Description

Onit is a free Mac application that combines 100% local voice dictation with an AI-powered inline text editor, giving Mac users the ability to dictate and instantly improve writing in any app or text field without ever sending audio to the cloud. It solves two connected problems: the high cost of voice dictation tools like Wispr Flow (which charge monthly subscriptions because they process audio on remote servers), and the friction of switching tabs to use ChatGPT or Grammarly to clean up writing. Onit’s voice dictation runs entirely on-device using a local AI model, meaning there are no server costs and no privacy risk — making it genuinely free with no subscription required. It is best suited for Mac users across all professions who dictate frequently, write in multiple apps throughout the day, or want a lightweight AI writing assistant that does not interrupt their workflow. Its core AI capabilities include Smart Cleanup (local AI that removes filler words, formats numbers and lists, and polishes raw transcripts), QuickEdit (cloud-based inline AI text improver), partial retries and freeze-and-regenerate for fine-grained editing control, and support for 25+ languages in dictation.

What sets Onit apart from alternatives like Wispr Flow, SuperWhisper, and Grammarly is its local-first, zero-cost model for voice dictation combined with a fast inline editor — all from a small, actively developed open-source team at Synth, Inc. in San Francisco.

Close alternatives: Wispr Flow, SuperWhisper, Willow Voice, Grammarly.

Onit Key Features

• 100% Local Voice Dictation: Records and transcribes your speech entirely on your Mac using an on-device AI model — no audio ever leaves your computer, no cloud server is involved, and no subscription is required because there are no infrastructure costs to pass on to the user.
• Smart Cleanup: A local AI layer that automatically polishes raw transcripts before inserting them — removing filler words like “um” and “uh,” correcting grammar, formatting email addresses, converting spoken numbers to digits, adding punctuation from verbal cues, and converting spoken lists into formatted lists, all without cloud processing.
• QuickEdit — Inline AI Text Editor: Select any text in any app or website on your Mac, press a shortcut, and an AI editing overlay appears inline — instantly improving grammar, tone, clarity, and spelling without switching tabs or copy-pasting into another tool. Uses cloud processing via a language model.
• Partial Retries and Freeze-and-Regenerate: After QuickEdit generates a suggestion, users can select specific parts of the output to regenerate independently, or freeze sections they want to keep and only reprocess the rest — giving word-level control over AI editing outputs rather than accepting or rejecting the whole result.
• Universal Hotkey and Hands-Free Mode: Dictation is triggered by pressing and holding Caps Lock (fully customisable), and a double-tap activates hands-free continuous dictation mode. Works across every app and website on Mac without needing to configure it per application.
• 25+ Language Support (Beta): Voice dictation supports over 25 languages in beta, including German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Greek, Ukrainian, and others, with additional languages added on request — making it usable for multilingual professionals and non-English speakers.
• Transcript History: All past dictation transcripts are saved and accessible within the app, allowing users to review, copy, or reuse previous dictation sessions without re-dictating content.
• App and Site Disabling: Users can right-click the Onit hint in any app or website to disable the tool selectively in that context, preventing it from appearing in apps where it is not wanted without turning it off globally.
• Light and Dark Mode: Full support for macOS light and dark mode, configurable in settings to match the user’s system preferences or personal choice.
• Open Source and Bring-Your-Own-API-Key: The full Onit codebase is available on GitHub under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial licence, allowing users to build from source. For QuickEdit’s cloud LLM features, users can bring their own API tokens (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, xAI) and send requests directly to providers — bypassing Onit’s servers entirely if preferred.

Onit Key Customers

Onit does not publish formal case studies or enterprise customer stories. The platform serves individual Mac users across professions. The testimonials below are sourced from the official Wall of Love section at getonit.ai, where named users shared their experiences.

