Halo is a private, on-device AI assistant for Mac with autocomplete, dictation and call notes. Free forever; cloud from $9.99/month, lifetime from $49.
Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated October 26, 2026
Halo, also called Hey Halo, is a private AI assistant for macOS that lives in the Mac's notch. It finishes sentences, transcribes calls, remembers what the user has seen, and speaks up only when something needs attention. Halo describes itself as a voice-first, ambient assistant that works across apps rather than inside a single browser tab.
The product is built by SilverCommerce, a small team that funds its roadmap through subscriptions and one-time licenses instead of ads or data. The core app is free, runs on-device by default, and requires no account. Halo needs an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 15 or later and does not run on Intel Macs.
Halo runs a capable model locally on Apple Silicon. Chat, autocomplete, transcription, memory and recall all run on the Mac by default, and the app works offline. Captured frames are deleted after a single read, live audio becomes a transcript without being kept, and memories are stored as written summaries rather than images or screenshots.
Users interact by typing, pressing a shortcut, or saying 'Hey Halo.' Halo can notify and prepare, but the site says it never sends, deletes, or buys on its own, and it confirms before acting in connected apps. For heavier work, users can switch on Halo Cloud or point Halo at their own server.
System-wide ghost-text autocomplete finishes sentences in Mail, Slack, the browser and other apps. Press Tab to accept, or keep typing to ignore it. Password and payment fields are never read or completed. Voice dictation, text macros, and an AI rewrite tool that changes the tone of selected text are also included.
Meeting transcription records a call with one shortcut and writes a summary with action items. Recall lets users ask what was said weeks ago and returns an answer with sources. A People view builds a short dossier before each call, a daily briefing summarizes the day, and proactive nudges flag moved meetings or unsent drafts.
Halo, also called Hey Halo, is a private AI assistant for macOS that lives in the Mac's notch. It provides autocomplete, voice dictation, meeting transcription, memory and recall, and proactive reminders. Most of it runs on-device.
The Mac app is free forever. Halo Cloud is $9.99 per month and Halo Cloud Team is $8.99 per seat per month with a 2-seat minimum. The Lifetime License is $49 one-time for the first 1,000 buyers, then $69 and $79, limited to 5,000 licenses.
Halo Cloud includes a 7-day free trial. The on-device version is free forever with no trial needed. Halo Cloud Team has no trial and is billed from day one.
Yes. Halo is designed to run fully offline on-device, and captured frames are deleted after a single read. Halo Cloud needs a network and sends messages over an encrypted connection, but screen and audio data stay on the Mac on every plan.
Halo requires an Apple Silicon (M-series) Mac running macOS 15 or later. It does not run on Intel Macs. An iPhone companion is in beta testing.
Halo works with Apple Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Mail, iMessage, Music and Shortcuts, plus Obsidian, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Notion, Linear and GitHub. Slack, Teams, Notion and similar apps require a paid plan. It also supports MCP plugins.
Yes. The Lifetime License, and Halo Cloud, unlock custom-server mode. Halo can connect to Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, OpenRouter or any OpenAI-compatible URL.
It suits small teams on Macs that want AI help with writing, calls and follow-ups. Halo Cloud Team offers per-seat plans with a 2-seat minimum and invite codes. Teams that use Windows or Intel Macs cannot use it.