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

Superwhisper vs VoiceInk: which one fits your Mac

Both apps turn speech into text on a Mac. Both offer a local mode where your voice stays on the machine. The differences show up in platforms, price model and what each app does with your words after it hears them. Superwhisper runs on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. VoiceInk runs only on macOS, and only on Apple silicon Macs. If you switch between computers or use a phone, that alone can settle the choice.

What Superwhisper does well on a Mac

Superwhisper is a dictation app built around modes. The plain mode gives you raw text. The formatted mode cleans up punctuation and layout. Custom modes send your text to an AI model with instructions you write. The docs also describe a Write for me mode. Local voice models transcribe offline, and cloud models named S1-Voice and S1-Language handle the rest. On a Mac, Superwhisper can record Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Slack calls with no bot in the call. File transcription is a Pro feature.

What VoiceInk does well on a Mac

VoiceInk is narrower on purpose. It handles dictation across apps, a custom dictionary, Smart Replace, filler-word removal, and formatting for notes and email. It also writes timestamped Markdown journal notes. Transcription runs on local models, and the company says all voice transcription happens on your device. Cloud Enhancement is optional. If you turn it on, only the transcribed text goes out, not your voice.

Superwhisper vs VoiceInk pricing: one-time or monthly

VoiceInk's homepage lists three one-time tiers. Solo costs $25 for one macOS device. Personal costs $39 for up to two devices. Extended costs $49 for up to three devices. Each tier is marked no monthly bill. The company also offers a 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked, and student discounts on request.

Superwhisper's pricing is harder to pin down. Its /pricing URL returned a 404 page when checked on 2026-11-08. The homepage lists a Free plan at $0, a Pro plan and a custom Enterprise plan. It also shows Monthly, Yearly and Lifetime toggles. The Pro price on the homepage did not come through clearly, so this page does not state it. Read the pricing section on superwhisper.com yourself. Reviewers quote different Pro numbers, so do not rely on a reviewer's figure either.

Here is a simple check. Take the monthly price of a subscription and multiply it by 12. Compare that total with the one-time price for the number of Macs you own. Count your Macs honestly. VoiceInk Solo covers one Mac only. If you own a MacBook Pro and a Mac mini, Personal at $39 covers both, and Solo at $25 does not. Recurring costs add up, so the one-time option can look better after a few months.

Superwhisper vs VoiceInk privacy: where your voice goes

Superwhisper's privacy policy, last updated Oct 8, 2026, says that when you use a local model, your audio and transcripts never leave your device. Audio and transcripts processed by its cloud models are not stored on its servers after the request completes. Server logs are kept 30 days. Crash and error reports are kept up to 90 days. Request metadata is kept up to 3 months. On-device recordings and history stay until you delete them, unless you set automatic deletion.

VoiceInk says voice data never leaves the Mac. Its FAQ says local transcription runs on your device and that Cloud Enhancement is entirely optional. An independent user, Kevin Welter, wrote that local mode is private only when cloud models and cloud enhancement stay off. That is a setting you control, so check it before you dictate client notes, medical details or anything under an NDA.

Read both privacy pages with a simple test in mind. Both apps can keep audio local. Both can send audio or text to a cloud model if you switch that on. Open each app's settings from its menu bar icon and find the model section. Choose a local model. Turn off cloud features you do not need. Then open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor, switch to the Network tab, and dictate a test sentence. Quiet network activity during a local dictation is what you want to see.

Platforms and Mac requirements for each app

Superwhisper lists Mac, Windows, iOS and Android on its homepage. The Mac version requires macOS 13.3 or later. Its download page lists app version 3.2.1 for Mac, 1.6.11 for Windows, 3.2 for iOS and 0.6.3 for Android. Linux appears in its navigation, but no Linux download is listed. The homepage also says Intel Macs work best with cloud models, and offline models run well only on Apple silicon Macs.

VoiceInk requires Apple silicon and macOS 14.4 or later. Its FAQ recommends 8GB of RAM and says local models use the Neural Engine. Intel Macs cannot run it. Its homepage shows no app version number. An independent reviewer also reported conflicting system requirements across sources, so read the requirements on the download page before you buy.

Dictation quality and speed: what reviewers measured

Dictation accuracy depends on the text, the microphone and the speaker. One reviewer on tldv.io reported about 98% accuracy with Superwhisper on an easy paragraph, and about 88% on a hard technical script. That review is opinion, and the site that published it has its own interest in meeting tools, so treat the figures as one data point.

The same reviewer found that Superwhisper's cleanup can change meaning. The sentence start before I check my email came out as start without checking my email. You only catch that kind of error by reading the output. Turn formatting off for sensitive text, or pick a plain mode for notes you will send to someone else.

Kevin Welter reported a median of 0.71 seconds to text on a MacBook Pro, after 2,800 dictations with VoiceInk. He also found transcription errors with names. If you dictate names often, add them to the custom dictionary first. That step fixes most name errors before they reach your draft.

