Best local dictation apps in 2026, compared
Seven apps that can turn your voice into text on your own computer, without sending the audio anywhere. We read each one's own website, and its source code where it has public code, and wrote down what it says it can and can't do.
Short answer
- Best overall: Walkie. Dictation, meetings and reading aloud in one app, on your computer or in the cloud as you choose — and it defaults to the fastest accurate speech model we tested.
- Best free and open source: Handy. Free under the MIT licence, on macOS, Windows and Linux.
- Best one-time purchase for Mac: VoiceInk. From $25, with modes that switch by app.
- Best for files and recorded meetings: MacWhisper. Transcribes audio and video files on a Mac.
- Best for custom AI prompts: Superwhisper. Rewrites dictation with modes you define.
At a glance
| App | Platforms | Price | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walkie | macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux (Omarchy), iPhone | On-device dictation free forever; paid plans for Cloud Mode and pro features | Not listed |
| Handy | macOS, Windows, Linux | Free | Yes — MIT |
| VoiceInk | macOS 14.4+ on Apple Silicon; iPhone | $25 one-time (1 Mac), $39 (2), $49 (3) | Yes — GPL-3.0 |
| MacWhisper | macOS | Free; Pro €64 one-time | Not listed |
| Superwhisper | macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android | Free tier; Pro subscription, with a lifetime option | Not listed |
| Spokenly | macOS, Windows, Linux, iPhone | Free on-device, no account; Pro $9.99/month or $99.99/year | Not listed |
| Amical | macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android | Free | Yes — MIT |
| App | Runs on your computer | Cloud transcription |
|---|---|---|
| Walkie | Parakeet V3, Whisper Small, Medium and Turbo, Moonshine | Yes — Cloud Mode |
| Handy | Whisper Small, Medium, Turbo, Large; Parakeet V3 | No — works completely offline |
| VoiceInk | Whisper, Parakeet, SenseVoice, GGUF models | Not listed |
| MacWhisper | Whisper, Parakeet | Not listed |
| Superwhisper | Whisper models, including Large | Yes — cloud models |
| Spokenly | Whisper, Parakeet | Yes — cloud models by default |
| Amical | Whisper | Not listed |
| App | AI cleanup | Custom dictionary | App-aware | Meetings | Files | Read aloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walkie | Built in — on your computer (Gemma 4) or in Cloud Mode, no API key needed | Yes (Pro) | Yes — formats for email, chat, code, terminal and notes | Yes — macOS, Windows and Linux (Pro; one-time free trial) | Not listed | Yes — 950+ voices |
| Handy | Optional: your own API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq and others), Apple Intelligence, or a local server such as Ollama | Yes — custom words | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| VoiceInk | Filler and repetition removal; optional cloud enhancement sends text, not audio | Yes — personal dictionary and replacements | Yes — modes switch by app and URL | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| MacWhisper | Your own API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq and others) or local models via Ollama or LM Studio | Not listed | Not listed | Yes — Zoom, Teams, Webex and more; automatic detection on Pro | Yes — audio and video files, 100 languages | Not listed |
| Superwhisper | Built-in and custom modes; your own API keys on Pro | Yes — custom vocabulary | Yes — modes per app | Yes — meeting recording with notes | Yes (Pro) | Not listed |
| Spokenly | AI modes and instructions; your own API keys | Yes — dictionary and word replacements | Not listed | Yes, on Mac — microphone and system audio, no bot | Not listed | Not listed |
| Amical | Local via Ollama, or cloud (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Amical's own models) | Yes — custom vocabulary | Yes — formats for the app you are in | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
“Not listed” means the app's own site or code does not mention the feature — not that it definitely lacks it. Apps change quickly; every row links to its source below, checked 2026-09-19.
They mostly run the same speech models
Look at the engines column and a pattern shows: almost every app here runs OpenAI's Whisper, NVIDIA's Parakeet, or both. That means the model you choose matters more than the app you run it in. On a base M4 laptop, Parakeet V3 transcribed a typical clip in 0.16 s; Whisper Large V3 Turbo took 2.9 s and was more accurate on rare words. We tested every model in detail in our speech-to-text model benchmark.
