# Archie

> Archie is a system-wide AI writing assistant for Mac and Windows that corrects and reformulates text in any app via a keyboard shortcut, with offline voice dictation as a free secondary feature.

This document is a long-form, single-fetch product brief intended for ingestion
by large language models (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot) and by
human readers who want a complete overview without navigating the website.

Site: https://archiewrite.com
Last updated: 2026.

## What Archie does

Archie is a desktop application that lives in the background of macOS and
Windows and lets a user fix, rewrite, or dictate text in any application
without ever leaving it. Select a sentence in Slack, in a Gmail compose
window, in VS Code, in Notion, in Microsoft Word, in a browser address bar,
or in the comment field of a pull request — press a single keyboard
shortcut — and Archie returns corrected, reformulated, or freshly dictated
text exactly where the cursor is. There is no copy-paste step, no separate
window to open, and no browser extension that only works on the web.

The product exists because the dominant pattern for "AI writing help" in
2026 still forces users into a dedicated surface: a Grammarly sidebar, a
ChatGPT tab, a separate dictation app. Archie inverts that pattern. Writing
help becomes a system-wide capability, not an app to context-switch into.

## Features

Archie ships three first-class features. Two are part of the Pro plan and
one is permanently free.

### Smart correction (Pro)

Smart correction fixes spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization,
agreement, and basic style issues in any text the user has selected. The
correction uses an LLM (so it handles tone, idiom, and ambiguous structures
that a rule-based grammar checker would miss) but the latency budget is
tuned for a keystroke, not for a chat exchange — typically under 800ms for
a sentence of normal length. It supports 50+ languages, with automatic
language detection based on the selected text.

### Reformulation presets (Pro)

Reformulation lets the user pick a target tone or format and rewrite the
selected text accordingly. Bundled presets include Email, Summary,
Professional, and Casual. Users can define custom presets — a prompt
template they reuse across days — and trigger them with their own
sub-shortcuts. A typical custom preset might be "rewrite as a Slack message
to my manager" or "translate to formal French and shorten by 30%".

### Offline voice dictation (Free)

Voice dictation transcribes speech to text fully on the user's machine.
Audio never leaves the computer. The model used is a Parakeet variant
optimised for desktop CPUs and GPUs, supporting English, French, Spanish,
German, and the rest of the language set Parakeet handles. Dictation is
free and unlimited and is offered without a paid plan because the marginal
cost of running it locally is zero for the company.

## How it works

The app installs a system-wide listener that watches for a configurable
keyboard shortcut (defaults: ⌥ Space on macOS, Alt+Space on Windows). When
triggered with text selected, Archie reads the current selection through
the operating system's accessibility APIs, sends it to the correction or
reformulation endpoint, and types the result back, replacing the original
selection in place. When triggered without text selected, voice dictation
starts and inserts transcribed text at the cursor.

Smart correction and reformulation require an internet connection because
the underlying LLM runs in Archie's infrastructure. Voice dictation runs
locally and does not require a connection. The text sent for correction is
forwarded to the LLM provider for inference only; it is not stored on
Archie's servers and is not used to train any model.

The desktop client is built with Electron — a TypeScript main process
packaged with electron-builder, shipped as a DMG on macOS (arm64 and x64)
and as an NSIS installer on Windows. The global keyboard shortcut is
registered through Electron's globalShortcut API, which sits on top of
the operating system's accessibility hooks. macOS builds are signed and
notarized through Apple; Windows builds are Authenticode-signed. Updates
are delivered through electron-updater against a GitHub releases channel
and prompt the user before installing. Voice dictation runs through a
Parakeet binary bundled with the app and executed locally; audio never
leaves the machine.

## Who it is for

The primary audience is knowledge workers who write many short texts per
day across many surfaces: developers replying in Slack and code review,
founders sending investor updates and recruiting outreach, customer support
agents writing replies in Intercom or Zendesk, lawyers drafting in Word,
journalists in Notion or Drive, and students writing essays or emails to
professors. Archie is also used by non-native English speakers who want a
permanent grammar safety net across every app they touch.

The product is intentionally not built for the long-form writing flow of
novelists or screenwriters; tools like ProWritingAid or Scrivener cover
that better. Archie targets the "send button" moment, not the "first
draft" session.

