Dictation in Discord

Voice dictation in Discord for channel messages, DMs, and replies

Typing out longer messages in Discord is slow, and the desktop app has no voice typing. SnailText lets you speak them, cleans the text up locally, and drops it into any channel, DM, or thread.

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Mac & Windows · Works in any field · Nothing uploaded

AI dictation in Discord, on your device

SnailText is AI dictation: a speech model turns your voice into text, then a second model cleans it up, dropping filler, fixing punctuation, and matching the style your work needs. Both models run on your own machine, so nothing you say in Discord is uploaded for transcription. Press the hotkey, speak, and the finished text lands at your cursor.

Does Discord have built-in dictation?

Discord has no built-in voice-to-text in the message box. Its /tts command is the opposite, it reads a message aloud, and the speech-to-text bots only transcribe voice channels, not what you type. To dictate a message you need a system-wide tool. SnailText injects text at the OS level, so it works in any Discord channel, DM, or thread.

Speech to text in Discord: how it works

SnailText does not plug into Discord directly. It runs system-wide: a global hotkey (Option+Space (Mac) / Ctrl+Space (Windows), customizable) starts recording, the local speech-to-text engine (Whisper or Parakeet) transcribes what you said, and the text is pasted at your cursor through the system clipboard, the same way it lands when you type. That means it works in every Discord field, plus every other app on your Mac or Windows machine, with no extension or integration to set up.

That matters in Discord specifically: writing a thoughtful, multi-sentence message is slow when you would rather just say it. Speech to text removes that bottleneck without changing how you work in Discord.

Voice to text in Discord: what to dictate

Voice typing in Discord is not limited to one box. Press the hotkey anywhere a cursor blinks and your speech becomes text, so the things you would normally type out by hand become things you just say.

· Longer channel messages and explanations
· Direct messages and replies
· Community or server announcements
· Thread responses

Where typing slows you down in Discord

· Writing a thoughtful, multi-sentence message is slow when you would rather just say it.
· Active servers mean lots of short bursts of typing across channels and DMs that add up.
· Discord has no native dictation in the message box, so it is keyboard-only without a system-wide tool.

Example dictations for Discord

Channel message

"For anyone hitting the install error on Windows: it is the antivirus quarantining the model file. Add an exclusion for the app folder and reinstall, that fixed it for me."

"Good question. The free tier has no word limit, it is just the two smaller models. The bigger ones are on Pro."

Announcement

"Heads up everyone: the next release ships tomorrow with the new hotkey options and the language fix. Patch notes will be in the updates channel."

Discord voice dictation FAQ

Does Discord have built-in voice-to-text?

No. Discord has no native dictation in the message box. The /tts command reads messages aloud (text to speech, the opposite), and transcription bots only cover voice channels. SnailText adds dictation to any Discord message box by inserting text at the OS level on Mac and Windows.

Will dictation work in Discord channels and DMs?

Yes, anywhere you can type. Click into a channel, a DM, or a thread reply, press the hotkey, speak, and the text lands at your cursor like you typed it.

Can I use voice typing in Discord?

Yes. SnailText adds voice typing to Discord on Mac and Windows. Press the hotkey (Option+Space (Mac) / Ctrl+Space (Windows), customizable), speak, and the text lands at your cursor in any Discord field, the same way it works for voice to text in every other app on your machine.

Does the dictation work offline?

Yes. SnailText runs the speech model on your device, so dictation works with no internet connection after the model is downloaded. The optional AI cleanup model runs locally too.

Is my voice uploaded anywhere?

No. Audio is processed in RAM on your machine and discarded the moment the text is ready. Nothing is sent to a server for transcription.

How much does SnailText cost?

The free tier gives you unlimited local speech-to-text with no account. Pro adds larger models and the on-device AI cleanup, $7.49/mo or $89/yr for up to 3 devices.

Dictation in other apps

Start dictating in Discord

Free local speech-to-text, no account needed. Works in Discord and every other app on Mac and Windows.

Download for Mac See pricing