MacWhisper vs Superwhisper on Mac in 2026: prices, privacy and which one to pick

MacWhisper vs Superwhisper: the short answer

The two apps overlap, but they center on different jobs. MacWhisper is built around files and recordings. Its site lists file transcription in 100 languages, batch processing, watched folders, meeting recording and a command line tool. Superwhisper is built around speaking into your cursor. Its homepage lists push to talk, automatic clipboard paste and predefined modes named Voice, Message and Email.

Start with the job you do most each week. If you have a folder of interview recordings, MacWhisper fits that work. If you write emails, notes and chat messages all day, Superwhisper fits that work. Some people need both. In that case, price the two together before you decide, because you may end up paying for two tools.

MacWhisper vs Superwhisper price in 2026

What MacWhisper costs

MacWhisper's homepage lists Pro as a pay-once license at €64 per license, with lifetime updates. It also lists a free tier at €0 per month. This page takes its price from the homepage, because MacWhisper's pricing URL did not load when this page was checked on 2026-11-09. The Gumroad listing showed the product name but no price, so no Gumroad price is used here.

The Mac App Store uses a different price list. Its listing shows a Pro Lifetime option at $89.99 and another at $99.99. It also lists monthly and yearly subscriptions for an Assistant tier. The listing does not map each price to a feature tier. Read the purchase names before you pay, and check which store you are buying from.

What Superwhisper costs

Superwhisper's plans page lists Pro Monthly at $8.49 per month, Pro Annual at $84.99 per year and Pro Lifetime at $249.99 once. The page says the annual plan saves about 17% against monthly. All Pro plans include the same features. Enterprise has no public price. The page says it covers seat licensing, SSO and centralized deployment.

• Superwhisper Free: unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, up to two modes, custom vocabulary and text replacements.
• Superwhisper Free modes cannot use AI processing. Meetings on Free include only free words.
• Superwhisper trial: 3,000 words of free Pro access, including Meetings. Then the app reverts to Free without deleting anything.
• MacWhisper Free: a free tier with no limits published on its homepage. One third-party review says batch work and larger models need Pro.

Put the two lifetime prices side by side and you get a rough sense of cost. Superwhisper's lifetime plan is $249.99. MacWhisper's homepage lists €64 in euros. The currencies are different, so do not treat the two numbers as equal. Open each checkout page and read the exact amount in your own currency before you buy.

MacWhisper vs Superwhisper for dictation and file transcription

Superwhisper is built around speaking into the app you already use. Its features include push to talk, automatic clipboard paste, shortcuts and a meeting assistant. Its homepage also mentions agentic coding with Cursor and Claude Code. Custom Mode is listed as a Pro feature.

MacWhisper is built around recordings and files. Its site describes file transcription, microphone recording, speaker recognition, batch processing and translation. It also lists system-wide dictation, so it can type into other apps too. Dictation is one feature among many on that list.

A Voibe review says MacWhisper is not a real-time dictation app. Voibe sells a competing product, and the review says so. Treat that as one opinion. Test the live dictation part yourself before you decide.

Both apps list file transcription, so the file case is not a clean split. Say you have one long interview saved as an audio file. Both apps can work on it. The difference is the default workflow. MacWhisper treats files as the main event. Superwhisper treats file transcription as one feature among many.

MacWhisper vs Superwhisper privacy: where your audio goes

MacWhisper privacy

MacWhisper's App Store listing says local transcription and supported speaker identification run on the device. Audio or transcript text leaves the device only when you choose a cloud transcription, translation or AI service. The homepage says you can process sensitive content locally without data leaving your Mac. It also says cloud providers receive data when you use them.

The App Store privacy section is filled in by the developer, and Apple does not verify it. It lists product interaction data used for analytics, marked as not linked to you. Read that as the developer's own claim, and decide if it matters for your work.

Superwhisper privacy

Superwhisper's privacy policy, last updated October 8, 2026, says that when you use a local model, your audio and transcripts never leave your device. Cloud model audio and transcripts are processed in memory and are not stored after the request completes. The policy says that data is not used to train AI models.

The policy also sets retention periods. Problem reports are kept for 90 days, and shared meeting summaries for 30 days. Superwhisper's sensitive-data guide says all transcription history is stored on your device. Its FileSync feature syncs configuration data only, not transcription content or audio.

• Assuming offline means every feature is offline. AI modes and cloud models send data out.
• Skipping the model picker. Your model choice decides where audio goes, not the app name.
• Trusting a store listing alone. Read the privacy policy on the developer's own site as well.

MacWhisper vs Superwhisper platforms: Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android

MacWhisper runs on the Mac. Its App Store listing requires macOS 15.0 or later, so an older Mac cannot install the current store version. The homepage does not state platforms in its text. It links to a system requirements FAQ instead. Read that FAQ before you buy if your Mac runs an older system.

Superwhisper's homepage lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. Its plans page says one Pro license works on unlimited Macs and Windows PCs, plus an iPhone and an Android phone. A Product Hunt reviewer says the app runs on Mac and iPhone only. The official pages list Windows, so this page follows them.

If you use an Intel Mac, read this part carefully. Superwhisper's homepage says Intel Macs work best with cloud models. It also says offline models only run really well on Apple Silicon Macs. An Intel Mac owner who wants offline dictation should test first, before buying a Lifetime plan.

