Honest comparison
A superwhisper alternative that costs $79 once — and never sends audio anywhere
This page is for people who like superwhisper but balk at $249.99 lifetime or $8.49 a month. The short verdict: superwhisper is the more configurable tool. SuperDictate is the simpler one, costs less than a third as much to own, and your audio never leaves your computer. No cloud mode exists.
Credit first
What superwhisper gets right
superwhisper is a good app — pretending otherwise would insult your intelligence. As of June 2026 it runs on macOS 13+, Windows 10/11 (official since December 2025), and iOS 18+, and its iOS app holds a 4.4/5 rating from 788 reviews on the US App Store. Its free plan has no minutes cap on its smallest local models. It records meetings, transcribes files, handles 100+ languages with translation to English, and lets power users build custom modes with per-mode hotkeys, models, and LLM prompts. The recurring community verdict — "great if you want to tinker" — is meant as praise.
So why does this page exist? Two reasons: the price, and the asterisk on the privacy story. The lifetime license is $249.99 — as of June 2026 the most expensive on-device dictation app in its category — and its most accurate transcription models are cloud models that send your audio to superwhisper's servers. SuperDictate takes the opposite trade on both.
Side by side
SuperDictate vs superwhisper
| SuperDictate | superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $79 once — every feature, no tiers | $8.49/mo, $84.99/yr, or $249.99 lifetime; free plan limited to its smallest local models |
| Platforms | macOS 13+ and Windows 10/11 | macOS 13+, Windows 10/11, and iOS 18+ — superwhisper has an iPhone app; we don't |
| License coverage | One license covers your Mac and your Windows PC | One Pro license covers unlimited devices across Windows, Mac, and iOS — broader than ours |
| Where audio is processed | 100% on-device, always. No cloud mode exists. Works in airplane mode | Local models stay on-device; its most accurate models (Ultra, S1-Voice, Deepgram Nova, ElevenLabs Scribe V2) send audio through superwhisper's cloud proxy. Intel Macs are steered toward cloud models |
| Speech engine | The speech model runs on your device | Local: OpenAI Whisper variants via whisper.cpp, plus NVIDIA Parakeet via WhisperKit (Pro). Cloud: Ultra, S1-Voice, Deepgram, ElevenLabs |
| AI text step | Optional polish, text-only, off by default — local via Ollama or your own API key | Per-mode LLM post-processing, cloud or local; BYO API keys are Pro-only, and regular cloud use adds an estimated $3–40+/month in API costs |
| Free tier | 15 minutes per calendar month, every feature, no credit card | Unlimited minutes, but locked to its smallest local models (75–500 MB); bigger models, cloud accuracy, translation, and file transcription need Pro |
| Guarantee | 30-day money-back, no questions asked | 30-day refund on all plans, including lifetime — a tie |
superwhisper details verified June 2026 from its public site, docs, and App Store listing; check its pricing page for current figures.
The 3-year math
Three years of dictation, at superwhisper's prices verified June 2026: monthly comes to $305.64 ($8.49 × 36), annual comes to $254.97 ($84.99 × 3 — it passes SuperDictate's total price inside year one), and the lifetime license is $249.99 up front. SuperDictate is $79, once — about 3.2x less than superwhisper's cheapest path to owning it outright. And that's before API costs: if you use your own key for superwhisper's cloud AI post-processing, public estimates run $3–8/month for light use and $22–40+/month for heavy use, on top of Pro. SuperDictate's optional polish step is off by default and runs through local Ollama or your own key.
Privacy
One privacy story, no asterisks
To superwhisper's credit, its docs are straight about how it works: local models keep audio on the device, and cloud models don't — "audio goes to the Superwhisper proxy, gets transcribed, and comes back," in its own words. The catch is that the cloud tier is where its best accuracy lives, and Intel Mac owners are explicitly pointed at cloud models. Privacy becomes a setting you have to keep choosing — pick the wrong model in the wrong mode and your audio is in transit. As of June 2026, its public feedback board also carries top-voted complaints that recordings are saved to disk by default and that cloud API keys are stored in plaintext.
SuperDictate has one mode. Audio is processed 100% on-device and never uploaded — there is no cloud transcription option to choose, misconfigure, or get steered into. Works in airplane mode, literally. The optional AI polish step is text-only and off by default, running through local Ollama or your own API key — your audio is never part of it. Weighing cloud-first tools too? See our Wispr Flow comparison, where every recording is processed on someone else's servers.
