If you spend hours typing on your Mac every day, you've probably wondered if voice dictation could speed things up. The answer is yes — but the app you choose matters a lot. Some send your audio to the cloud. Some cost $10+/month. Some require you to configure Whisper models and API keys.
We tested the five most popular voice-to-text apps for Mac in 2026 and scored them on what actually matters: speed, accuracy, privacy, ease of setup, and price.
The contenders
1. Apple Dictation (built-in)
Price: Free
Processing: On-device (with cloud fallback)
Setup: Already on your Mac
Apple's built-in dictation has improved a lot with Apple Silicon, but it's still limited. It works in most text fields, but the accuracy drops off quickly with longer passages. There's no filler word cleanup, no smart punctuation for natural speech, and it occasionally sends audio to Apple's servers for processing. It also doesn't work well in terminal apps or code editors. Fine for a quick note, not great for anything serious.
2. SuperWhisper
Price: $10/month or $100/year
Processing: Local (optional cloud)
Setup: Model selection required
SuperWhisper is a capable app built on OpenAI's Whisper model. It supports multiple model sizes and can run locally on Apple Silicon. The transcription quality is solid, especially with the larger models. The downsides: it's a subscription ($10/month adds up fast), the setup involves choosing between model sizes and understanding the tradeoffs, and the cloud mode sends your audio to OpenAI. If you're technical and don't mind the recurring cost, it works — but it's not the simplest option.
3. MacWhisper
Price: Free (basic) / $30 Pro
Processing: Local
Setup: Model download + configuration
MacWhisper is more of a transcription tool than a live dictation app. It's great for transcribing audio files — meetings, interviews, podcasts. But for real-time dictation where you talk and text appears in your current app, it's clunky. You need to record, process, then copy-paste. The one-time pricing is fair, and it runs locally, but it doesn't feel like it was built for the "hold a key and talk" workflow.
4. Wispr Flow
Price: $10/month
Processing: Cloud
Setup: Account required
Wispr Flow focuses on AI-powered text transformation — it doesn't just transcribe, it rewrites your speech to match the context of the app you're in. Clever idea, but it sends all your audio to the cloud for processing. You need an account, an internet connection, and a subscription. If you're privacy-conscious or work offline at all, it's a non-starter. And at $10/month, you're paying $120/year for the privilege of sending your voice to someone else's server.
5. Voiced
Price: $40 one-time
Processing: 100% local
Setup: Download, grant two permissions, done
Voiced is a local voice dictation app for Mac that runs entirely on-device using Apple's CoreML. No cloud, no account, no model selection, no configuration. You download it, grant microphone and accessibility permissions, and start talking. The transcription model downloads automatically on first launch (~150 MB, takes about a minute).
It works in any app — Mail, Slack, Google Docs, VS Code, even Claude Code for vibe coding. Smart Cleanup automatically removes filler words and polishes your speech into clean text. And because everything runs locally, your audio never leaves your Mac.
The pricing is simple: $40 once, yours forever. That's less than four months of SuperWhisper or Wispr Flow.
How they compare
- Best privacy: Voiced — 100% on-device, zero telemetry, no account
- Best price: Apple Dictation is free but limited. For a real tool, Voiced at $40 one-time beats every subscription.
- Easiest setup: Voiced — download, two permissions, start talking. No model selection or API keys.
- Best for transcribing files: MacWhisper — it's built for that use case
- Best for AI rewriting: Wispr Flow — if you don't mind cloud processing and a subscription
- Best overall for daily dictation: Voiced
The bottom line
If you want a voice-to-text tool that's fast, private, simple to set up, and doesn't charge you every month, Voiced is the clear pick. It does one thing — local speech-to-text on Mac — and does it exceptionally well. No cloud dependency, no subscription fatigue, no PhD required to configure it.
Your voice, your Mac, your text. That's it.