Choose MacWhisper if most of your work starts as a recording: interviews, lectures, podcasts or video you want transcribed and exported as documents or subtitles, with speech recognised on your Mac and Pro sold once for €64, as of 3 October 2026. Choose Spokenly if most of your work is dictating into other apps: its local Whisper and Parakeet models are free with no word cap, it has a Local Only Mode switch, and it runs on Windows, Linux and iPhone too. Both transcribe locally by default and both can record meetings on a Mac (MacWhisper on Pro), so decide by the main job: a one-time transcription workspace, or a free dictation app with a Pro subscription for cloud features.
Publisher note: SuprFlow publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Competitor details come from each company's own pages, checked on 3 October 2026. Prices and features change; confirm before you buy.
We have not run a controlled benchmark of either app, so nothing here says which is more accurate.
Who should pick which?
- You transcribe audio or video files: MacWhisper. It lists mp3, wav, m4a, ogg, opus, mov and mp4, plus subtitle export. Spokenly's pages we read do not describe file transcription.
- You dictate emails, messages and prompts all day: Spokenly, which is built around that.
- You want to pay nothing: both have free tiers. Spokenly's local models are "$0 forever"; MacWhisper Free is "Free forever" with basic dictation.
- You also use Windows, Linux or an iPhone: Spokenly. MacWhisper's direct download is Mac only; its App Store edition covers iPhone and iPad by subscription.
- You want one switch that blocks network access: Spokenly's Local Only Mode.
How do MacWhisper and Spokenly compare?
As of 3 October 2026. MacWhisper details are from macwhisper.com, its edition comparison, privacy article and dictation article. Spokenly details are from its site, pricing page, Local Only Mode documentation, privacy policy and open-source statement.
| MacWhisper | Spokenly | |
|---|---|---|
| Built mainly for | Transcribing files, recordings and meetings; dictation is one feature | System-wide dictation; meeting recording on Mac |
| Where speech is processed | "By default, transcriptions… [are] all performed locally on your Mac"; optional cloud providers receive audio | Local Whisper or Parakeet on your device; or cloud models through your own keys or Pro |
| Free tier | "Free forever": microphone recording, common audio and video formats, 100 languages, .srt, .vtt and .txt export, "System wide dictation" | Local models, "Unlimited use", no account; your own API keys with no Spokenly charge |
| Paid | Pro: "Pay Once, €64 / license, Includes lifetime updates" | Pro: $99.99 a year (shown as $8.33 a month) |
| What paid adds | "System wide high quality dictation", automatic grammar improvement, AI prompts, meeting recording, more export formats, batch transcription | High-accuracy cloud models, sync across devices, AI text cleanup and Agent Mode, priority support |
| AI text processing | AI prompts with your own provider key or a local model through Ollama or LM Studio; needs Pro | Apple Intelligence on the free local plan, your own LLM key on the free keys plan, or included in Pro, per its pricing table |
| Platforms | Direct download: macOS. App Store edition (Whisper Transcription): Mac, iPhone, iPad, by subscription | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS |
| Network switch | None described; cloud features are off unless you use them | Local Only Mode blocks all network activity except model downloads and localhost |
| Source code | Not described as open source | "Not open source and does not have a public GitHub repository" |
| For IT and automation | MDM deployment entry in its FAQ; a command-line tool, mw | None found on the pages we read |
| Refund | See the refund entry in the FAQ on macwhisper.com | 14-day refund on Pro |
What is the trap on each side?
MacWhisper has two editions. Its edition comparison says the direct download "Allows dictation into any text field on your Mac", can detect meetings, and has a one-time lifetime licence. The App Store edition, Whisper Transcription, uses weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions and cannot take a licence key. Its dictation article says dictation is not in the App Store version. MacWhisper warns that scam sites imitate it; buy only from macwhisper.com or the App Store.
Spokenly's "free" has edges. With your own keys the provider bills you, and hosted cleanup and sync are Pro, a subscription with no one-time option.
How do their privacy controls differ?
MacWhisper is local unless you choose otherwise. Its privacy article names three features that send data out: cloud transcription providers such as Groq, ElevenLabs or Deepgram receive the audio; DeepL translation receives the transcript; and AI prompts send the transcript to providers such as OpenAI or Anthropic. Ollama or LM Studio keep AI processing on the Mac. Is MacWhisper safe? covers licence checks and updates.
