Letra

Letra is a menu bar utility that copies text from any screen element on macOS using on-device OCR.

Letra is a menu bar app for macOS that captures text from videos, PDFs, screenshots, and screen shares. Press a shortcut, drag over any region on the screen, and the extracted text lands directly on your clipboard. It uses Apple's Vision framework to run recognition entirely on-device, requiring no internet connection and keeping your data private. The app supports over 20 languages, handles neat handwriting, detects QR codes and barcodes, and reads images directly from your clipboard or supported files. It is designed for anyone who needs to quickly extract unselectable text, links, or code snippets without manual retyping.

Letra at a glance

Best for: Software engineer, Writer
Runs on: macOS
Pricing: One-time $5.99 for one Mac; $9.99 for 2 Macs; $13.99 for 3 Macs. 7-day money-back guarantee.
Released: October 2026
Category: AI productivity tool
Website: getletra.app

Key features

On-device OCR using Apple Vision
Global keyboard shortcut for captures
QR code and barcode decoding
Support for PNG, JPEG, and PDF files
Clipboard image reading
Searchable history
URL scheme for automation

Use it for

Copying text from video courses and lectures
Extracting links from video calls
Reading text from scanned PDFs and contracts
Scanning QR codes on slides

Alternatives to Letra

Byakugan Scan — Zero disk writes and under 50ms processing speed on Apple Silicon.
Voicera — Dictate anywhere on your Mac four times faster than typing.
docTR — Extracts text and layout details from documents using deep learning.
Openbroca — AI cleanup and translation turn messy speech into ready-to-send text directly in your apps.
LocalBolo — Private, on-device dictation that works in any app without cloud data usage.
SpeechFast — Dictate anywhere on Mac with 100 percent local processing and no cloud servers.
Text Grab — Extracts text from any screen area instantly without cloud processing.
Buffer — All data stays locally on your device with no accounts or telemetry.
Lasso — Draw over any app and press escape to clear your screen instantly.
Macaroni — Tracks folder changes made by AI agents without writing to files.
Copse — Private, native clipboard manager with local storage and a one-time price.
PocketWebTools for Mac — Runs local AI models up to 35B parameters fully offline on Apple Silicon Macs.

All Letra alternatives