Mumbli vs Apple Dictation
Apple Dictation is built into every Mac. It’s free, it’s private, and it works. So why would you use Mumbli instead?Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Apple Dictation | Mumbli |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (built-in) | Free (open source, BYOK) |
| Works in any app | Yes | Yes |
| Filler word removal | No | Yes |
| Self-correction handling | No | Yes |
| Grammar polishing | No | Yes |
| Custom vocabulary | No | Yes (36% → 100% accuracy) |
| Activation | Globe key or menu | Fn key (hold or double-tap) |
| Hands-free mode | Yes (auto-punctuation) | Yes (double-tap Fn to lock) |
| Dictation history | No | Yes (local, searchable) |
| Multi-language | Yes (per-language setup) | Yes (auto-detection) |
| Privacy | On-device or Apple servers | Your own API keys |
| Engine choice | Apple’s engine only | ElevenLabs, Groq Whisper, OpenAI |
| Open source | No | Yes |
Where Apple Dictation wins
- Zero setup — It’s already on your Mac, no API keys needed
- On-device processing — With Apple Silicon, dictation can run entirely on-device
- No cost — No API usage fees
- System integration — Works with Siri, voice commands, and macOS accessibility features
Where Mumbli wins
AI polishing
Apple Dictation gives you raw speech-to-text. If you say:“So I was thinking about the um the meeting on Tuesday actually wait Wednesday and I think we should uh probably reschedule it”Apple Dictation produces:
“So I was thinking about the um the meeting on Tuesday actually wait Wednesday and I think we should uh probably reschedule it”Mumbli produces:
“I was thinking about the meeting on Wednesday and I think we should probably reschedule it.”The polishing removes filler words, applies self-corrections, and cleans up grammar — without changing what you said.
Custom vocabulary
If you regularly say proper nouns or technical terms, Apple Dictation will consistently get them wrong. Mumbli lets you add a vocabulary list that fixes this at both the transcription and polishing levels. Real examples from our benchmarks:| You say | Apple Dictation | Mumbli (with vocabulary) |
|---|---|---|
| “VitePress" | "vite press" | "VitePress" |
| "ElevenLabs" | "eleven labs" | "ElevenLabs" |
| "Supabase" | "super base" | "Supabase” |
Dictation history
Every dictation in Mumbli is saved with a timestamp. Click any entry in the menu bar dropdown to copy it to your clipboard. Apple Dictation has no history — once text is injected, it’s gone.Engine flexibility
Mumbli lets you choose your transcription and polishing engines. Want the fastest possible speed? Use Groq Whisper + Groq LLM for sub-second results. Want the highest accuracy? Use ElevenLabs + GPT-5.4. Apple gives you one engine with no choice.When to use which
Use Apple Dictation if:- You want zero setup and zero cost
- You do short, simple dictation
- You don’t need polishing or custom vocabulary
- Privacy requires on-device processing
- You dictate frequently and want cleaner output
- You use technical terms, proper nouns, or jargon
- You want dictation history
- You want to choose your AI engine
- You want an open-source tool you can audit and modify
Try Mumbli
Free and open source. macOS 13.0+ required.