Private by construction
Dictation with no account, and no audio leaving the Mac.
Privacy pages are easy to write. This one lists every outbound connection the app makes, so you can check the claim instead of trusting it.
By Jahanzaib Akhter · Updated
If you dictate client notes, medical detail, legal drafts or unreleased product work, the question is not whether a vendor promises to keep it. It is whether the words ever leave the machine at all. On-device dictation makes that question moot, and no account means there is no profile to attach the words to in the first place.
What that means in practice.
No account, no email, no password
You download the app and use it. If you buy, you paste a licence key. There is no sign-up screen, no profile, and no password to be leaked in someone else's breach. Activating a key on a Mac sends the key, the OS name, the Blurt version and a device label taken from the hostname, once. After that, about once a week, the check sends only the key and that Mac's activation ID.
Every connection, listed
Hugging Face for the one-time model download. downloads.theblurt.app for a signed update manifest and the installer. evolveratechnologies.com for the weekly licence check. feedback.evolveratechnologies.com only when you press Send feedback. analytics.theblurt.app only if you switch on optional usage sharing, which ships off. No audio, no transcripts, no crash reports.
The AI layer is local too
This is where most privacy-first apps hand off to a cloud model. Blurt runs a local model for punctuation, paragraphs and lists, and rule-based filler cleanup that needs no model. There is no API key field because nothing is called.
It stays away from secure fields
Optional context awareness reads the window title or focused field to spell things correctly. It never reads secure or password fields, and skips password managers by default. Transcripts live on your disk in a history you can search, edit, export or delete.
Side by side
Competitor details and prices checked Sept 2026| Feature | Blurt | Account-based dictation |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-up | None. Licence key only | Email and password, or SSO |
| Where speech is processed | Your Mac | Their servers, usually |
| What is transmitted | Key plus device label, OS and version once; key and activation ID weekly | Audio or transcripts, plus usage data |
| Analytics | Off by default, opt-in, counts only | Typically product analytics and crash reporting |
| If the vendor is breached | There is no transcript store to breach | Depends on their retention policy |
| Transcript storage | Local history you can edit or delete | Their account, under their terms |
| Works with no connection | Yes | No |
Sign-up
Where speech is processed
What is transmitted
Analytics
If the vendor is breached
Transcript storage
Works with no connection
FAQ
Which dictation apps do not require an account?
Blurt and VoiceInk are the two we know of on the Mac. Superwhisper requires one for its Pro tier, Voibe creates one in the app, and Wispr Flow cannot run without one.
What exactly does the licence check send?
When you first activate a key: the key, your OS name, the Blurt version and a device label from your hostname. After that, roughly once a week, only the key and the activation ID. No transcript, no audio, no email address, no usage statistics. If the check cannot reach the server the app keeps working.
Is there any telemetry?
None unless you ask for it. There is no crash reporting at all. From 1.2.3 there is an optional usage-sharing setting under Settings → Privacy & data; it is off when you install Blurt, and turned on it sends counts and timings — how long a recording was, how many words came out, how long it took — never the words or the audio. If something breaks you can also send a feedback message, and that only happens when you press the button.
Can I use it under an NDA or in a regulated environment?
Speech never leaves the Mac, which removes the usual objection. Blurt has no compliance certifications, no team administration and no audit log, so if your organisation requires those, look at an enterprise product rather than this one.
Where are my transcripts stored?
On your Mac, in Blurt's history, which you can search, edit, export or delete. Nothing is synced anywhere, which also means nothing is recoverable if you wipe the machine.
Keep reading
Nothing to sign up for.
Download it, use it for 14 days, and check the connections yourself with Little Snitch running if you like.