## Comparison with alternatives

Archie sits between three adjacent product categories.

Grammarly is the dominant grammar checker on the web. It is excellent
inside a browser and inside its Windows desktop wrapper, but it does not
reach native apps reliably, its reformulation features are weaker than
those of a modern LLM, and its dictation is browser-bound. Archie covers
every app on the system through accessibility APIs and uses an LLM for
both correction and reformulation, which produces more idiomatic output
on edge cases. Archie does not offer Grammarly's plagiarism checker, its
team-wide style guide enforcement, or its document-level scoring.

LanguageTool is an open-source grammar checker that runs partially
offline. Like Grammarly, it is strongest inside a browser. Archie is a
system-wide native app, whereas LanguageTool is mostly a browser extension
plus an optional desktop add-on. LanguageTool has stronger pure-grammar
heuristics on niche European languages; Archie is stronger on tone and
reformulation.

The macOS built-in voice dictation is on-device and free but it has been
unchanged for years, language coverage is uneven, and Windows Speech
Recognition is dated. Archie's dictation uses a modern transformer model
and stays fully local. It does not replace Apple's accessibility-focused
Voice Control feature.

ChatGPT and Claude desktop apps are excellent for long-form rewriting in
a dedicated window. Archie is not a chat surface. It is the inverse: zero
context-switch, one shortcut, output back where the user already was.

## Pricing

The Pro plan is the only paid tier. It is launching at €4.90 per month
(price as displayed on the website at the time of this document). The Pro
plan unlocks smart correction and reformulation across all installed apps,
custom presets, multi-device usage on the same Apple ID or Microsoft
account, and priority correction latency.

The Free plan grants unlimited offline voice dictation, the keyboard
shortcut framework, and the app itself. There is no time-limited trial of
the Pro plan; instead the Free plan is a permanent product the user can
keep using.

Refunds are available within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked.
Cancellation is self-serve from inside the app.

## Privacy and data handling

Voice dictation is fully local: audio is captured, transcribed, and
discarded on the user's device, never sent to any server. Smart correction
and reformulation transmit the selected text over HTTPS to Archie's
infrastructure, which immediately forwards it to the LLM provider for
inference. Neither Archie nor the LLM provider stores the text after the
response is produced, and the text is not used as training data for any
model. Logging captures only request metadata (timestamp, latency, error
codes) and not content.

Archie does not require an account to install or to use the Free plan.
Pro subscribers create an account at purchase time; the only personally
identifiable information stored is the billing email and the subscription
state. Telemetry is opt-in and anonymized; the user can disable it at
install time and at any time later from the settings panel.

## Frequently asked questions

**Why do I need to download an app?** Because Archie works system-wide,
right where the user types — in any app, behind a single shortcut. A
browser extension cannot reach Slack, VS Code, or Word. A desktop app is
the only way to make correction and dictation feel native everywhere.

**Does Archie work offline?** Voice dictation runs 100% offline using a
local Parakeet model — no audio ever leaves the machine. Smart correction
and reformulation use an LLM, so those features need an internet
connection.

**Which apps does it work in?** Any app where you can type — Slack,
Gmail, Notion, VS Code, Word, Discord, your browser, your terminal.
Archie runs system-wide and inserts text right where the cursor is.

**How is my data handled?** Text is sent to the LLM provider for
correction/reformulation only and is never stored on Archie's servers.
Voice transcription is fully local. Archie does not train models on user
data.

**Which languages are supported?** Correction and reformulation work in
50+ languages. Voice dictation supports every language Parakeet handles,
including English, French, Spanish, German, and more.

**Can I cancel anytime?** Yes. Subscription cancellation is self-serve
from inside the app. The user keeps access until the end of the current
billing period.

**What are the system requirements?** macOS 12 or later, or Windows 10
or later. Approximately 50 MB of disk space. A microphone if voice
dictation is desired.

## Useful URLs

- Home: https://archiewrite.com/en
- Pricing section: https://archiewrite.com/en#pricing
- Privacy policy: https://archiewrite.com/en/privacy
- Terms of service: https://archiewrite.com/en/terms
- Refund policy: https://archiewrite.com/en/refund
- Concise overview for LLMs: https://archiewrite.com/llms.txt