Last updated 06-27-2026
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Dottie
Dottie is a free Mac voice assistant and agent that listens, reasons, and completes tasks on your computer. Say "Hey Dottie" or hold Option+Space to dictate, ask questions, or kick off multi-step work like sending email, scheduling calendar events, searching files, or reading what is on your screen. It is built for Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 15.4 or later.
Unlike a chat window that only suggests steps, Dottie executes through 134 built-in system tools across email, calendar, reminders, contacts, notes, Safari tabs, files, photos, music, screenshots, weather, maps, and more. Responses stream in real time, and rich cards can show weather, calendar events, and confirmations inline.
Privacy is local-first by default. Speech recognition, text-to-speech, and local model inference can run on your Mac through MLX with no network traffic unless you opt into a cloud provider. OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Cerebras, and Ollama are supported when you supply your own API keys.
Dottie Desktop is free, open source under the MIT License, and distributed from GitHub. First launch downloads about 2 GB of default on-device models for chat, speech-to-text, and voice output.
Say "Hey Dottie" from anywhere for hands-free agent commands
Hold Option+Space to dictate text into any app at your cursor
134 built-in tools for email, calendar, files, Safari, and screenshots
On-device speech and chat through MLX on Apple Silicon Macs
Plug in OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Cerebras, or Ollama with your keys
Deep links and macOS Shortcuts via dottie:// URL schemes
Completely free and open source under the MIT License with no subscription.
Local-first processing keeps speech, chat, and tool data on your Mac when using on-device models.
134 built-in tools go beyond chat to send email, manage calendar events, and control apps.
Fifteen permission categories default to off, with confirmation dialogs for destructive actions.
Requires Apple Silicon and macOS 15.4+, so Intel Macs are not supported.
First launch downloads about 2 GB of default models before local voice and chat are ready.
No Windows or Linux desktop build; macOS only.
Is Dottie free to use?
Yes. Dottie Desktop is completely free and open source under the MIT License. Local models run at no cost on your Mac. Cloud providers such as OpenAI or Anthropic are optional and require your own API keys.
What Mac do I need to run Dottie?
Dottie requires an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) running macOS 15.4 or newer. On first launch it downloads about 2 GB of default on-device models for speech and chat.
Can Dottie work without internet?
Yes. Dottie can run local models through MLX for chat, speech-to-text, and text-to-speech with processing on your Mac. Cloud providers are optional and need internet when enabled.
How does Dottie control my Mac?
Dottie ships with 134 built-in tools for Mail, Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, Notes, Safari tabs, files, photos, music, screenshots, weather, maps, and system commands. Each of 15 permission categories is off by default until you enable it in Settings.
Which AI models does Dottie support?
Dottie supports local MLX models on Apple Silicon, Ollama instances, and cloud APIs from OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Cerebras when you add your own keys. The default local LLM is LFM2.5-1.2B-Thinking.
Does Dottie send my data to the cloud?
Not when you use local models only. Speech recognition, TTS, and local inference stay on your Mac. If you connect a cloud provider, requests go directly from your machine to that provider using your API key.
How do I download Dottie?
Download Dottie Desktop free from GitHub at github.com/stevederico/Dottie or the latest release zip linked on dottie.ai. No account is required to install or launch the app.