Free and local Wispr Flow alternatives for Mac

Wispr Flow is a good product. It is also a cloud service: its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud, and its docs say you need an internet connection to start dictating. The free plan allows 2,000 words a week on desktop, and unlimited dictation starts at $12 per user per month billed annually (as of October 2026, per wisprflow.ai/pricing).

If any of those three things bothers you, here are six alternatives for the Mac that are free, local, or both. We make Gabble, so it is on the list. It is not the right answer for everyone, and each entry says who should pick something else.

Quick comparison

App	Runs locally	Price (as of October 2026)	Open source	Platforms
Gabble	Yes, always	Free	No	macOS 14+, Apple Silicon
VoiceInk	Yes, cloud opt-in	From $25 one-time, free if self-built	Yes, GPL v3	macOS, Apple Silicon
OpenWhispr	Yes, or cloud	Free locally. Pro $80 per user per year	Yes, MIT	macOS, Windows, Linux
MacWhisper	Yes, cloud optional	Free version. Pro €64 one-time	No	macOS
Superwhisper	Yes on Apple Silicon, or cloud	Free plan. Pro $8.49 a month	No	macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Apple Dictation	Depends on Mac and language	Free with macOS	No	macOS

1. Gabble

Gabble is a free menu bar app for Apple Silicon Macs. Hold a key, talk, release, and the text is pasted into the app in front. Speech recognition runs on the Mac with NVIDIA Parakeet or OpenAI Whisper models. Audio is never written to disk or uploaded. There is no account.

It covers a fair part of what people use Wispr Flow for: filler removal on-device, writing modes that switch per app, a custom dictionary, voice snippets, and a command mode that rewrites selected text by voice. The AI modes are optional and run through Ollama on your Mac or your own Anthropic or OpenAI-compatible key.

What it lacks: Windows, iOS, Android and Intel Mac versions. Meeting recording. Live text as you speak. Team features and sync. It is version 0.1 and closed source for now.

Pick it if you want free, unlimited, local dictation on one Mac. Download Gabble or read Gabble vs Wispr Flow.

2. VoiceInk

VoiceInk is a Mac dictation app for Apple Silicon, open source under GPL v3. It runs Whisper, Parakeet and SenseVoice models on the device. It has a personal dictionary, Smart Replace for expanding phrases, AI Enhancement for cleanup, and Power Mode, which applies settings by app. Its privacy page says that with AI Enhancement only transcribed text is sent to your provider, never audio.

The ready-made app is a one-time purchase: $25 for one Mac, $39 for two, $49 for three, as listed in October 2026, with lifetime updates and a 14-day money-back guarantee. You can also build it yourself from source for free. Check the site for current prices.

Pick it if you want code you can audit and a more mature app than Gabble, and you do not mind paying once. More in Gabble vs VoiceInk.

3. OpenWhispr

OpenWhispr is open source under the MIT licence and runs on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux. You choose local transcription with Whisper or Parakeet, or cloud transcription. Beyond dictation it has meeting transcription with speaker diarization, notes with semantic search, a custom dictionary, and bring-your-own-key AI providers.

Local models are free and unlimited. The hosted cloud transcription is limited to 2,000 words a week on the free plan, and Pro is $80 per user per year, per its pricing page in October 2026. It is an Electron app, not a Mac-only one.

Pick it if you need Windows, Linux or an Intel Mac, or want notes and meetings in the same tool. More in Gabble vs OpenWhispr.

4. MacWhisper

MacWhisper is a Mac transcription app built on local Whisper and Parakeet models. Its strength is recordings: drag-and-drop files, batch transcription, YouTube and podcast transcription, and automatic meeting recording for Zoom, Teams and others. System-wide dictation is included, even in the free version.

There is a version described as free forever, and Pro is €64 one-time per licence with lifetime updates, as listed in October 2026.

Pick it if you transcribe files and meetings more than you dictate. More in Gabble vs MacWhisper.

5. Superwhisper

Superwhisper is the closest to Wispr Flow in reach, with macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Unlike Wispr Flow, it can transcribe with local models on Apple Silicon Macs, without an internet connection. It also has cloud models, custom modes, custom vocabulary, file transcription and meeting recording.

It is not free in the way the others are. The free plan covers basic voice-to-text and meeting recording, and Pro is listed at $8.49 a month in October 2026, with yearly and lifetime options on the site.

Pick it if you want local transcription on the Mac and the same app on your phone. More in Gabble vs Superwhisper.

6. Apple Dictation

The dictation built into macOS is the alternative you already have. It is free, has no length limit, adds punctuation in supported languages, and works on Intel Macs. Whether it runs on device depends on your Mac and language. Apple says Keyboard Settings will tell you, and that otherwise what you dictate is processed on Apple's servers.

Apple's dictation guide does not describe filler removal, rewriting or per-app modes.

Pick it if you dictate occasionally and want nothing new on your Mac. More in Gabble vs Apple Dictation.

When should you stay with Wispr Flow?

Stay if you use it on your phone or on Windows every day, if you rely on its notetaker, or if your company needs SSO and a signed BAA. None of the local Mac apps above replaces all of that. Wispr Flow also needs no configuration, which is worth something.

Leaving makes sense when your dictation happens on one Mac and you care about cost, offline use, or keeping audio off servers.

How to choose

Free, local, Apple Silicon Mac, no build step: Gabble.
Open source, Mac only: VoiceInk.
Open source, any desktop OS: OpenWhispr.
Files and meetings first: MacWhisper.
Mac plus phones: Superwhisper.
Nothing to install: Apple Dictation.

Most of these are free to try. Dictate the same email in two of them and you will know. The full list, including cloud services, is in our roundup of dictation apps for Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Wispr Flow?

Yes. On a Mac, Gabble and OpenWhispr offer unlimited local dictation for free, MacWhisper has a free version, VoiceInk is free if you build it from source, and Apple Dictation is built into macOS.

Is there a Wispr Flow alternative that works offline?

Yes. Gabble, VoiceInk, OpenWhispr and MacWhisper all run speech models on your Mac, and Superwhisper does on Apple Silicon. Wispr Flow itself needs an internet connection.

What is the best open source alternative to Wispr Flow?

The two open source options here are OpenWhispr, under the MIT licence and cross-platform, and VoiceInk, under GPL v3 and Mac only. Pick OpenWhispr for Windows, Linux or meetings and VoiceInk for a Mac-only dictation app.

Why do people look for Wispr Flow alternatives?

The usual reasons are that Wispr Flow processes audio in the cloud, needs an internet connection, and limits its free plan to 2,000 words a week on desktop with a subscription for unlimited use.

Which alternative is closest to Wispr Flow on iPhone and Android?

Of the apps here, Superwhisper is the one with macOS, Windows, iOS and Android versions. Gabble, VoiceInk and MacWhisper are Mac-focused.

Do local dictation apps clean up filler words like Wispr Flow does?

Several do. Gabble removes fillers on-device by default and offers optional AI modes. VoiceInk, Superwhisper and MacWhisper have their own AI cleanup or grammar features.