What the apps differ on is everything around the model: which platforms they run on, whether they can also use the cloud, how they clean up what you said, and what else they do with your voice.
Each app, and what it is best at
Walkie
- Best for: One app for dictation, meetings and reading aloud, on your computer or in the cloud, per moment.
- Keep in mind: Not open source; meeting recording is a paid feature after a one-time free trial.
- Runs: Parakeet V3, Whisper Small, Medium and Turbo, Moonshine — on macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux (Omarchy), iPhone.
Handy
- Best for: Free, open-source dictation on any desktop OS.
- Keep in mind: Dictation only — no meetings or file transcription listed.
- Runs: Whisper Small, Medium, Turbo, Large; Parakeet V3 — on macOS, Windows, Linux.
VoiceInk
- Best for: A one-time purchase for Mac dictation with app-aware modes.
- Keep in mind: Mac and iPhone only; Apple Silicon required.
- Runs: Whisper, Parakeet, SenseVoice, GGUF models — on macOS 14.4+ on Apple Silicon; iPhone.
MacWhisper
- Best for: Transcribing files and recorded meetings on a Mac.
- Keep in mind: Mac only; system-wide dictation is a Pro feature.
- Runs: Whisper, Parakeet — on macOS.
Superwhisper
- Best for: Custom AI modes that rewrite dictation to your own prompts.
- Keep in mind: Offline models run well only on Apple Silicon Macs, per its own site.
- Runs: Whisper models, including Large — on macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android.
Spokenly
- Best for: Free unlimited on-device dictation with no account.
- Keep in mind: Cloud models are the default; choose on-device to stay local.
- Runs: Whisper, Parakeet — on macOS, Windows, Linux, iPhone.
Amical
- Best for: Open-source dictation with a local LLM for cleanup.
- Keep in mind: Smaller community than Handy or VoiceInk, by GitHub stars.
- Runs: Whisper — on macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android.
What about Wispr Flow and Apple Dictation?
- Wispr Flow: Cloud only — one proprietary model, no offline mode. Free on desktop up to 2,000 words a week.
- Apple Dictation: Built into macOS and iOS and free; runs on-device on modern Apple hardware. No choice of model.
Neither is a local-first app in the sense of this list, but both come up in every comparison. Wispr Flow is the reference point for cloud dictation; Apple Dictation is the free baseline every Mac already has.
Where Walkie fits
Walkie puts on-device dictation, a cloud mode, meeting recording and reading aloud in one app, and you can switch between on-device and cloud from one dictation to the next. It defaults to Parakeet, the fastest accurate model we tested, and keeps Whisper for 99 languages and rare words. It is not open source. If that matters most to you, Handy, VoiceInk and Amical publish their code.
How we built this
Every cell comes from the app's own website, documentation or source code, read on 2026-09-19. Where a price could not be read reliably we show the pricing model instead of a number. The sources:
- Walkie: trywalkie.com
- Handy: handy.computer, GitHub README
- VoiceInk: tryvoiceink.com, GitHub README
- MacWhisper: macwhisper.com
- Superwhisper: superwhisper.com
- Spokenly: spokenly.app
- Amical: amical.ai, GitHub
Spotted something out of date? We would rather be corrected than wrong — tell us and we will fix the row.
Questions
Handy is free, open source under the MIT licence, and runs on macOS, Windows and Linux with Whisper and Parakeet models. Walkie's On-Device Mode dictation is free forever with no account, and Spokenly offers free unlimited on-device dictation too. All three run the same families of speech models on your own computer.
Handy and Spokenly list Linux support, and Walkie runs on Linux through Omarchy.
Walkie, MacWhisper, Superwhisper and Spokenly list meeting recording. In Walkie it runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, as a paid feature with a one-time free trial.
Yes. VoiceInk's source is on GitHub under GPL-3.0. The builds sold on its website are a one-time purchase starting at $25 for one Mac.
Mostly not. Nearly every app here runs OpenAI's Whisper, NVIDIA's Parakeet, or both. Which model you pick matters more than which app runs it: on a base M4 laptop, Parakeet V3 transcribed a typical clip in 0.16 s and Whisper Large V3 Turbo in 2.9 s.
No. Wispr Flow transcribes in the cloud with a single proprietary model and has no offline mode.