Getting started with Tersa Cloud
Install the app, sign in, choose a microphone and a key, and dictate your first sentence into any app. A few minutes.
Tersa Cloud is in alpha. This guide describes the app as it is today; details may change between builds.
Install
Get the app for your computer from the download page: an installer on Windows, a disk image on macOS (Apple silicon), and an AppImage, a .deb or an .rpm on Linux. There are x64 and Arm builds for Windows and Linux.
Sign in
Tersa opens a sign-in page in your browser; the app moves on by itself once you are signed in. If the browser does not open, copy the link into one, or choose Sign in with a code and type the code on any device. The Free plan needs no card.
Pick a microphone
Choose a microphone from the list, or keep the system default, and say “testing one two”: the meter moves when Tersa hears you. The overlay’s dot turns red only while the microphone is open.
Let Tersa type (macOS)
On macOS, Tersa asks for two permissions, each only when you press its button:
- Accessibility lets Tersa paste your words into the app you are using.
- Input Monitoring lets Tersa see your shortcut key, and nothing else you type.
Without them, your words go to the clipboard instead of into the app.
Choose your key
Nothing is bound until you choose it. Tersa suggests Right Ctrl (Right Option on a Mac); press another key to use that one instead. Hold the key to talk, double-tap it for hands-free, and press Esc to cancel.
On Linux, Tersa needs to read keyboards to hear your key being released: the .deb and .rpm packages install an input rule for that, and the app shows how to add it otherwise. Without it, the key works as press to start, press again to stop. On Hyprland, the app shows the two lines to add to your config so the compositor tells Tersa when you let go.
Dictate
Hold your key and say: “This is my first dictation.” The words appear as you speak, in a small bar at the bottom of the screen; let go and they land where your cursor is. Tersa lives in the tray from then on: hold your key in any app.
Where your words go
History keeps your dictations on your computer, for as long as you choose in Settings. If a paste does not land, the text is copied for you; offline, the recording waits and is transcribed when you are back. Your audio goes to Tersa’s service and on to one speech engine; the privacy policy says who handles it and what is kept.
Plans and minutes
Free has 15 minutes of dictation a week, reset every Monday; Pro is for people who dictate all day. Minutes count the audio of each dictation; a take with no speech in it costs nothing. See pricing for the details.