Reviewer	Role / Context	Outcome Reported	Source
Kavia	Mac user switching from paid tools	Described Onit as getting “the job done extremely well,” calling it a pleasure to use and noting it gets updated often.	getonit.ai
JP (anonymous initials)	Had just paid for a full year of Wispr Flow when they discovered Onit	Described Onit as “quite awesome local” and noted it is “very quick” on their MacBook — expressing regret at having paid for a competitor.	getonit.ai
Aubrey (CEO, AZLabs.ai)	Tech founder using the desktop version	Featured as a named user on the Wall of Love.	getonit.ai
Catie Lake (Technical Director)	User with RRMS (multiple sclerosis) who needed breaks from typing	Described Onit as exactly the tool she was looking for on her laptop for days when typing is not possible.	getonit.ai
Jens Kleinholz (sir-apfelot.de)	Blogger and tech reviewer	Installed Onit to replace Wispr Flow and described being “pretty happy with it” shortly after switching.	getonit.ai
Zey	Reddit user who discovered Onit after being frustrated by Wispr Flow ads	Described the team as “GOATED” for building a free alternative, saying they had wished for exactly this.	getonit.ai
Wiktor Nowak	User who wrote their testimonial using Onit itself	Expressed genuine gratitude for the app and confirmed a positive experience using it for real work.	getonit.ai
Krishna Chaudhari	Long-term user	Described Onit as “a fantastic replacement for Wispr” after using it for a sustained period.	getonit.ai
Rahul Iyer	Professional who recommended it to colleagues	Described being “overall super impressed” and having recommended it to the rest of their team.	getonit.ai
Jan Pfrenger	Multilingual user (English, German, French)	Was impressed that Onit recognised German and French in addition to English, calling it “very convenient” for their workflow.	getonit.ai

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Who is the Founder / CEO of Onit?

Tim Lenardo is the Founder of Onit and CEO of Synth, Inc.

He began his career as a software engineer at Instagram in 2014, where he was a co-creator of Boomerang and contributed to Fade, Color, and 11 Instagram filters. In 2016 he co-founded Real Labs with JJ Maxwell, which pivoted to become JetFuel — an influencer marketing platform that delivered over 100 million installs for partners and paid millions to influencers. JetFuel was acquired by Blackstone-owned Vungle (later merged into Liftoff) in mid-2021, after which Lenardo served as Chief Product Officer at the combined entity until early 2023. He subsequently founded Synth, Inc. in San Francisco, under which Onit was launched publicly on Hacker News in January 2025. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Cornell University (2010–2014).

The full Onit team is described as a small group of developers in San Francisco. GitHub contributor records confirm active development by Tim Lenardo (@timlenardo) and at least one additional engineer (@Niduank), alongside an automated bot (@onitbot). No other named co-founders are publicly confirmed at this time.

Where is Onit Headquartered?

Onit / Synth, Inc. is based in San Francisco, California, USA.

The team describes itself as “a small team of developers in San Francisco building at the edge of AI progress.” [Source: GitHub — synth-inc/onit]

Onit Funding News and Status

Onit was publicly launched on Hacker News on January 24, 2025 by Tim Lenardo as an open-source, local-mode ChatGPT Desktop alternative supporting multiple AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, xAI). The launch received significant community traction.

The product has since pivoted its primary consumer positioning to focus on voice dictation (Onit Dictate) and inline text editing (QuickEdit), with the broader AI chat sidebar capabilities continuing in the open-source GitHub repository at github.com/synth-inc/onit.

No funding announcements have been made publicly. The product is under active development with frequent releases tracked on GitHub. [Source: getonit.ai blog, GitHub]

Who Should Use Onit?

Here are some of the best use cases for Onit:

• Dictating Slack messages, emails, code comments, notes, and social media captions hands-free while staying in the app you are working in.
• Quickly polishing rough draft text in any app without switching to ChatGPT or Grammarly.
• Writing in a second language where spoken input is faster than typed input.
• Working with accessibility needs that make extended typing difficult or impossible.
• Using AI assistance without sending sensitive voice data to remote servers.

This makes it ideal for the following customer profiles:

• Knowledge workers and office professionals who spend significant time writing in Slack, email, Notion, or Google Docs and want to move faster using voice without paying a monthly subscription.
• Developers and engineers who want to dictate code comments, commit messages, documentation, and Slack replies without leaving their IDE or terminal environment.
• Writers, content creators, and marketers who want to capture ideas quickly by speaking and then polish the output inline before pasting into their publishing tool.
• Multilingual professionals who think and speak in multiple languages and want a dictation tool that handles language switching without reconfiguring.
• Users with accessibility needs — specifically those with conditions that make typing difficult (RSI, RRMS, fatigue-related conditions) for whom hands-free dictation is a functional necessity rather than a convenience.
• Privacy-conscious professionals who work with confidential information and need absolute certainty that their voice data is never transmitted to a third-party server.
• Mac power users and developers who want an open-source, bring-your-own-API-key tool they can inspect, modify, and extend through the GitHub repository.