MacWhisper and Superwhisper reviews compared

On Product Hunt, MacWhisper has a 4.9 rating from 7 reviews. Reviewers praise its accuracy, on-device privacy and a simple, native-feeling interface. The listing shows no complaints in its cons section.

Superwhisper has a 4.9 rating from 22 reviews. Reviewers praise its accuracy, custom modes, vocabulary and the choice of cloud or local models. Complaints include the iPhone app sometimes missing recordings, and mobile that needs more polish.

Those samples are small. Seven reviews and 22 reviews cannot tell you how an app handles your accent or your jargon. Use them to spot patterns, then run your own test.

A Voibe review gives MacWhisper 7.5 out of 10. It praises on-device accuracy and batch file transcription. It lists weak spots too. MacWhisper is Apple-only, Pro is needed for batch work and larger models, and pricing differs between Gumroad and the App Store.

Where Lazur fits if you want a third option

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac that lives in the notch. Hold ⌥ ⌘ to ask about anything on screen, and Lazur answers out loud. Ask where something is, and Lazur draws a circle and a label around it. Ask how to do something, and Lazur guides you one click at a time, waiting for each click.

Lazur also handles everyday voice actions. These include timers, Apple Reminders, Calendar events, notes, music, opening apps and web search. Hold fn to dictate clean, formatted text at the cursor in any app. Snippets, a personal dictionary and clipboard slots come with it. Dictation is included, but it is not the headline.

Lazur does not click buttons, edit files or operate other apps for you. It is not a plugin or add-in for any app, and it has no partnerships with app makers. File transcription is not on its feature list, so MacWhisper is the better fit for recordings.

Lazur's Pro plan is $18 per month, or $15 per month billed annually, with 150 AI actions. Power is $120 per month, or $96 per month billed annually, with 1,000 AI actions. Dictation is unlimited on both. The trial is 3 days with no credit card, and it starts when you first open the app.

Lazur listens and looks at the screen only while you hold the shortcut. Audio and the screenshot go to AI providers to answer, and they are not stored. Content is never used to train AI models. Lazur runs on macOS, on Apple silicon and Intel. Windows is planned, but not available.

Which one should you pick: MacWhisper or Superwhisper

• Pick MacWhisper if you transcribe recordings and batch files on a Mac and like a pay-once license.
• Pick Superwhisper if you dictate all day into many apps and want the same setup on Windows or a phone.
• Pick Superwhisper if you want custom modes and a choice between cloud and local models.
• Pick Lazur if you want help while you work on screen, plus dictation and everyday voice actions.
• Pick two apps if you need both a file workflow and a dictation habit.

Worked example: a typical week of calls and email

Take a week with several recorded calls, a lot of email and daily notes. The calls are files. MacWhisper's batch processing and watched folders suit that work. The email and notes are typing. Superwhisper's push to talk and automatic paste suit that work. If both matter equally, you may run two apps. If one matters more, start with that one.

Speech can beat typing on short messages, but the evidence has limits. A 2016 lab study of short messages on an iPhone 6 Plus found English speech reached 153 words per minute. A QWERTY keyboard reached 52. The corrected error rate was 5.30% for speech and 11.22% for the keyboard. Uncorrected errors in the final text were higher for speech, at 1.30% against 0.79%.

That study did not test MacWhisper or Superwhisper. It used a different speech recognizer, Baidu's Deep Speech 2, and the page does not state how many people took part. Treat it as a rough hint that speech is fast. Then measure your own speed with the speaking vs typing test.

Edge cases: long recordings, accents and jargon

A long recording takes longer to process than a short dictation. Test with a file of the real length, not a clip. Accents and jargon change accuracy. No source in this research measures how either app handles your accent or your terms. Superwhisper's Free plan includes custom vocabulary, so add the names and product terms your work uses.

If two apps use the same key, one of them will miss presses. Pick a different key for each app. Keep your microphone permission on for each app in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone. A missing permission looks like a broken app, when the fix is one switch.

Mistakes to avoid when comparing these two apps

• Comparing a euro price with a dollar price. MacWhisper's homepage uses euros, and the App Store uses dollars.
• Trusting a third-party price. Third-party pages show different MacWhisper prices, so use the store you buy from.
• Assuming Free means unlimited. Superwhisper Free has two modes and no AI processing inside modes.
• Skipping the trial. Superwhisper gives 3,000 words of Pro access. Test your real work before you buy Lifetime.
• Ignoring your Mac model. Superwhisper says Intel Macs work best with cloud models.
• Forgetting microphone permission. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and turn the app on.

How to test both apps in one afternoon

1. Install MacWhisper from macwhisper.com or the Mac App Store. The store listing is called Whisper Transcription.
2. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and allow each app to use the microphone.
3. Record the same short paragraph in each app, with your normal microphone and room.
4. Count the fixes you make in each transcript. Note how long each fix takes.
5. Check the model setting. For sensitive audio, confirm you are on a local model.
6. Start Superwhisper's Free plan, then use the 3,000-word Pro trial on real work.
7. If you want voice help on screen, get Lazur from the download page and hold ⌥ ⌘ to ask a question.