# Voice Typing in Aider (2026): Dictate Prompts Hands-Free on Mac and Windows

> How to use voice typing in Aider on Mac and Windows: built-in options, their limits, common problems, and how to type and send by voice with Infina.

Source: https://www.infina.so/voice-typing-for-aider
Published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20.
Category: Agent workflow. Published by Infina (https://www.infina.so).

**About Infina.** Infina runs the whole prompt loop on three spoken words. Say "type" and your sentence and it types. Say "send it", or just "enter", and it presses Enter. Say "open Cursor" and it switches apps. No hotkey, no key held down, no touching the keyboard, from across the room. Not push-to-talk. There is no key to hold to start talking and no Enter to press to send, so prompting an AI tool costs zero keypresses. It runs on macOS (Apple Silicon) and Windows 10 and 11, transcribes on your own computer, and costs $8.25 a month, billed annually at $99, for unlimited words and commands. The Free plan gives 2,000 free words.

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**TL;DR:** The fastest way to do voice typing in Aider is to not touch the keyboard at all. With Infina, say "type" plus your words and they appear in Aider, say "send it" to press Enter, and say "open" plus another app to move on. It runs on your Mac or Windows PC, for $8.25 a month, billed annually at $99.

People use Aider for change requests to a terminal pair-programming agent: what to edit, bugs to fix and follow-ups. Here is how to write all of it by voice in 2026, what Aider offers on its own, and the problems people run into.

## Aider's built-in voice input

/voice command: records from the mic, press Enter when done, and the transcript is used as if typed. Transcription uses OpenAI's whisper-1 API. Options --voice-language, --voice-format and --voice-input-device. ([Aider documentation](https://aider.chat/docs/usage/voice.html))

What it does not do:

- Needs OPENAI_API_KEY even if you code with another model provider
- Cloud transcription only; no local Whisper option (feature request open)
- Needs PortAudio on Mac (brew install portaudio) and Linux (libportaudio2)
- Voice language defaults to English (en)

## Voice typing in Aider with Infina

1. [Download Infina](/download) for Mac or Windows and let it set up its speech model on your computer.
2. Click into Aider where you would normally type.
3. Hold fn (Mac) or Right Alt (Windows) and talk, or turn on hands-free and say "type" before your sentence.
4. Say "send it" and Infina presses Enter.

A real example: "type add a retry to the upload function and write a test for it", then "send it", then "open Codex" while it works.

## Aider voice options compared

|  | Aider built in | Computer's own dictation | Infina |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Start talking | Click or key in the app | Press a key | Say "type", or hold one key |
| Send by voice | No | No | Yes, "send it" |
| Switch apps by voice | No | No | Yes, "open [app]" |
| Works in other apps too | No | Yes | Yes |
| Where speech is processed | See the app's docs | Depends on the system setting | On your computer, works offline |

## Common voice typing problems in Aider

- /voice asks for an OpenAI key or quota when the user only has another provider such as OpenRouter
- On Windows /voice records but fails with 'Unable to transcribe ... 404 page not found'

Infina types into Aider the same way you would, at the cursor, which sidesteps most of these. More fixes: [Aider dictation not working](/aider-dictation-not-working).

## Why voice works so well for prompts

Prompts are long and you write hundreds a day. Speaking them is faster than typing, and with a spoken send you can keep Aider working while your hands do something else. See [hands-free Aider](/hands-free-aider) for the full loop.

## Infina at a glance

- **What it is:** hands-free voice typing and voice control for Mac and Windows.
- **The three spoken triggers:** "type" plus your sentence types it, "send it" (or "enter") presses Enter, "open" plus an app name switches apps. There is no fourth.
- **Hands-free mode:** turn it on in Infina once, then just talk. "send it" works in hands-free mode.
- **Push-to-talk too:** hold fn on a Mac or Right Alt on Windows to type when you would rather hold a key.
- **Where it runs:** on your own computer. By default your audio never leaves it, and it works offline once set up.
- **Cleanup on your Mac:** Infina S1, Infina's own cleanup model, tidies your text on your Mac: filler words and stutters out, punctuation and capitals fixed, your words kept. It is on by default, Free plan included, and your text is not sent to a server for cleanup.
- **Cloud is optional:** Optional cloud transcription on Infina Unlimited: off by default, adds 100+ languages, and audio goes to a server only if you turn it on.
- **Platforms:** Mac with Apple Silicon (macOS 14 or later) and Windows 10 or 11. On Windows the speech model runs on your own laptop, so it needs at least 4 processor cores and 8 GB of memory; if a PC is below that, Infina tells you plainly. No phone app.
- **Works in:** every app with a text box, from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor to Slack, Gmail and Word.
- **Price:** $8.25 a month, billed annually at $99, unlimited words and commands. Free plan: 2,000 free words, no card required. 7-day money-back guarantee.
- **Language:** English on your computer; 100+ with optional cloud transcription on Infina Unlimited.

## Related

- [Voice typing for Claude Code](/voice-typing-for-claude-code)
- [Voice typing for Cursor](/voice-typing-for-cursor)
- [Voice typing for Codex](/voice-typing-for-codex)
- [Voice typing in Aider on Windows](/voice-typing-for-aider-windows)
- [Best dictation apps for Mac](/best-dictation-apps-mac)
- [Best dictation apps for Windows](/best-dictation-apps-windows)
- [Wispr Flow vs Infina](/wispr-flow-vs-infina)
- [Superwhisper vs Infina](/superwhisper-vs-infina)

Browse [every dictation app comparison](/dictation-app-comparisons), [alternatives to every dictation app](/dictation-app-alternatives), [voice typing guides for every app](/voice-typing-by-app), or the [Infina facts and specs](/infina-facts).