Onit Pros

• Completely Free Voice Dictation With No Subscription — The most praised aspect across every testimonial, review, and community mention is that Onit’s voice dictation is genuinely and permanently free because it runs locally. Multiple users who had already paid for Wispr Flow or were considering it specifically cite discovering Onit as the reason they cancelled or avoided a paid subscription. One user wrote they had just paid for a full year of Wispr Flow before finding Onit. [Source: getonit.ai Wall of Love]
• Complete Voice Privacy — Audio Never Leaves the Device — For professionals handling sensitive work, Onit’s local-first architecture means there is no audio upload, no backend logging, and no possibility of a server breach exposing voice data. The FAQ explicitly states: “Your voice data never leaves your computer.” This is a hard technical guarantee, not a privacy policy promise, because there is no server infrastructure involved. [Source: getonit.ai]
• Smart Cleanup Makes Dictation Output Genuinely Usable — Unlike basic dictation tools that produce raw transcripts full of filler words and formatting errors, Onit’s local Smart Cleanup AI produces ready-to-send output. Multiple testimonials note users dictated messages that went directly into Slack or email without further editing. The practical examples on the homepage — email address formatting, list formatting, time formatting, number formatting — reflect real user pain points that Onit solves automatically. [Source: getonit.ai]
• Works in Every App and Text Field Without Configuration — Onit’s universal integration means it works in any Mac application and website without requiring per-app setup, plugin installation, or switching windows. Users including developers (IDE, terminal), writers (Notion, Google Docs), and professionals (Slack, email) all report using it across their full app stack without friction. [Source: getonit.ai]
• Actively Developed With Frequent Updates — GitHub release history shows consistent and frequent commits from the core team across 2025 and into 2026, covering bug fixes, new features (Perplexity model support, accessibility improvements, partial AI edits), and community-requested additions. One Wall of Love reviewer specifically called out that it “gets updated often” as a reason to love it. [Source: github.com/synth-inc/onit/releases, getonit.ai]
• Accessibility Value for Users Who Cannot Type for Extended Periods — The testimonial from Catie Lake (Technical Director, RRMS) highlights a real-world accessibility use case that goes beyond productivity — for users with certain health conditions, Onit is the difference between being able to work or not on difficult days. This is a meaningful differentiator from dictation tools primarily marketed as productivity tools. [Source: getonit.ai Wall of Love]

Onit Cons

• Mac Only — No Windows or Linux Support — Onit is exclusively available on macOS. The founder’s original Hacker News launch acknowledged this directly: “Gotta start somewhere! If the reception is positive, we’ll work hard to add further support.” As of April 2026, no Windows or Linux version has been released. This is a hard blocker for the majority of the global PC market. [Source: getonit.ai blog]
• QuickEdit Sends Data to Cloud — Not Fully Private — While voice dictation is 100% local, QuickEdit (the inline AI text editor) sends text to a cloud LLM for processing. The FAQ states: “if you choose to use our other tools, such as QuickEdit, some remote processing is involved.” Users who choose Onit specifically for privacy must be aware that the text editing feature does not share the same privacy guarantee as dictation. [Source: getonit.ai FAQ]
• Free Dictation Availability Beyond 5,000 Downloads Is Not Guaranteed — The homepage states dictation is “guaranteed free for the first 5,000 sign-ups” with the team “aiming to make it free forever.” The phrasing acknowledges a degree of uncertainty about long-term pricing, which could be a concern for users building workflows around the free tier. The local-first architecture makes ongoing free access structurally plausible, but it is not yet formally committed. [Source: getonit.ai FAQ]
• Very Small Team With Limited Support Infrastructure — Onit is built by a small team of developers in San Francisco with no published SLA, no live support channel, and no formal help documentation. Support is handled informally via a Discord community and a contact email. For professionals who need reliable, timely support for a tool embedded in their daily workflow, this is a meaningful operational risk. [Source: getonit.ai, GitHub]
• 25+ Language Support Is Still in Beta — Multilingual dictation is confirmed to work and is praised by users, but it is officially labelled as beta on the product page. Users relying on languages other than English for production work should test their specific language before fully committing. [Source: getonit.ai]
• No Mobile App — Onit is a Mac desktop application only. There is no iOS app, no Android app, and no browser extension. Users who want voice dictation or AI editing on their phone or tablet will need a separate tool. [Source: getonit.ai]

Onit Integrations

Onit is a Mac system-level application rather than a platform with formal third-party integrations. It works universally across all apps and websites on macOS without requiring specific connectors. Confirmed compatibility includes:

