MacWhisper is a transcription app for the Mac, made by Jordi Bruin and friends at Good Snooze in the Netherlands. Its website says it "transcribes audio, video, meetings, and system audio locally on your Mac using Whisper, Parakeet and other AI models". It also includes system-wide dictation. There is a free version, and MacWhisper Pro is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.
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.
This profile is built from MacWhisper's own pages. We have not tested MacWhisper, and nothing here is a judgement of its quality or accuracy.
MacWhisper quick facts
| What MacWhisper's pages say | |
|---|---|
| Maker | "Jordi Bruin and friends at Good Snooze in the Netherlands" (macwhisper.com). |
| Platforms | MacWhisper is the direct download for macOS. A separate edition, Whisper Transcription, is sold on the App Store for Mac and iOS (edition differences). |
| Where speech is processed | On your Mac by default: transcription "is all performed locally on your Mac or iOS device". Optional cloud transcription providers receive your audio if you choose them (privacy article). |
| Price model | As of 3 October 2026: MacWhisper Free €0, "Free forever"; MacWhisper Pro €64, "Pay Once", with lifetime updates (macwhisper.com). The App Store edition uses weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions. |
| Free tier | Yes: microphone recording, file transcription in 100 languages, .txt and subtitle export, and system-wide dictation. |
| Notable documented features | File and video transcription, subtitles, automatic meeting recording, speaker recognition, batch transcription, AI prompts with your own API keys, watched folders and automation. Many are Pro-only. |
| Privacy documents | A privacy policy and a help article on keeping transcriptions private. |
| Source availability | Commercial app. Its pages do not describe it as open source or link to its source code. |
What does MacWhisper do?
MacWhisper is first a transcription workspace. You give it a recording, a video file or a media link, and it turns the speech into text using a speech model downloaded to your Mac. You can then export the text as a document or as subtitle files. The free version handles common audio and video formats, 100 languages and .txt, .srt and .vtt export.
MacWhisper Pro, according to the pricing section on its site, adds speaker recognition, batch transcription, transcription of YouTube and media URLs, more export formats (.md, .pdf, .html, .docx), translation, and automatic recording of meetings in Zoom, Teams, Webex and other apps, with start and end detection. It can also connect to AI providers with your own API keys, or to local AI tools such as Ollama and LM Studio, to run prompts over a transcript.
Dictation is the second job. The free version lists "System wide dictation", and Pro lists "System wide high quality dictation", grammar improvement and AI prompts while dictating. MacWhisper's edition article says dictation into any text field is available only in the direct download, not in the App Store edition.
Who is MacWhisper for?
Based on its own pages, MacWhisper suits people who:
- transcribe interviews, lectures, podcasts or videos and want the work done on their Mac by default;
- need subtitles in .srt or .vtt;
- want meetings recorded and transcribed automatically (Pro);
- prefer paying once over a subscription;
- manage Macs for an organisation, since the direct download supports MDM settings.
Who may want something else?
These reasons come from MacWhisper's own pages:
- You need Windows or Android. MacWhisper lists macOS, and its App Store edition adds iOS.
- You want dictation in the App Store edition. Its edition article says dictation into any text field and automatic meeting recording are not in Whisper Transcription.
- You want AI features without a separate provider bill. AI prompts use your own API key or a local model; the €64 does not cover provider usage.
- A vendor review needs audit reports. We found no SOC 2 report, ISO certificate or BAA on its pages; see our MacWhisper safety guide.
How does MacWhisper compare?
- Price and what Pro adds: MacWhisper pricing and Is MacWhisper Pro worth it?
- Privacy and local processing: Is MacWhisper safe and local?
- Other options: MacWhisper alternatives
- Head to head: SuprFlow vs MacWhisper, Superwhisper vs MacWhisper, MacWhisper vs Wispr Flow and MacWhisper vs VoiceInk
- Problems: MacWhisper not working. Pro is a one-time licence on the direct download, so there is no subscription to cancel there.
Where does SuprFlow fit?
SuprFlow, which publishes this page, is a different trade-off: it does one job, live dictation into the app you are using, with local speech on the Mac through an on-device model and one payment ($125 lifetime access for up to 5 Macs you own, a 7-day refund on a first purchase, no subscription). Default formatting is local cleanup of punctuation, capitalization and numbers. Optional cloud formatting sends transcript text, not audio, to the provider you pick.
SuprFlow is the wrong choice if you transcribe recordings, need subtitles, want a meeting recorder, or want a free version. It has no file transcription and no meeting recorder, and MacWhisper Pro also costs less. MacWhisper Free is the place to start if transcription is the job.
Questions people ask
Is MacWhisper free?
Yes, there is a free version. As of 3 October 2026, macwhisper.com lists MacWhisper Free as "Free forever", with file transcription in 100 languages, subtitle and .txt export, and system-wide dictation. MacWhisper pricing sets out Free against Pro.
Is MacWhisper safe?
MacWhisper's help centre says transcription is performed locally by default and that transcription data does not leave the device. Optional cloud transcription, DeepL translation and cloud AI prompts do send data out. MacWhisper also warns about fake download sites. Details are in Is MacWhisper safe and local?
Does MacWhisper work offline?
Its transcription runs on your Mac with a downloaded model by default, so it does not rely on a cloud service for that step. Cloud transcription, translation and cloud AI prompts need a connection. MacWhisper's pages do not promise offline use in those words, so test with Wi-Fi off.
How much is MacWhisper?
As of 3 October 2026, MacWhisper Pro is €64 once with lifetime updates, and MacWhisper Free costs nothing. Your checkout may show another currency or add tax. See MacWhisper pricing.
Related guides
- MacWhisper pricing
- Is MacWhisper safe and local?
- MacWhisper alternatives
- SuprFlow vs MacWhisper
- What is dictation software?
- Offline voice to text on Mac