Speed also matters. A 2016 Stanford study of English texting found speech input 2.93 times faster than a keyboard, at 153 words per minute against 52. The same study found speech left more errors in final text, with an uncorrected error rate of 1.30% against 0.79%. The study covered touchscreen phones, not these apps, so use it as background only.

When Superwhisper is the better pick

• You use Windows, an iPhone or an Android phone as well as a Mac.
• You record meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or Slack and want no bot in the call.
• You want custom modes that send your text to an AI model with your own instructions.
• You need file transcription, and you are ready to pay for the Pro plan.
• You want a 30-day refund window that covers every plan.

Superwhisper has real weak spots. Reviewers mention a learning curve, because modes and models take time to set up. One reviewer said a 25-minute recording returned No voice found. The same reviewer said they would not recommend Superwhisper for meetings. Test one real call before you rely on it for work that matters.

When VoiceInk is the better pick

• You work on one Mac, or a few Macs, and want a one-time price.
• You want local transcription with no subscription to track.
• You want Smart Replace and filler-word removal built into dictation.
• You want timestamped Markdown journal notes from your voice.
• You want the company's open-source claim tested by your own review of the code.

VoiceInk has weak spots too. It is Mac-only, and it needs Apple silicon. Older Intel Macs cannot run it, and the homepage shows no app version. Its open-source claim is a company statement. One reviewer says the source is GPL-3.0, but this page did not verify that license, so check the repository yourself before you rely on it.

If you want a voice assistant, not just dictation

Superwhisper and VoiceInk both focus on turning speech into text. Lazur takes a different angle. It 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 actions by voice. Timers, Apple Reminders, Calendar events, notes, music and volume, opening apps and links, web search and Shortcuts are all on the list. Dictation is included too. Hold fn to dictate clean, formatted text at the cursor in any app. Dictation is not the headline, though. Lazur does not click buttons, edit files or operate other apps for you.

Lazur's Pro plan costs $18 a month, or $15 a month billed annually, with 150 AI actions. Power costs $120 a month, or $96 a month annually, with 1,000 AI actions. Dictation is unlimited on both plans. The 3-day Pro trial needs no credit card, and it starts when you first open the app. Lazur runs on macOS, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Windows is planned, not available. For the screen-aware angle, read Lazur vs Superwhisper on Mac.

On privacy, 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. Memory of what you asked stays on the Mac. For the local dictation angle, see Lazur vs VoiceInk on Mac.

A worked example: choosing for one week of real work

Say you write client email in Mail, draft notes in Notes, and join video calls most days. You also dictate into Slack and Google Docs. All of your work happens on one MacBook Pro. Start with three questions. Do you need meeting recording? Do you need Windows or a phone too? Do you want to pay once, or pay monthly for an extra feature set?

If meeting recording is on the list, test Superwhisper first. Record one real call on a normal day. Check the transcript for names, numbers and action items. If you only dictate text on one Mac, VoiceInk's one-time price is simpler to predict. Buy the Solo tier at $25, use it for the 14-day money-back window, and keep the receipt.

Keep the example honest. Your results depend on your accent, your microphone and the text you write. Dictate the same paragraph in both apps. Read each output aloud. Count the fixes you need. The app that needs fewer fixes on your real text is the right choice for you.

Mistakes people make when comparing these two apps

• Comparing a monthly plan with a one-time license without counting how many Macs you need.
• Assuming local means private. Check the cloud setting in both apps, because cloud features can be switched on.
• Ignoring the platform list. A Windows or iPhone user cannot use VoiceInk.
• Trusting one review. Most reviewers are competitors or independent users with a point of view.
• Testing with a short sentence. Test with a real paragraph that has a name, a date, a figure and a technical term.
• Forgetting the refund window. Superwhisper gives 30 days on all plans, and VoiceInk gives 14 days.

How to test both apps before you pay

Start with the free paths. Superwhisper's homepage says Pro features can be tried free for 3,000 words. Its refund window covers all plans for 30 days. VoiceInk's 14-day money-back guarantee covers the purchase. Lazur's 3-day Pro trial starts when you first open the app, with no credit card needed.

Use the same test for each app. Write a paragraph with a couple of names, a date, a dollar amount and one technical term. Dictate it a few times in each app. Note how long each output takes, which words came out wrong and whether any meaning changed. Use the dictation accuracy checker to score your results side by side.

What to do next

1. Open the pricing section on superwhisper.com, since its /pricing page returned a 404 when checked.
2. Open tryvoiceink.com and find the tier that matches the number of Macs you use.
3. Open each app's settings and choose a local model for sensitive text.
4. Dictate the same paragraph in both apps and compare the output line by line.
5. Decide on platform first, then price, then privacy.

If you want more options, read VoiceInk alternatives for Mac or Superwhisper alternatives for Mac. Both pages compare prices and privacy for other dictation apps, so you can see what else is on the market before you buy.