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MacWhisper vs superwhisper

A side-by-side comparison of MacWhisper and superwhisper, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.

Compared from listings verified as of

MacWhisper

Audio

Private, on-device audio and video transcription for Mac.

View MacWhisper

superwhisper

Voice

Turn your voice into polished text in any app.

View superwhisper

At a glance

Feature comparison of MacWhisper and superwhisper
AttributeMacWhispersuperwhisper
Category (differs)AudioVoice
PricingFREEMIUMFREEMIUM
LicenseProprietaryProprietary
DeploymentLocalLocal
Platforms (differs)macOSmacOS, Windows, iOS
Model support (differs)Self-contained (on-device)Multi-model
Vendor (differs)Good Snoozesuperwhisper
Capabilities (differs)
  • Transcription (STT)
  • Speaker diarization
  • Subtitle generation
  • Dictation
  • Speech translation
  • Dictation
  • Transcription (STT)
  • Editing / grammar
  • Meeting notes

The honest brief

MacWhisper

Fully on-device transcription (Whisper + Parakeet) — no upload, no subscription required, ~30x realtime on Apple Silicon.

  • One-time lifetime license option
  • Runs Whisper and Parakeet models
  • Metal-accelerated on Apple Silicon
  • Speaker labels, timestamps, 50+ exports
  • Drag-and-drop audio/video files
  • macOS only (no Windows/Linux/web)
  • Pro features and larger models are gated
  • Accuracy depends on chosen Whisper model
  • No cloud sync or collaboration

superwhisper

On-device local models on the free tier mean dictation that never uploads your audio — privacy most cloud-only dictation apps can't match.

  • Free tier with on-device models
  • Works system-wide in any app
  • Per-mode model selection
  • macOS, Windows, and iOS
  • Cloud models gated to Pro
  • Mac is the most mature platform
  • Larger local models need more RAM

When to pick which

Both cover Transcription (STT) and Dictation.

Pick MacWhisper if you need Speaker diarization, Subtitle generation, and Speech translation.

  • Speaker diarization (secondary capability)
  • Subtitle generation (secondary capability)
  • Speech translation (secondary capability)

Pick superwhisper if you need Editing / grammar and Meeting notes.

  • Editing / grammar (secondary capability)
  • Meeting notes (secondary capability)

They share capabilities, but each leads with different ones as a headline job:

MacWhisper is built around Transcription (STT).

  • Transcription (STT) (primary capability)

superwhisper is built around Dictation.

  • Dictation (primary capability)

They also differ on:

Platforms
macOS · macOS, Windows, iOS
Model support
Self-contained (on-device) · Multi-model
MacWhisper detailssuperwhisper details