Mac dictation apps, 2026
The Mac dictation apps worth knowing,
side by side.
There are now more than a dozen ways to talk instead of type on a Mac. They split on two questions: where your voice is transcribed, and what you pay. This page puts them in one table, then says who each one suits.
Mac dictation apps compared
| Price | Where speech is transcribed | Suits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TypeAloud | Free, open source | On your Mac | Free local dictation into any app, mixed Chinese and English |
| Wispr Flow | Free: 2,000 words/week; Pro $15/month | Cloud | AI rewriting and phone dictation |
| Typeless | Free with a weekly limit; Pro $12–30/month | Cloud | AI cleanup of filler words and lists |
| Superwhisper | Free with local Whisper; Pro $8.49/month | Local or cloud | Power users who want configurable AI modes |
| VoiceInk | One-time, from $25 | On your Mac | English dictation with optional AI cleanup |
| Spokenly | Local free; Pro $9.99/month | Local or cloud | Local models with an optional hosted tier |
| MacWhisper | Free; Pro €64 one-time | On your Mac | Transcribing recordings, meetings and subtitles |
| Aqua Voice | 1,000 free words; Pro $10–12/month | Cloud | Fast cloud dictation with voice commands |
| Willow Voice | Free plan; Pro $12–15/month | Cloud | Cloud dictation across Mac, Windows and iPhone |
| Apple Dictation | Built in | On-device on Apple Silicon | Short dictation with nothing to install |
Cloud or local is the first choice
Wispr Flow, Typeless, Aqua Voice and Willow Voice send your audio to their servers. That buys them large models and AI rewriting, and it is why they meter words and charge monthly. They also stop working when the connection does.
TypeAloud, VoiceInk, MacWhisper and the free tiers of Superwhisper and Spokenly run a speech model on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded, there is no quota, and they work offline. The trade-off is a one-time model download and wanting an Apple Silicon Mac.
Then: an input method, or a transcription tool?
Some apps behave like a keyboard: hold a key, speak, and the text appears where you were typing. TypeAloud, Wispr Flow, Typeless, Superwhisper, VoiceInk and Spokenly work this way.
MacWhisper is built around recordings. It is excellent at turning an interview or a meeting into a transcript, and its dictation window is a Pro extra rather than the centre of the app.
Prices and head-to-heads
For the subscription details, see Wispr Flow pricing and Typeless pricing. If you are choosing between two of them, there are direct comparisons of Wispr Flow and Typeless, Wispr Flow and Superwhisper, and Superwhisper and MacWhisper.
Where TypeAloud fits
TypeAloud is the free, open-source option for dictating straight into any Mac app. Its local model, Qwen3-ASR, detects the spoken language itself, so a sentence that switches between Chinese and English needs no setting change. It does not rewrite what you say, and it has no phone app.
Common questions
- What is the best free dictation app for Mac?
- If you want unlimited dictation with no account, pick an app that runs locally. TypeAloud is free and open source; Superwhisper and Spokenly have free local tiers; Apple Dictation is built in but stops after a pause.
- Which Mac dictation apps work offline?
- The local ones: TypeAloud, VoiceInk, MacWhisper, and Superwhisper or Spokenly with a local model. Cloud apps such as Wispr Flow, Typeless, Aqua Voice and Willow Voice need a connection.
- Which one is best for Chinese?
- Look for a model trained heavily on Chinese. TypeAloud uses Qwen3-ASR, which handles Chinese and mixed Chinese–English speech. Whisper-based apps tend to struggle when a sentence switches language.
- Which Macs can run it?
- Apple Silicon is recommended for local dictation. The recommended model is a one-time download of about 1 GB.
Local transcription. No account. No subscription.
Download for Mac