Cursor Voice Dictation

Does Cursor have built-in voice dictation?

Yes, partly. Cursor ships a native Voice Mode on Cmd+Shift+Space: you hold to speak, release, and the transcript drops into the Agent input. It is genuinely useful, and if prompting the agent is all you need, it may be enough. The limit is scope. Voice Mode fills the Agent prompt, so the rest of Cursor stays a typing job: Cmd+K, inline comments, docstrings, commit messages, PR descriptions, and the integrated terminal. Aqua sits below the app instead of inside it, so the same key works in every one of those fields, and in every other app on your machine.

How to dictate in Cursor with Aqua

1. Download Aqua for Mac or Windows and grant microphone access when prompted. On macOS you will also be asked for Accessibility access, which is what lets Aqua type into the focused field.
2. Open Aqua's settings and pick your hold-to-talk key. Most developers use a key they can reach without leaving the home row.
3. Open Cursor and click into any text field: the Agent prompt, Cmd+K, a comment, or the terminal.
4. Hold your key, say what you want, and release. Your words appear in the field, formatted and ready.
5. Add the names you use most to your custom dictionary: your repo, your framework, your teammates, your internal jargon. Aqua stops guessing at them after that.

Tips for dictating in Cursor

• Describe the outcome, not the keystrokes. "Add an optimistic update to the todo mutation and roll it back on error" gets further than reading code aloud.
• Say the constraints out loud. Edge cases, the framework version, the file you want touched: all of it is cheap to say and expensive to type, which is the whole reason longer prompts win.
• Put library and file names in your custom dictionary. Transcribing "tRPC" or "useSWR" cold is a coin flip; from the dictionary it is not.
• In the integrated terminal, read the command back before you press Enter. Dictation is fast, but a shell does exactly what you tell it.

What you get

97.3% accuracy on AISpeak, SOC 2 Type II, and 49 languages, on Mac, Windows, and iPhone. Start free with 1,000 lifetime words. Pro is $8 a month billed annually.

Frequently asked questions

Does Aqua work in Cursor's Agent prompt, Cmd+K, and the editor?

Yes. Aqua types into whatever field has focus, so the same key works in the Agent prompt, Cmd+K, the editor, commit messages, and the integrated terminal.

How is this different from Cursor's own Voice Mode?

Cursor's Voice Mode fills the Agent prompt. Aqua works in every field in Cursor and in every other app on your machine, adds a custom dictionary for your own vocabulary, and supports 49 languages.

Does Aqua handle code, file paths, and framework names?

Yes. Aqua is tuned for technical speech and reads the context on your screen, and anything it does not know by default can go in your custom dictionary.

Does it work on Windows?

Yes. Aqua runs on Mac, Windows, and iPhone. There is no Android app.

How much does it cost?

Starter is free with 1,000 lifetime words. Pro is $8 a month billed annually, and Team is $12 a month billed annually.