A free, local Superwhisper alternative for Mac

If you want what Superwhisper does at its core — hold a key, speak, get text in any app — without paying and without sending audio anywhere, Hold Speak covers that. It is free with no limits, works offline after a one-time model download, and its source code is public on GitHub.

If you need AI rewriting modes, meeting recording or transcription of audio files, a paid app such as Superwhisper or MacWhisper is a better fit. If you want an open-source app with more features and don't mind a one-time fee, look at VoiceInk. If you work on Windows or phones as well as the Mac, Wispr Flow or Spokenly cover more platforms.

Prices in the vendor's currency, as listed in September 2026.

Superwhisper is the best-known Whisper dictation app on the Mac. It runs local models or cloud models and adds AI “modes” that rewrite what you said into a message, an email or a custom format, plus meeting recording, file transcription and translation. The free tier is limited; Pro costs $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year or $249.99 for a lifetime license.

Hold Speak skips the AI layer on purpose. Everything runs on-device, the output is exactly what you said (with fillers trimmed and your vocabulary applied), and there is nothing to pay for. That makes it a good fit when the text goes into an AI chat or a coding agent anyway — the model on the other end does the rewriting.

• Choose Superwhisper if you want AI post-processing, meeting notes or file transcription in the same app.
• Choose Hold Speak if you want free, private, hold-to-talk dictation with nothing sent to the cloud.

MacWhisper started as a file-transcription tool and is strongest there: drop in audio or video, get an accurate transcript, and record meetings without a bot joining the call. System-wide dictation exists, but only in the version downloaded from macwhisper.com — the Mac App Store build doesn't have it. Pro is a one-time €64.

Hold Speak does no file transcription at all; it only does live dictation. If you already have MacWhisper, Hold Speak picks up its downloaded WhisperKit models automatically, so you don't download them twice.

VoiceInk is the closest in spirit: local-first, push-to-talk and open source under GPL-3.0. It supports several engines (whisper.cpp, Parakeet, SenseVoice), adds optional AI cleanup and Smart Replace, and costs $25–49 one-time depending on how many Macs you use — or you can build it from source for free. It requires Apple Silicon and a recent macOS (14.4 or later according to its site).

Hold Speak is smaller in scope, free as a ready-made download, and supports macOS 13. Its terminology dictionary ships with IT defaults for English, Russian and Ukrainian, which helps if you dictate technical text in more than one language.

Wispr Flow is polished and cross-platform — Mac, Windows, iOS and Android — with team features such as a shared dictionary and SSO. Its own privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud. The free plan allows 2,000 words a week on desktop; Pro is $12 per user per month billed annually.

Hold Speak is the opposite trade-off: Mac only, no cloud at all, no word limit. If your company doesn't allow sending voice data to third parties, or you often work offline, a local tool is the safer choice.

Apple's built-in Dictation is free and needs no install. You start it with the Mic key, a shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation, and it stops after 30 seconds of silence. It adds punctuation automatically. Apple says whether audio is processed on-device depends on your language and Keyboard settings.

Hold Speak uses Whisper models, is driven by holding one key (release to finish), keeps English technical terms intact in mixed-language speech, and lets you teach it project names and jargon through its dictionary.

Aiko is a local transcription app for audio and video files with subtitle export. It is not a dictation tool — there is no hotkey to type into other apps — and it is now a paid $24 app that needs macOS 26 and Apple Silicon.

Spokenly offers on-device Whisper and Parakeet models for free, cloud models with your own API keys, and a Pro plan at $9.99 a month. It is also available for Windows, Linux and iPhone.

• Developers and anyone who writes a lot of prompts to ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor or coding agents.
• People who can't or won't send voice recordings to a cloud service.
• Anyone who dictates a mix of languages with English technical terms.
• Anyone who wants dictation that simply works, without a subscription.

It is not for transcribing recordings, taking meeting notes or AI rewriting — use one of the apps above for that.

Is there a free alternative to Superwhisper?

Yes. Hold Speak is free, runs Whisper locally on your Mac and types text into any app when you hold a hotkey. It has no paid tier and no usage limits. It doesn't include Superwhisper's AI rewriting modes or file transcription.

Which Mac dictation apps work fully offline?

Hold Speak, VoiceInk and Aiko run locally by default. Superwhisper, MacWhisper and Spokenly work offline when you choose a local model. Wispr Flow is cloud-only.

Is Hold Speak open source?

The full source code is public on GitHub, so you can read it or build the app yourself.

Can I use the Whisper models I already downloaded?

Yes. Hold Speak finds models downloaded by MacWhisper or other WhisperKit apps and uses them instead of downloading again.

• Superwhisper — superwhisper.com, App Store in-app purchases
• MacWhisper — macwhisper.com, dictation docs
• VoiceInk — tryvoiceink.com, GitHub
• Wispr Flow — pricing, privacy
• Aiko — Mac App Store, sindresorhus.com/aiko
• Spokenly — spokenly.app
• Apple Dictation — Mac User Guide