Shoute

Shoute is a voice-to-text application focused on privacy and high-quality transcription, available for macOS. It is designed to eliminate the common tradeoff between privacy and well-formatted output found in other voice-to-text tools. Shoute offers both a local mode, which keeps all audio on the user's Mac and does not take screenshots, and a cloud mode, which streams audio to ElevenLabs (with Groq as a fallback) without storing audio or using it for training. Users can select either mode, with both providing identical, context-aware formatting and rapid transcription—typically around 500 milliseconds from shortcut to formatted text.

The tool supports over 100 languages in cloud mode and more than 14 languages locally, with formatting capabilities that work across all supported languages. For users who need English output, Shoute offers a translation feature in its Pro cloud tier, allowing dictation in any language with formatted English text as the result. The application automatically detects the active app through macOS APIs and adapts its output formatting accordingly. For example, it can produce casual messages for Slack, formal emails for Mail, checklists for Reminders, and structured paragraphs for Notes, all without requiring screen capture or user configuration.

Shoute targets a range of users, including creators, students, non-native speakers, lawyers, and those seeking accessibility solutions. The app is compatible with macOS 13 and above, supporting both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. It is also available for Windows. Users can access a free tier with a weekly limit of 2,000 words and receive a seven-day Pro trial without requiring a credit card.

As a voice-to-text tool, Shoute distinguishes itself by combining privacy-first design, consistent formatting quality across local and cloud modes, and multilingual support, addressing the needs of users who require both confidentiality and polished, context-aware transcriptions.