Lemon alternative for Mac
Glide vs Lemon
Both live in your Mac’s notch and both start when you hold Fn. They are built for different jobs.
Lemon facts checked October 18, 2026 on Lemon's own website. Plans and features change, so check theirs before you decide.
The short answer
Lemon is built around writing: it turns what you say into a structured prompt for ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor, or into an email in your tone, and it runs on Mac and Windows.
Glide is built around your screen: ask about what you are looking at and it answers out loud, points at what it means and finishes tasks in your apps. Its dictation runs on your Mac and is free on every plan.
Side by side
| Glide | Lemon | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac (macOS 14 or later) | Mac (macOS 13 or later), Windows |
| Price | Free to download. Dictation free and unlimited on every plan | Free to start. Current plans are not published |
| Where your speech is processed | Dictation: on your Mac. Assistant: sent to AI providers to answer, and not stored on Glide’s servers | In the cloud: audio is streamed to Lemon to write the text |
| Recordings kept | No. Prompts, chat history and screen contents are not stored on Glide’s servers | Voice recordings and screenshots are kept until you opt out by email, and may train Lemon’s models unless you opt out |
| Keys | Hold Fn to dictate, hold Control and Option for the assistant | Hold Fn for prompts and writing, hold Control for plain dictation |
| Turns speech into prompts and emails | Dictation types what you said, cleaned up | Yes, its main job |
| Answers out loud | Yes | Not stated |
| Points at things on screen, step by step | Yes | No |
| Does tasks in other apps | Yes: Calendar, Notes, Reminders and 12 connected apps, and it asks before anything is sent | Optional Google integrations, web search and opening apps. Says it takes no actions on its own |
| Languages | 25 European languages for dictation | Not stated |
Where Glide is different
- Help with what is on your screen. Glide looks when you ask, answers out loud, points at the control you need and walks you through steps one at a time.
- Your recordings are not kept. Dictation never leaves your Mac, and assistant requests are answered and discarded, not stored on Glide’s servers.
- It finishes tasks. Hand Glide a task and a background agent completes it in your calendar, notes, reminders and connected apps.
Where Lemon is stronger
- Windows as well as Mac. Glide is Mac only.
- Prompt writing. Lemon is purpose-built to turn a ramble into a well-structured prompt for AI tools.
- Writing in your tone: replies that match the thread you are in, and a separate key for plain dictation.
Trying Glide alongside Lemon
Both apps want Fn, so run one at a time or change one app’s key. In Glide, hold Fn to dictate and hold Control and Option to talk to the assistant.
- If macOS has Fn set to show emoji or start Apple’s dictation, set Press fn key to to Do Nothing in Keyboard settings.
- On first launch Glide downloads its speech model, about 460 MB, so dictation can run on your Mac.