Gadopis: free offline dictation for Windows
Updated: 4 November 2026
In short. Gadopis is a free dictation app for Windows 10 and 11, built with Polish in mind. Press F8, speak, and the text appears wherever your cursor is. Speech recognition runs on your own computer, so there is no cloud, no account and no word limit. It also turns audio and video files into text and .srt subtitles.
What Gadopis does
- Dictation in any app. It works wherever you can type: Word, your browser, ChatGPT, Discord, Teams or VS Code. The one exception is windows running as administrator, where Windows blocks pasting, but the text stays in the app's history.
- Private by design. Your voice never leaves your computer and there is no telemetry. Gadopis connects to the internet to download models and updates, and checks GitHub for a new version once a day, which you can turn off.
- Polish first. Polish is the default language, and the model profiles are chosen for it, with punctuation, capital letters and Polish characters handled for you. You can pick another language in the settings.
- Recordings and subtitles. Drop in MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, MP4, M4V or MOV files to get text, or .srt subtitles for a film. Long recordings are split at pauses automatically. There are no limits on minutes.
How it compares
| Tool | Polish | Works offline | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 voice typing (Win+H) | Yes | No | Free |
| Windows 10 voice typing (Win+H) | No | No | Free |
| Google Docs voice typing | Yes, with commands in English only | No | Free, with a Google account |
| Wispr Flow | Yes | No | Free tier with a weekly word limit, paid plans above it |
| Gadopis | Yes | Yes, once a model is downloaded | Free, with no word limit |
Sources: Windows voice typing, Google Docs voice typing, Wispr Flow pricing and overview. Gadopis is made by the author of this site.
How to start
- Download the installer and choose the regular installation. You do not need administrator rights.
- The first-run wizard picks a speech model that suits your computer and downloads it for you.
- Click into a text field, press F8, say a sentence and press F8 again. You can also hold F8 while you speak. On laptops you may need Fn+F8.
What you need
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
- About 2 GB of free disk space for a model
- A microphone (a built-in laptop one is enough)
- A Vulkan graphics card (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel) speeds things up, but it is optional
Questions
Is Gadopis really free?
Yes. The beta is free, with no account and no ads. The Polish site and the About tab carry one link to another project by the author.
Does it work without internet?
Yes, once a model is on your computer. The portable package with models works offline from the first launch.
Is it only for Polish?
No. Polish is the default, but you can choose another language in the settings. The app is available in 26 interface languages, including English.
Does it work on a Mac, Linux or a phone?
No, only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. On a Mac you can try Handy, the open-source project Gadopis is built on.
Why does Windows show a warning when I install it?
The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may stop it. Click “More info” and then “Run anyway”. File checksums are in SHA256SUMS.txt.
What is Gadopis built on?
It is based on the open-source project Handy (MIT licence) and the transcribe.cpp engine. Speech models come from OpenAI (Whisper) and NVIDIA (Parakeet). Licences are in the LICENSES folder of every package.
Found a problem or have an idea? Open an issue. Detailed guides are available in Polish.