Open source alternative to Wispr Flow, Superwhisper, Willow Voice and Aqua Voice
Last verified
Convert speech to text on macOS with on-device whisper.cpp; hold a hotkey, speak, and the transcription pastes at the cursor with no audio upload.
Medical practitioners, lawyers, and financial advisors who cannot send voice data to a third-party server can dictate notes, reports, and correspondence directly in any Mac app. The audio stays on the device; only the finished text exists after transcription.
If your Mac uses an Intel chip, this app does not run. If you need dictation on Windows, iOS, or Android, look at a tool that supports your platform.
Long prompts for AI coding tools are faster to speak than type. The app pastes text directly into the terminal, editor, or AI chat window as if it were typed. The glossary handles file names, function names, and technical acronyms that Whisper would otherwise lowercase or misspell.
If your workflow is primarily on Windows or Linux, this app does not run on those platforms.
Speak a first draft into an email, document, or note-taking app without switching windows. The hold-to-talk mode keeps the interaction minimal: hold the key, speak the sentence, release, and the text appears. History stores the last transcriptions for recall.
If you want transcription to automatically clean grammar or expand sentences without manually enabling refine mode, a cloud tool with an integrated AI writing layer may suit better.
Dictate in Portuguese (or any of the other supported input languages) and paste the result in one of nine target languages. The Cmd+Shift+T shortcut runs transcription and translation in one step via OpenRouter, requiring only a personal API key.
If you need translation without setting up an OpenRouter key, Wispr Flow includes cloud-based translation in its paid tier.
Cloud dictation apps send your audio to a remote server for processing. That works when the content is low-stakes, but it breaks down for anyone handling medical notes, legal documents, code descriptions, or private correspondence. A transcript service that has heard every sentence you dictate is a data liability.
The cost adds up too. Wispr Flow charges $144 per year for unlimited dictation; Superwhisper's comparable plan runs $84.99. Either tool ties you to the vendor's infrastructure and their uptime. On a slow connection or a flight, dictation stops working entirely. A local transcription model loaded in memory does not have these failure modes.
Transcription runs on-device using whisper.cpp with Metal acceleration. The model stays loaded in memory so the first word does not wait for a cold start; measured latency is 0.7 seconds from key release to pasted text for a five-second phrase. No audio leaves the device at any point.
Choose from tiny (75 MB), base, small, medium, or large-v3-turbo (1.6 GB). The app downloads the model you select from Hugging Face. Switch models from the menu bar without restarting; each entry shows how long transcription took on your Mac so you can trade accuracy against speed.
Cmd+Shift+Space dictates in toggle or hold-to-talk mode. A double tap switches to hands-free mode. Cmd+Shift+T dictates and pastes a translation into one of nine target languages. Cmd+Option+V repastes the last transcription at the current cursor position. All shortcuts can be changed in settings.
Refine mode strips hesitations and repetitions from the transcript using a language model of your choice on OpenRouter. Translate mode dictates in one language and pastes in another. Both features send the transcribed text (never the audio) to OpenRouter with the API key you provide. Neither feature is required to use dictation.
Register custom words (file names, product names, acronyms, project codes) and the app writes them consistently. Whisper's base output may lowercase or misspell domain-specific terms; the glossary layer corrects them before the text is pasted at the cursor.
The app borrows the clipboard for under half a second to paste the transcription, then restores whatever was there before. Dictation history is stored only on your Mac, for 7 or 30 days, or kept only in memory. No analytics, no telemetry, no account is required.
Both tools transcribe dictation using keyboard shortcuts and paste the result at the cursor. The core difference is where processing happens.
| Feature | Speech To Text | Wispr Flow |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | Proprietary |
| Transcription | On-device (whisper.cpp) | Cloud |
| Price | Free | $144/year |
| Free tier | No limit | 2,000 words/week |
| Platforms | macOS Apple Silicon | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android |
| AI writing | Optional via OpenRouter key | Included |
Speech To Text is the better choice when audio privacy is the constraint. Medical professionals, lawyers, and anyone logging sensitive content cannot send voice data to an external server; local processing removes that liability. Cost matters too: Speech To Text is free for unlimited dictation while Wispr Flow's free tier runs out at 2,000 words per week.
Wispr Flow is worth considering when you need cross-platform dictation on iOS, Android, or Windows, or when you want an integrated AI writing assistant that rewrites and expands dictation without configuring a separate API key.
Superwhisper also runs whisper.cpp locally but extends support to Windows and packages refine and translate features into its Pro plan.
| Feature | Speech To Text | Superwhisper |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | Proprietary |
| Price | Free | $84.99 one-time |
| Platforms | macOS Apple Silicon | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Free tier | Full offline feature set | Small models only |
| Refine/translate | Via your own OpenRouter key | Included in Pro |
| Source code | Yes (GitHub, MIT) | No |
Speech To Text matches Superwhisper's core dictation loop at no cost, with the source code available for inspection. Superwhisper is worth paying for if you need cross-platform support, prefer not to set up an OpenRouter key for refine and translate, or want a larger pre-built model selection without manual configuration.
Run the setup script to install on macOS 14+ Apple Silicon.
```bash
curl -fsSL https://blob.ciromaciel.click/tools/speech-to-text/install.sh | bash
```No. Transcription runs entirely on your Mac using whisper.cpp. The only network calls are: downloading a model from Hugging Face when you select one, checking for updates every six hours, and optionally sending the transcribed text (not the audio) to OpenRouter if you enable refine or translate. Audio is processed locally and discarded immediately after transcription.
Speech To Text runs on Macs with Apple Silicon. Intel Macs are not supported by the published release. Windows and Linux builds are not maintained or distributed. The README notes the Tauri codebase can build for other platforms, but those builds are not published.
Wispr Flow processes transcription in the cloud and charges $144/year; Superwhisper offers a one-time plan at $84.99 and also runs whisper.cpp locally. Speech To Text is MIT licensed, free with no minute limits, and processes everything on-device. Wispr Flow and Superwhisper support iOS, Android, and Windows; Speech To Text is macOS Apple Silicon only. Both paid tools include bundled AI writing features; Speech To Text handles those as optional add-ons requiring your own OpenRouter key.
The app installer is 12 MB and the installed app is 30 MB without models. Models range from 75 MB (tiny) to 1.6 GB (large-v3-turbo). You download only the models you use. The app recommends starting with the default model and switching to a larger one if accuracy on your vocabulary is insufficient.
Yes, after the initial model download. Transcription, the glossary, and history all work offline. Refine and translate require an internet connection to reach OpenRouter. Update checks also require connectivity, but failing them does not affect dictation.
#1 in the Wispr Flow guide
Cross-platform offline dictation on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with the largest community of the eight
#2 in the Wispr Flow guide
Apple Silicon Mac dictation with local AI enhancement and no subscription
#3 in the Wispr Flow guide
macOS 15+ dictation with live transcription preview and optional on-device AI cleanup
#4 in the Wispr Flow guide
Cross-platform dictation with documented meeting transcription, live diarization, and optional cloud processing
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