BetterDictation and SuprFlow are close cousins: both are paid Mac apps for Apple Silicon that recognise speech on the Mac with a Whisper model, both are bought once, and both type the result into whatever app you are using. BetterDictation is much cheaper for one to three Macs ($39 for one) and offers optional AI cleanup through OpenAI for $2 a month billed annually. SuprFlow costs $125 for up to five Macs you own and adds a personal dictionary, voice snippets, a local history and a choice of where optional AI formatting runs, including a local Ollama model. If price decides it, BetterDictation wins.
Publisher note: SuprFlow publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Competitor details come from each company's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change; confirm before you buy.
We have not run a controlled benchmark of either app. Everything below comes from each company's own pages, followed by a test you can run yourself.
How do SuprFlow and BetterDictation compare?
As of 1 October 2026. BetterDictation details are from its home page and pricing, Pro page, user guide and privacy policy. SuprFlow details are from its requirements and terms.
| SuprFlow | BetterDictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Where speech is processed | On the Mac, with a downloaded WhisperKit model | On the Mac: "Powered by OpenAI's Whisper, running entirely on Apple's Neural Engine"; its FAQ names whisper-large-v3-turbo |
| Default cleanup | Local cleanup of punctuation, capitalization and numbers | Punctuation from the local transcription; filler removal, formatting and grammar fixes are Pro features |
| Optional AI formatting | Cloud API (transcript text, not audio, to a provider you configure) or Local (Ollama) | Pro: "the text transcription is then sent to OpenAI's API for post-processing", with an editable prompt |
| Mac requirements | Apple Silicon, macOS 14 or later | Apple Silicon (M1 or newer); its user guide says macOS Sonoma 14.4 or later |
| Other platforms | None | None yet; the site says "Windows soon" |
| Price model | $125 once for up to five Macs you personally own | Basic $39 once (one Mac); Flex $49 once (three Macs, three months of Pro); Studio $149 once (ten Macs); Pro $2 a month billed annually |
| Free trial or refund | No free tier or trial; 7-day refund on a first purchase | No free tier listed; 14-day money-back guarantee |
| Start and stop | Hold Fn (Space while holding locks hands-free) or a custom toggle hotkey | Push-to-talk or toggle-to-talk. The home page shows Option-Space; the user guide says hold Control-V |
| Extras documented | Personal dictionary, voice snippets, local history of up to 100 transcriptions, optional clipboard history | Model presets you cycle with Control-Shift-L (for languages or prompts), Dim Audio while recording |
What do the privacy policies actually say?
BetterDictation's home page says "nothing ever leaves your Mac". Its privacy policy, effective January 2025, is more precise, and it is the document to rely on:
- Initial dictation is processed locally, and for users without Pro "no audio recordings or transcriptions are sent to our servers".
- With Pro, "your transcribed text (but not your audio) will be processed through OpenAI's services", subject to OpenAI's privacy policy and terms.
- "The only information we collect and send to our servers is basic telemetry data", described as application performance and crash reports.
- "No audio recordings are ever transmitted from your device."
That is a clear, short policy, and it matches the architecture: speech on the Mac, text to OpenAI only if you pay for Pro.
SuprFlow's design is similar on speech. The differences are in the optional step. SuprFlow's Default formatting runs on the Mac with no add-on. Its Cloud API mode sends transcript text, not audio, to a provider you configure, so you choose whose terms apply, and its Local (Ollama) mode keeps formatting on the Mac if the Ollama endpoint is on that Mac. As with BetterDictation's telemetry, local speech is not the same as no network: SuprFlow uses the internet for licence checks, model downloads, app updates and usage telemetry. Where does my dictation go? maps each path.
What does each cost over three years?
List prices as of 1 October 2026, USD, before tax. Pro is shown at $24 a year ($2 a month billed annually).
| Option | Macs covered | Year 1 | After 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetterDictation Basic | 1 | $39 | $39 |
| BetterDictation Basic + Pro | 1 | $63 | $111 |
| BetterDictation Flex, no Pro after the free months | 3 | $49 | $49 |
| BetterDictation Studio, no Pro | 10 | $149 | $149 |
| SuprFlow | Up to 5 you own | $125 | $125 |
Studio's Pro is priced per device, so ten Macs with Pro cost more. For one to three Macs, BetterDictation is cheaper in every row. SuprFlow only comes out ahead on price if you have four or five personal Macs and do not need ten.
Choose BetterDictation if…
- You want local speech recognition for the lowest one-time price.
- You have one to three Macs, or more than five (Studio covers ten).
- You are happy for optional AI cleanup to go to OpenAI, at $2 a month billed annually.
- You want a 14-day refund window rather than seven days.
- You may want a Windows version later; BetterDictation says one is coming, and SuprFlow does not offer one.
Choose SuprFlow if…
- You want local cleanup of punctuation, capitalization and numbers by default, with no subscription for it.
- You want to pick your own AI provider for formatting, or run formatting through Ollama on the Mac.
- You rely on a personal dictionary for names and acronyms, voice snippets, or a recovery picker (Control-Command-V) for a recent transcription.
- You have four or five Macs you personally own.
Neither company's pages describe audio-file transcription, meeting recording or an iPhone app. If you need those, see Superwhisper vs MacWhisper.
How do you test both in 15 minutes?
Neither has a free trial, so buy within the refund window (14 days for BetterDictation, 7 for SuprFlow) and test early. Use a fictional script.
- Install both and grant Microphone and Accessibility. Check that neither shortcut clashes with one you already use.
- Turn off BetterDictation Pro and SuprFlow's Cloud API, so you compare local results.
- In your mail app, dictate: "Hi Anneliese, the invoice is 2,375 dollars, not 2,735. Delivery is Thursday the 16th at 8:30. Please copy Ms. Nakashima-Reid."
- Check the surname, both amounts, the date and the time.
- Turn Wi-Fi off and repeat in both.
- Dictate two sentences full of your own names and jargon. Add misses to SuprFlow's dictionary, try a larger model in BetterDictation, and retry.
Keep the one that needed fewer fixes.
Questions people ask
Is BetterDictation offline?
Its FAQ says it "operates fully offline, processing voice-to-text locally on your device", and that Pro features need internet access. Its privacy policy says basic telemetry is sent to its servers.
Does BetterDictation send my voice to OpenAI?
Not according to its privacy policy. With Pro, the transcribed text, not the audio, goes to OpenAI's API for cleanup. Without Pro, it says no audio or transcriptions are sent to its servers.
Is BetterDictation cheaper than SuprFlow?
Yes for one to three Macs: $39 for one Mac or $49 for three, against SuprFlow's $125 for up to five, as of 1 October 2026. Pro cleanup is an extra $2 a month billed annually.
Does BetterDictation work on an Intel Mac?
No. Its FAQ says it needs Apple Silicon (M1 or newer). SuprFlow also requires Apple Silicon.
Related guides
- BetterDictation alternatives for Mac
- Mac dictation apps you can buy once
- Does cloud formatting send audio or text?
- Is SuprFlow's Ollama formatting local?
- SuprFlow vs VoiceInk
- Where does my dictation go?