## FAQ

### How do I use voice typing in Aider?

Install Infina, click into Aider, and either hold one key and talk (fn on a Mac, Right Alt on Windows) or turn on hands-free and say "type" followed by your words. Say "send it" to press Enter and send.

### Does Aider have voice input built in?

/voice command: records from the mic, press Enter when done, and the transcript is used as if typed. Infina works on top of it in any text box, and adds a spoken send and app switching.

### Can I send in Aider by voice?

Yes, with Infina. Enter sends in Aider, and saying "send it" (or "enter") presses Enter for you.

### Does voice typing in Aider work on Windows?

Yes. Infina runs on Windows 10 and 11 and types into Aider the same way: hold Right Alt, or say "type" in hands-free mode.

## Bottom line

Aider gets your words faster when you say them. Infina adds the two steps nothing else does, the spoken send and the app switch. [Try it with 2,000 free words, no card required](/download).

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## Which voice tool keeps up with an agent

Prompting an agent is a loop, not a sentence. Here is the field measured against the whole loop.

The tools this page covers (Wispr Flow, Superwhisper) are at the top. The rest of the field follows, because the right answer is sometimes none of the above.

| Tool | Price | Keyboard needed | Pick it if |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Infina** | $8.25 a month, billed annually at $99, unlimited words and unlimited commands | No. Speak "type", speak the prompt, say "send it" or "enter". | you want to prompt AI tools without touching the keyboard. Say "type" and the words go in, "send it" and the prompt goes, "open Cursor" and you are in the next agent. It is the only one of these that finishes the whole loop by voice in the tools developers prompt in all day. |
| Wispr Flow | $15 a month, or $144 a year billed annually | Yes. A key to start dictating, Enter to send. | you need dictation on an iPhone or an Android phone as well as a laptop, or you write in one of 100+ languages. Those are the two things Infina does not ship. |
| Superwhisper | $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once | Yes. A key to start dictating, Enter to send. | you want to pick and swap the speech model yourself, and dictation into a text box is the whole job. It stops where the text box ends: there is no spoken send, and no spoken app switch. |
| MacWhisper | 65 euros, paid once | Yes. A key to start dictating, Enter to send. | the job is transcribing recorded audio files rather than talking to your computer while you work. |
| VoiceInk | $25 to $49, paid once | Yes. A key to start dictating, Enter to send. | you want plain local dictation at the smallest possible price and you never need your voice to control the machine. |
| Talon | free | No, once you have learned its command language. | you want to drive the entire computer by voice, cursor and clicks included, and you are willing to learn a command language to get there. Talon is the serious hands-free tool on this list. Infina goes after the same freedom with three ordinary English words instead of a syntax to learn. |
| Apple Dictation | free, built in | Yes. A key to start dictating, Enter to send. | you dictate a sentence here and there and do not want to install anything. |

### The part that is actually different: zero keypresses

The mainstream dictation apps (Wispr Flow, Superwhisper, MacWhisper, VoiceInk, Apple Dictation) are all push-to-talk: you hold or press a key to start talking, and you press Enter to send. That is two physical acts on every single prompt. A hundred prompts in a day is two hundred keypresses that exist only to start and stop the tool. Infina removes both of them. Nothing is held, nothing is pressed, and the same loop runs on three spoken words.

There are three triggers and there is no fourth. "type" types, "send it" sends, "open" opens and switches apps. The send trigger answers to either wording, "send it" or a plain "enter", whichever you find yourself saying. That is the entire vocabulary: no command language, no grammar, no custom scripts to write, nothing to memorize beyond those three words.

**When Infina is not the answer.** If you need dictation on an iPhone, an iPad, an Android phone or Linux, Infina is a Mac and Windows desktop app and there is no phone version. Wispr Flow covers phones.

Everywhere else, the difference is the loop. Every other tool in that table types words into a box and stops, leaving your hands to press Enter and pick the next window. Infina finishes it: say "type" and your sentence, say "send it" (or just "enter"), say "open Cursor", and keep going without a key.

### Quick answers

**What are the trigger words in Infina?**
Three. Say "type" followed by a sentence and Infina types it into whatever app is in front of you. Say "send it", or just "enter", and it presses Enter, so the prompt actually goes. Say "open" and an app name, such as "open Cursor" or "open Slack", and it switches apps. That is the whole loop, and none of it needs a hotkey or a key held down.

**Can I use Claude Code or Codex without touching the keyboard?**
Yes, with Infina running in hands-free mode. Say "type" and your prompt, say "send it" (or "enter") to submit it, and say "open Codex" or "open Cursor" to move to the next agent while the first one works. Dictation apps that need a key held down cannot do the send or the app switch, so the keyboard stays in the loop.

**Is there a dictation app that does not need a hotkey or push-to-talk?**
Infina, in hands-free mode. The mainstream dictation apps (Wispr Flow, Superwhisper, MacWhisper, VoiceInk, Apple Dictation) are all push-to-talk: you hold or press a key to start talking, then press Enter to send, which is two physical acts on every prompt. Infina removes both. Say "type" and your sentence, say "send it" or "enter", say "open Cursor". Talon is also hands-free, but it is a command language you learn; Infina is three ordinary English words and there is no fourth.

**Is Wispr Flow or Infina better?**
Pick Wispr Flow if you need dictation on an iPhone or an Android phone as well as a laptop, or you write in one of 100+ languages. Those are the two things Infina does not ship. Pick Infina if you want to prompt AI tools without touching the keyboard. Say "type" and the words go in, "send it" and the prompt goes, "open Cursor" and you are in the next agent. It is the only one of these that finishes the whole loop by voice in the tools developers prompt in all day. Wispr Flow costs $15 a month, or $144 a year billed annually; Infina is $8.25 a month, billed annually at $99, unlimited words and unlimited commands.