How it works
Hold. Lock.
Release.
Kords runs from your menu bar and works inside the app you're already in. Text usually appears a couple of seconds after you let go.
01 · Hold
Hold to talk
Hold Right ⌥ (Option) and speak. Let go when you're done.
03 · Release
Text at your cursor
Usually a couple of seconds.
No screenshots, ever.
No keystroke logging.
No stored audio or transcripts.
No tracking. Anonymous counts only if you say yes, never your words.
What gets sent where
| What | What happens to it |
|---|---|
| Your audio | Sent to our server and speech-to-text provider, turned into text, then discarded. Never stored |
| Transcripts | Returned to your Mac. Never stored by us |
| The live preview while you talk | Made on your Mac by Apple's speech recognition. If your language can't run fully on your Mac, Apple may process that audio |
| Text for Voices and translation | Optional. Sent to our server and AI provider, tidied or translated, then discarded. Translation can run on your Mac once the language is downloaded |
| History, dictionary and snippets | Stay on your Mac |
| Screenshots | Never taken |
| Keystrokes | Never logged |
| Your account, which you need to dictate | Your email, your plan, counts of seconds and words to apply your plan's limits, and your Kordies Collection progress (counts and names only). If you ask for the student discount, the domain of your university email and when it was confirmed. If you use a launch trial code, a one-way scrambled version of your email, to stop a second trial |
| Anonymous counts and crash reports | Off unless you opt in |
| Launch and product emails | Off unless you opt in. Your email is kept with our email provider, Resend, to send them, and you can opt out any time |
Voices
Your words.
Never rewritten.
Every option writes what you actually said. Pick how much tidying you want.
You say
"um so basically we need to push the launch to the twentieth because billing isn't done"
Tidying runs on our server and adds about half a second. Word for word skips it. Word for word and tidy-up are free. Voices come with Solo, Duo and Family.
Word for word
um so basically we need to push the launch to the twentieth because billing isn't done
Exactly what you said. No clean-up, no AI.
Casual
So basically we need to push the launch to the 20th because billing isn't done.
Tidied, keeps your contractions.
Professional
So basically we need to push the launch to the 20th because billing is not done.
Tidied, with full words for formal writing.
Creative
So basically we need to push the launch to the 20th because billing isn't done. 🚀
Tidied, with an emoji to finish.
Features
The small things
that add up.
On-device cleanup
Ums gone. Stumbles fixed. Done on your Mac.
- Filler words removed
- Repeats collapsed
- "Scratch that"
- Spoken punctuation
Before: "so um we we should ship on thursday scratch that friday comma does that work question mark"
After: We should ship on Friday, does that work?
Word for word
Want it exactly as you said it?
Word for word types your words untouched: no clean-up, no AI.
um so basically we need to push the launch to the twentieth because billing isn't done
Right ⌥Right ⌘ + Right ⌥Mouse 4
Any key or mouse button
Use two at once: one on the keyboard, one on your mouse. Any key, two keys together (Right ⌘ + Right ⌥), or the middle or side buttons.
SiobhánKubernetesLaunchcoreAintreeOKRs
Your dictionary
Teach Kords the names and jargon you use so it spells them right every time.
History
Find, copy or insert anything you've dictated before.
Speak English, write Spanish, French or German
Turn on translation from the menu bar. It runs on your Mac once you've downloaded the language in System Settings, otherwise through our server.
Built natively for Mac
A small menu bar app, not a heavy background process.
~2s
Honest speed
Text usually appears a couple of seconds after you let go, on a normal connection. Word for word is quickest.
Works in the apps you already use
MailSlackNotionMessagesPagesChrome
A note from the founder
"I built Kords because I wanted dictation that doesn't watch me."
Geoff
Founder, Launchcore Ltd
Pricing
Simple plans.
No surprises.