Spokenly offers a switch. Its privacy policy, updated 2 October 2026, says local-model recordings and transcripts "never leave your device" and that analytics cover basic usage such as button clicks, never audio or transcripts. Local Only Mode "blocks even these minimal analytics", and if an online model is selected, "transcription fails because network requests are blocked". Is Spokenly safe? goes further.
We have not audited either app's network traffic.
What does each cost?
List prices as of 3 October 2026, one person, before tax. We have not converted currencies.
| Option | Year 1 | After 3 years |
|---|---|---|
| MacWhisper Free | €0 | €0 |
| Spokenly local models | $0 | $0 |
| MacWhisper Pro | €64 | €64 |
| Spokenly Pro, yearly | $99.99 | $299.97 |
Provider keys in either app add usage charges. MacWhisper pricing and Spokenly pricing list discounts.
Choose MacWhisper if…
- Recordings, video or subtitles are your main job.
- You want to pay once and keep the app.
- IT needs to deploy it with MDM.
Choose Spokenly if…
- Dictating into other apps is your main job.
- You want unlimited local dictation for $0.
- You want a switch that blocks network access.
- You use Windows, Linux or an iPhone too.
How do you test both in 15 minutes?
MacWhisper Free and Spokenly's local tier are enough. Use made-up content.
- Record a sample (2 minutes). Say: "Lecture notes, week four. Professor Anneliese Okafor. Enrolment rose to 1,870, not 1,780. Essays are due Friday the 24th."
- Transcribe the file in MacWhisper (3 minutes). Check the name, both numbers and the date. Try a .txt or .srt export.
- Dictate the same passage live in Spokenly (3 minutes) into a blank email, with a local model and Local Only Mode on.
- Dictate it with MacWhisper's dictation (3 minutes) in the direct-download edition, using a different shortcut.
- Turn Wi-Fi off and repeat steps 3 and 4 (2 minutes) to confirm both are local.
- Decide by job (2 minutes). If step 2 is your real work, MacWhisper; if step 3 is, compare steps 3 and 4.
A third option
If you only want live dictation on a Mac, SuprFlow does that single job: hold Fn, speak, release, and text from an on-device model is pasted at the cursor, with Default formatting doing local cleanup of punctuation, capitalization and numbers. Optional cloud formatting sends transcript text, not audio, to the provider you pick. It costs $125 once for lifetime access on up to five Macs you own, with a 7-day refund on a first purchase and no trial. It is the wrong choice for file transcription, meeting recording or subtitles (MacWhisper), for free local dictation, a network switch, or Windows, Linux or phone apps (Spokenly), and it is not open source. It needs Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. SuprFlow vs MacWhisper and SuprFlow vs Spokenly compare them.
Questions people ask
Can Spokenly transcribe audio files like MacWhisper?
Spokenly's site describes meeting recording on Mac, transcribed with local or cloud models, but the pages we read do not describe importing audio or video files. MacWhisper is built for file transcription.
Does MacWhisper have dictation like Spokenly?
Yes, in the direct-download edition from macwhisper.com. "System wide dictation" is free; "high quality" dictation and grammar improvement are Pro. The App Store edition has no dictation.
Is MacWhisper or Spokenly cheaper?
Both are free for local dictation. MacWhisper Pro is €64 once and adds transcription features; Spokenly Pro is $99.99 a year and adds cloud models and sync, as of 3 October 2026.
Related guides
- MacWhisper pricing
- Is MacWhisper safe and local?
- Spokenly pricing
- Is Spokenly safe?
- MacWhisper vs VoiceInk
- VoiceInk vs Spokenly
Sources
- MacWhisper — official site, pricing and FAQ
- MacWhisper Support — MacWhisper and Whisper Transcription Difference
- MacWhisper Support — Keeping Transcriptions Private
- MacWhisper Support — How to use the Dictation feature
- MacWhisper Support — MacWhisper Command Line Tool
- Spokenly — official site
- Spokenly — Pricing
- Spokenly Docs — Local Only Mode
- Spokenly — Privacy Policy (updated 2 October 2026)
- Spokenly — Open source statement