How it works
Three keystrokes. That's the whole interface.
Read it back
Highlight anything — an article, a Claude response, an email, a PDF — and one keystroke reads it aloud, or sums it up.
Talk to it
Hold the talk shortcut and just speak. It answers out loud, looks at your screen when you ask, and can take real action on your Mac.
Dictate into anything
Hold the dictate shortcut, talk, let go. What you said lands in whatever field you were already typing in.
Features
Built to be there all day, everywhere you work.
Eight voices, built for listening
Eight hand-picked voices, all tuned for long-form listening. Pick the one you want to spend time with, and change it any time.
Summaries on demand
Flip on Summary mode and every read comes back as a tight spoken summary: roughly half the length, the key points kept, the filler dropped. Made for long articles and AI chat replies.
Talk to it, hands-free
Hold your talk shortcut and ask about whatever you're looking at. It sees your screen and answers out loud in your chosen voice. Give it the keys and it takes real action: edits files, runs commands, gets things done.
Three shortcuts, your keys
One to read or summarize, one to talk, one to dictate. Set each to whatever you like, with a click-and-record picker like every other Mac app.
On-device voice
The voice runs entirely on your Mac. Plain reading never touches the network. Summaries and the assistant use the cloud by nature: summaries through our backend, the assistant through your own ChatGPT or Claude.
Runs on the plan you already have
Point it at ChatGPT or Claude and it uses that subscription directly. No API keys to paste, no second bill, no model of ours in the middle.
Works in everything
Claude, Notion, Mail, Substack, Safari, Notes, Preview. Anywhere you can highlight. No browser extensions. No per-app setup.
Voices
Pick the voice that fits your day.
Eight voices, hand-picked and tuned for long stretches of listening. Press play to hear each one, then pick your favorite, and switch any time.
Charles
Measured and articulate.
Mary
Warm and natural. An easy, unhurried read.
Jean
Low and grounded. The steady voice of the saguaro.
Anna
Bright and friendly. Sure-footed and clear.
Michael
Clear and engaged. Makes the technical feel effortless.
Caro
Calm and even.
George
Warm and easygoing.
Vera
Confident and composed.
Pricing
Simple. One price. Cancel any time.
Start with the free trial: forty thousand characters, about forty-five minutes of audio. Then subscribe to keep going: unlimited reading, a flat rate, no caps and no metering. Cancel any time.
- Unlimited reading and talking, no caps
- All eight voices
- The hold-to-talk assistant
- Cancel any time
- Unlimited reading and talking, no caps
- Two months free vs. monthly
- All eight voices + the assistant
- Priority email support
Prefer to try first? Download Saguaro Forty thousand characters of trial built in, no card needed. Got a beta invite code? Redeem it here.
FAQ
Questions you might be wondering about.
What is Saguaro?+
A Mac menubar assistant with three shortcuts. One reads, or summarizes, any text you've highlighted, in any app. One lets you talk to it hands-free about what you're looking at. One dictates what you say into whatever field you're typing in. The voice runs on your Mac.
Will the voice sound robotic?+
No. Saguaro speaks with a natural voice that runs entirely on your Mac, with no cloud round-trip for plain reading. Pick from eight voices tuned for long-form listening.
What apps does it work in?+
Anywhere you can highlight text: Notion, Apple Mail, Substack, Safari, Notes, Preview, Apple Books, most browsers and editors. Most apps hand their selection straight to macOS. A few don't — Claude's desktop app and other Electron apps keep their text to themselves — so there you press Copy first and Saguaro reads what you copied.
What's the talk assistant, and which AI does it use?+
Hold the talk shortcut and talk to it. It sees the window you're looking at and answers out loud, and with your permission can take real action on your Mac. It runs on a plan you already pay for — ChatGPT (via Codex) or Claude (via Claude Code) — so there's no API key and no extra fee. ChatGPT needs a paid plan (Plus or above); you can taste it on a free account, but ChatGPT cuts those off after a short window. Reading and dictation don't need any of it.
How does the free trial work?+
You get 40,000 characters free, roughly 45 minutes of audio, a full day of active reading and talking. After that, subscribe to keep listening.
Can I cancel?+
Yes, any time from Settings → Account in the app. Your subscription stays active through the end of the billing period after cancellation. We offer prorated refunds within seven days if it doesn't work for you.
Does Saguaro send my data anywhere?+
Plain reading and dictation happen entirely on your Mac, and the text you highlight never leaves the machine. Two features use the network by nature: summaries go to our backend (we don't log or retain your text), and the talk assistant goes to your own ChatGPT or Claude. See the Privacy page for details.
Why does it ask for Accessibility permission?+
macOS requires Accessibility permission for any app that reads text from other apps. Saguaro uses the Accessibility API to extract the text you have highlighted. It does not record your screen, log keystrokes, or watch anything else.
What if I have a beta invite code?+
Redeem it at /beta. You'll get unlimited reads during preview.
Try it free
Stop typing at your Mac. Talk to it.
Reads, listens and talks. Free trial built in, no card to start. Works on every Mac, Apple Silicon and Intel. Requires macOS 14 or later.
macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon & Intel