Getting started
Install it
Download the disk image from the download page and drag VerbaIDE into Applications. The app is signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple. macOS may ask you to confirm opening an app downloaded from the internet.
VerbaIDE lives in the menu bar, without a Dock icon. Dictation works in your current app; settings and history open in their own windows.
The first-run setup
It runs once, and it does four things:
- Asks you to sign in or create an account. This is the first screen and it cannot be skipped. The account is free, and creating it starts a 30-day trial by itself — you do not have to ask for it, and no card is needed. The trial is available once per account and Mac; signing in again or creating another account on a Mac that has used a trial does not start another one.
- Asks which languages you work in.
- Asks for the permissions it needs. Each one is explained on the screen — see Permissions.
- Downloads the speech model. It is needed for dictation, including the free tier. A second, smaller model for the term dictionaries arrives in the background on your first dictation.
Dictation itself is free forever, with no word cap and no card. When the trial ends, the paid features lock and dictation carries on as before.
Your first sentence
Put the cursor in any text field, hold the dictation hotkey, say something, let go. The text appears where the cursor was.
The menu bar shows the current hotkey next to each action, so you never have to remember them.
Where to go next
- Hotkeys — what each one does and how to change it
- Languages and models — what gets downloaded and when
- Account and plans — what is free and what is not
Updated: October 6, 2026