Short answers to the most common questions. For step-by-step fixes, see Troubleshooting.
What is free?
The whole app, once you verify your email: dictation and enhancement on your Mac, the assistant and its tools, boards, terminal and browser panes, settings and optional Spot. There are no paid tiers and no trial period.
Who can use it?
You must be 16 or older to create an account and use Clabrate. See the Terms.
Which apps does it work in?
Any app where you can type. Clabrate inserts text at your cursor once you grant the Accessibility permission: Notes, Mail, Slack, browsers, editors and so on.
Is it Apple silicon only?
Yes. Clabrate requires an Apple silicon Mac (M1 or newer) on macOS 11 or later. Intel Macs aren’t supported.
Do I have to use AI or the cloud?
No. During setup you can choose to have your words pasted exactly as you say them, with no model to download. Enhancement, the assistant and cloud models are there if you want them, and cloud AI features stay off until you set them up.
Can I work offline?
Yes, after you have verified your email on that Mac. Session expiry, sign-out and an unavailable account service do not lock the on-device features. Account changes still need a connection and sign-in. Cloud Voice needs a connection and a signed-in Clabrate account.
Do I need Google?
Only for optional cloud features that use it, such as Cloud Voice. Dictation and on-device model profiles work without it. Cloud Voice runs on your Clabrate account, so it needs no Gemini API key of your own. It uses credits: an account is given 30,000 free starting credits, once per email address and once per installation of the app. Top-ups cannot be bought yet, and Clabrate sells no subscription.
What can the assistant do?
Use the tools you enable: work with Herdr agents, local documents, app settings and the workspace. Tool permissions matter even during spoken conversation. Review actions and generated text before relying on them.
Is analytics running?
In the Mac app, only if you turn it on. It asks once whether it may count how it is used. It counts which features, dictation modes and built-in assistant tools you use, which kind of AI provider, whether setup steps and downloads worked, what kind of error happened, and rough timings. It never collects audio, transcripts, anything you dictate or type, conversations, screenshots, file paths or your email. Counts are kept against your account for 30 days, and turning it off in Settings → Privacy & permissions deletes them. Rewarded ads in Spot on Android are separate: when it shows Google’s consent tool or an ad, Google’s ads SDK collects information from your phone to show and measure ads. The website, clabrate.com, uses Google Analytics. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and where we cannot tell which country you are in, it stays off until you accept. Elsewhere it is on unless you turn it off or your browser sends a privacy signal. Cookie settings in the footer of any page turns it off, and the Privacy Policy says what Google receives. Sending data to a cloud AI provider is a separate path that you turn on yourself; it is not analytics.
Does my account sync Spot?
No. Settings, history and your Mac’s Spot Collection stay on your Mac. Your account does not sync or back them up. Spot on Android is separate: if you sign in there, your account stores that app’s Collection and purchases.
What happens when I delete my account?
Deleting your account removes your email address from our service and ends every session. This Mac is signed out, and you must verify an email address again to keep using Clabrate. Settings, history, models and Spot stay on your Mac. Deleting your account also deletes the Spot on Android Collection and purchases stored on it. See Privacy & your data.
I have a license key from an earlier version
You no longer need it. Clabrate now unlocks with a verified email address instead of a license key. For help with an earlier order, email support@clabrate.com.
How do updates work?
Clabrate checks for a new version when it starts and about once a day, and tells you when one is available. You can turn the automatic check off in Settings → About & updates; Check now always checks.
Still have a question?
Email support@clabrate.com. Clabrate is made by one person, and real questions shape what gets built next.