Eight apps that turn your voice into text on a Mac, from free and built-in to cloud-powered, with what each is genuinely best at. We make one of them, so we've stuck to facts you can check and said where others win.
Checked October 2026 · Prices in each maker's currency
Quick picks
The list
Hold a key, talk, and clean text lands in any app. Fillers, stutters and restarts are fixed on your Mac; names come out right through a sound-matched Dictionary. No account, no cloud, no subscription. We make it, so weigh our view accordingly.
Polished and fast, with strong AI cleanup and editing. Transcription always happens on its servers, it needs an account, and it's a subscription.
A big toolbox: custom AI modes, local and cloud speech models, meeting recording and file transcription. Most AI rewriting uses cloud models on Pro.
The go-to for files: batch transcription, speaker labels, YouTube links, SRT export, meeting capture. Dictation is included but isn't its main job.
Open source, local by default, with a wide model menu, per-app modes and optional cloud providers using your own keys. Rewards people who like to tinker.
Already on your Mac. Good for a sentence here and there. No custom vocabulary or filler removal, and it stops after 30 seconds of silence.
A small open-source push-to-talk tool that does one job. Optional AI post-processing is off by default. Fewer niceties, no cost.
Fast local models and an optional on-device AI download for rewriting and voice commands. Sends anonymous usage analytics by default; you can turn the detailed ones off.
How to choose
If what you say shouldn't reach a server, pick an app that runs on your Mac: TypeVoice, VoiceInk, Handy, FluidVoice, or MacWhisper and Superwhisper with local models.
English only: any of them. Many languages: Wispr Flow, Superwhisper, MacWhisper, or Apple's built-in Dictation.
Wispr Flow and Superwhisper Pro are subscriptions. TypeVoice, MacWhisper and VoiceInk are paid once. Apple Dictation, Handy and FluidVoice are free.
Free for 7 days · $79 once · Runs entirely on your Mac
All names are trademarks of their owners; we're not affiliated with any of them. Facts come from each maker's own site, docs or repository as of October 2026. Something out of date? Write to support.
Questions
Apple's built-in Dictation is free and good for occasional use. Handy (MIT licensed) and FluidVoice are free, open-source apps that run on your Mac. Superwhisper, MacWhisper and Wispr Flow also have free tiers with limits.
TypeVoice, VoiceInk, Handy and FluidVoice run on your Mac. MacWhisper and Superwhisper work offline with their local models. Apple Dictation works offline for on-device languages on Apple silicon. Wispr Flow needs a connection.
TypeVoice and VoiceInk (GPL v3), Handy (MIT) and FluidVoice (GPL v3, with a closed AI runtime). Wispr Flow, Superwhisper and MacWhisper are closed.
Wispr Flow and Superwhisper list 100+ languages, MacWhisper 100, and Apple Dictation dozens. TypeVoice is English only.
We make TypeVoice, so yes, we have a stake. We've kept to facts from each maker's own pages and said plainly where other apps are the better pick.