Free
£0
No card needed
- 2,000 words of dictation a week
- Full accuracy, the same as paid plans
- Translation into Spanish, French and German
- Word for word, tidy-up, dictionary, snippets and history
- Hands-free lock and any shortcut
Solo*
£6.99/month
Cancel any time
- Everything in Free
- About 10 hours of dictation a month, instead of 2,000 words a week
- Voices and translation for all your dictation
- 15% off for students, checked with your university email
Duo*
Most popular£10.99/month
Cancel any time
- Everything in Solo, for 2 people
- Each person gets their own account, history and dictionary
- Each person gets Solo's fair use: about 10 hours of audio a month
- One bill
- Add your second person by email from inside the app
Family*
£19.99/month
Cancel any time
- Everything in Solo, for up to 6 people
- Each person gets their own account, history and dictionary
- Each person gets Solo's fair use: about 10 hours of audio a month
- One bill, managed by you
- Add the others by email from inside the app
* Fair usage policy applies. Prices include VAT where applicable. Upgrade from inside the app once you've downloaded it. Refund policy
Running a team? Talk to us: [email protected]
FAQ
Questions.
No. Kords writes your words. It fixes punctuation and drops ums and false starts. Word for word doesn't even do that.
No. It only records while you hold your shortcut, or after you double-tap to lock it on. Tap again and it stops.
Every dictation is sent to our server and on to our speech-to-text provider, turned into text, then discarded. Nothing is stored. While you talk, the live preview you see is made on your Mac by Apple's speech recognition.
Yes. Your account is how Kords knows your plan and counts your words, so you sign in with your email (a 6-digit code, no password) before you dictate.
No. Kords needs the internet to dictate, because the text is made on our server. If you're offline it tells you and types nothing, rather than typing something less accurate.
Free includes 2,000 words of dictation a week, counted from Monday. When they're used up, dictation pauses until next week, or you can upgrade to Solo, Duo or Family to keep going.
No. We never store your audio or your words. When you're signed in we keep your email, your plan and counts of the seconds and words you've used, to apply your plan's limits, plus your Kordies Collection progress (total words, streak and which Kordies you've unlocked: counts and names only). If you ask for the student discount we also keep your university's domain and when you confirmed. If you use a launch trial code we also keep a one-way scrambled version of your email, to stop a second trial. Anonymous daily counts and crash reports are optional. They're off until you say yes, and they never include what you said. If you opt in to launch and product emails, in the app or with a launch reminder at kords.app/launch, we keep your email with our email provider, Resend, to send them, and you can opt out any time.
Our server is in the EU (Ireland). Audio is transcribed by OpenAI. Tidying and translation, if you turn them on, use Groq, with OpenAI as a backup. Audio and text are processed, then discarded. We send only what's needed. Some of these providers are based in the United States.
Kords pastes text at your cursor, so it will not work in password fields or in a few locked-down apps.
Usually a couple of seconds after you let go, on a normal connection. Word for word is quickest.
Yes, into Spanish, French or German. It runs on your Mac if you've downloaded the language in System Settings, otherwise through our server (free accounts can do that up to 20 times a day). Your original words are used if it can't translate.
On your own, Solo. Two of you, Duo. Four to six, Family.
Yes, from launch. Students will get 15% off Solo. Sign in to Kords with your university email address (for example one ending .ac.uk or .edu), then confirm you're a student at kords.app/account. It takes a minute. We check again each year, and the discount ends if you stop being a student. It is for Solo only, not Duo or Family. If your university isn't recognised, email [email protected].
Anyone you share a home with, up to 6 people. You invite them by email from inside the app and can remove someone at any time.
Each person on a paid plan gets about 10 hours of dictation a month. If you reach it, dictation pauses until the month starts again.
Kords is for people aged 16 and over. If you're under 18, you need a parent or guardian's permission before you buy a paid plan. Duo and Family plans can only include people aged 16 and over.
Any Mac running macOS 14 or later.
Stop typing.
Start talking.
- macOS 14 or later
- Version 1.0.10
- About 16 MB
- Signed by Launchcore Ltd