Complexity
Fewer knobs, on purpose
superwhisper offers six-plus local model tiers, a menu of cloud models, custom modes, per-mode prompts, and auto-activation rules. If that sounds fun, it genuinely is — for tinkerers. If it sounds like homework, that's the other half of why this page exists. SuperDictate's setup is: install, hold a key, talk. Text appears where your cursor is, in any app, on macOS 13+ and Windows 10/11. There's no model picker because there's nothing to pick — the speech model runs on your device, and every licensed user gets every feature. Surveying the wider field? See our roundups of the best dictation software for Mac and the best dictation software for Windows.
Who should stick with superwhisper
Honesty over conversion: superwhisper is the better choice if you need an iPhone dictation app (we don't make one), if you dictate for hours each month and its small free local models are accurate enough for you, if you need meeting recording or audio/video file transcription, if you work across 100+ languages and want translation to English, if you enjoy tuning modes and models per app, or if your company requires SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA paperwork. Those are real advantages and we don't match them. Buy the tool that fits — if that's superwhisper, its $249.99 lifetime at least beats renting it forever.
Try it without risk
Test the switch in an afternoon
Download SuperDictate free
Mac or Windows — the free tier gives you 15 minutes of dictation every calendar month with every feature on. No credit card. Minutes reset on the 1st.
Dictate where you actually work
Email, docs, Slack, your editor. Hold the hotkey, talk, release. Turn off Wi-Fi mid-sentence to test the on-device claim — it keeps typing.
Buy it once if it sticks
Pay $79 once, own it forever — one license covers your Mac and your Windows PC. If it doesn't fit, the 30-day money-back guarantee has no questions attached.
Questions
superwhisper vs SuperDictate — common questions
How much does superwhisper cost in 2026?
As of June 2026, superwhisper Pro costs $8.49 per month, $84.99 per year, or $249.99 for a one-time lifetime license, verified on the vendor's own listings. All plans carry a 30-day refund and students get 40% off. There is also a free plan limited to its smallest local models. SuperDictate costs $79 one-time for every feature, with a free tier of 15 minutes per calendar month.
Is superwhisper Mac-only?
Not anymore. superwhisper launched an official Windows 10/11 app in December 2025 after a long beta, and it also has an iOS app for iOS 18 and later. One Pro license covers all of a user's devices across Windows, Mac, and iOS. As of June 2026 the Windows build is newer than the Mac app, and its public feedback board lists open tickets about crashes during dictation.
Is superwhisper fully offline?
It can be, but it is not always. superwhisper's local models run on-device with no internet needed. Its highest-accuracy options — Ultra, S1-Voice, Deepgram Nova, and ElevenLabs Scribe V2 — are cloud models: per superwhisper's own docs, audio goes to its proxy, gets transcribed, and comes back. SuperDictate has no cloud transcription mode at all. Your audio never leaves your computer, and it works in airplane mode.
What speech engine does superwhisper use?
Locally, superwhisper runs OpenAI Whisper model variants via whisper.cpp, plus NVIDIA Parakeet models via Argmax's WhisperKit SDK on Pro. In the cloud it offers its own Ultra and S1-Voice models, the Deepgram Nova series, and ElevenLabs Scribe V2. For SuperDictate, the speech model runs on your device — there is no cloud option to choose, configure, or accidentally enable.
What is superwhisper better at than SuperDictate?
Several things, honestly. It has an iOS app, an unlimited-minutes free tier on its smallest local models, meeting recording, audio and video file transcription, support for 100+ languages with translation to English, a far larger menu of models to tune, and SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA claims for enterprise buyers. If those matter to you, superwhisper is a good product and you should use it.
Why pick SuperDictate over superwhisper?
Price and a simpler privacy guarantee. Pay $79 once, own it forever — superwhisper's lifetime license is $249.99, about 3.2x more, and its subscription runs $8.49 per month. SuperDictate processes audio 100% on-device with no cloud mode to drift into, while superwhisper's most accurate models send audio through its cloud proxy, and BYO-key AI processing there can add an estimated $3-40+ per month in API costs.
Pay $79 once. Own it forever.
Free to try — 15 minutes every month. No credit card. If you buy and it isn't for you, the 30-day money-back guarantee means you're out nothing.
Free to try — 15 minutes every month · No credit card · 30-day money-back guarantee