• All Mac apps and websites: Works in any text field across Gmail, Slack, Notion, Google Docs, VS Code, Xcode, Messages, Notes, Safari, Chrome, and any other Mac application.
• AI model providers (QuickEdit): Supports OpenAI (GPT-4o, o1, o1-mini), Anthropic (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3.5 Haiku), Google AI (Gemini 2.0), xAI (Grok 2, Grok 2 Vision), and Perplexity as model providers for cloud-based QuickEdit features.
• Ollama (Local Mode): For users who want fully local AI editing as well as dictation, Onit integrates with Ollama to use locally running open-source models for QuickEdit.
• GitHub: The full source code is available at github.com/synth-inc/onit for developers who want to build from source, add features, or submit pull requests.

Onit does not integrate with Zapier, IFTTT, or any third-party automation platforms, and does not have an API or webhook system.

Onit Free Plan

Onit’s voice dictation (Onit Dictate) is completely free with no usage limits, no account required, and no time restriction. It is free because it runs locally — there is no server infrastructure to charge for. The FAQ guarantees free access for the first 5,000 downloads with the intent to keep it free permanently.

The free plan also includes 10 QuickEdit edits per month, full access to transcript history, Smart Cleanup, 25+ language dictation, universal hotkey, hands-free mode, and the ability to bring your own API keys for unlimited QuickEdit use without a subscription.

Why you would need to upgrade to Pro:

• To use QuickEdit beyond 10 edits per month without supplying your own API keys.
• To access all QuickEdit features including partial retries, freeze-and-regenerate, and the full model selection without managing separate API accounts.

Onit Paid Plan Pricing

Pricing confirmed directly from the official QuickEdit page at getonit.ai/edit. Both plans verified from the page.

Plan	Monthly Price	Key Features	Who It’s Suitable For
Free	$0/month	Voice dictation (unlimited, fully local); 10 QuickEdit edits/month; Smart Cleanup; transcript history; 25+ language support; bring-your-own-API-key for unlimited QuickEdit.	Mac users who primarily want free voice dictation, or light AI editing users who supply their own API keys.
Pro	$7.99/month	1,000+ QuickEdit edits/month; full access to all features including partial retries, freeze-and-regenerate, and all model providers; 2-week free Pro trial included.	Professionals who use QuickEdit daily across emails, Slack, documents, and code, and want unlimited AI editing without managing separate API keys.

Note: Annual billing pricing is not listed on the official page. No annual discount is currently published. Voice dictation remains free on both plans.

Onit Discounts

Based on the official website at getonit.ai, Onit does not currently advertise any discounts, annual billing savings, student pricing, nonprofit pricing, or startup programme. The only offer listed is a 2-week free Pro trial included with all Pro sign-ups — no credit card is required for the trial. Voice dictation is permanently free and requires no upgrade.

Onit Alternatives

Alternative	Strengths	Limitations
Wispr Flow	Polished, well-funded product; strong brand recognition; reliable cloud transcription quality; flow state mode	$14–$19/month subscription; sends audio to cloud; privacy risk; not free
SuperWhisper	Strong dictation quality; good language support; Mac and iPhone	Paid subscription ($9.99+/month); sends audio to cloud on standard plans
Willow Voice	Mac-focused dictation with good accuracy	Subscription-based; cloud processing; less actively developed than Onit
Grammarly	Comprehensive writing assistant; strong grammar and style checking; cross-platform	Subscription required for meaningful use; focused on grammar/style, not dictation; can feel heavy and intrusive
Apple Dictation (native)	Free; built into macOS; no install required	No filler word removal; no Smart Cleanup; no inline editing; weaker accuracy than Onit’s local model
ChatGPT Desktop	Powerful AI; multi-provider support; file uploads; broad capabilities	Requires switching context; not inline in other apps; subscription for meaningful use; no local mode for privacy

How is Onit Different From Its Alternatives?

Onit’s defining advantage is the combination of genuinely free voice dictation and an inline AI editor in a single lightweight Mac app, without any audio or sensitive data leaving your device for the dictation feature. Every major competitor either charges a subscription (Wispr Flow, SuperWhisper, Willow), does not include Smart Cleanup (Apple native dictation), or requires tab-switching and has no voice component (Grammarly, ChatGPT Desktop).

For Mac users who want both capabilities — speak and clean up — without paying a monthly fee or compromising privacy on their voice data, Onit is currently the only option in the market that delivers both at no cost.