premium plan at $7 per month provides unlimited cloud dictation plus shared vocabulary, team management, and priority access to new features. An Enterprise tier offers custom pricing with private model hosting, custom models, ultra-low latency, volume discounts, seat-based licensing, centralized billing, and priority support. Early adopters who qualified received a lifetime 100,000 words per month cloud dictation plan.
Intended Users
Amical serves knowledge workers who type emails and documents daily, developers who want to dictate code or technical documentation, writers and content creators seeking faster drafting, multilingual professionals who work across languages, and teams looking for shared vocabulary and collaborative dictation tools. The application's open-source nature and local-first architecture make it suitable for organizations with strict data privacy requirements.
