# Superwhisper

> Voice-to-text dictation for Mac, Windows, and iOS that runs Whisper models on-device by default, with optional cloud models and a $249.99 lifetime licence.

Source: https://selfpublishingdirectory.com/writing-tools/superwhisper
Website: https://superwhisper.com
Category: Writing Tools (https://selfpublishingdirectory.com/writing-tools)
Pricing: freemium — $0–$250
AI-powered: yes
Editor's pick: yes
Tags: dictation, speech-to-text, voice-typing, voice-to-text, whisper, on-device-ai, offline-dictation, custom-vocabulary, lifetime-license, manuscript-drafting, mac, windows
Last verified: 2026-08-20
Best For: Authors who want dictation that can run entirely offline, with a one-time purchase option instead of a forever subscription
Collaboration: no
Platform: mac, windows, ios
Tool Type: dictation

Superwhisper is a dictation app that types your speech into any application on macOS, Windows, or iPhone. It runs Whisper-class models **on your own machine by default**, so a full drafting session works on a plane with no wifi, and it still sells a one-time lifetime licence in a category that has otherwise gone subscription-only.

## What You Get

- **System-wide dictation:** Hold a shortcut, speak, release — formatted text lands in whatever app has focus: Scrivener, Word, Google Docs, email. No per-app integration.
- **Custom modes per app:** Formatting rules that switch by destination — the vendor ships a fiction mode that leaves dialogue alone and a newsletter mode that adds headers.
- **Super Mode:** An LLM pass that punctuates, breaks paragraphs and trims false starts from a raw spoken draft, running on local models (Llama 3.2 3B up to GPT OSS 20B) or cloud ones.
- **Vocabulary and Replacements:** Two mechanisms for invented names. Vocabulary passes words to the model as hints, though the docs warn that overloading it "can confuse the AI transcription model." Replacements is a post-transcription find-and-replace — the one that reliably sticks.
- **File transcription:** Existing audio or video in, text out. Pro only.

## Who It's For

- **Authors who dictate first drafts:** Speech runs near 150 words a minute against 40–50 typed, and Super Mode is built for the "get it down, shape it later" workflow.
- **Writers with RSI or hand fatigue:** A full-time typing replacement, not a novelty.
- **Anyone with an unpublished manuscript:** The local path covers transcription *and* AI cleanup end to end.

**Pricing:** Free forever on the three smallest on-device Whisper models (Fast, Nano and Standard, 75–500 MB), with unlimited words, 100+ languages and no expiry. Pro at **$8.49/month, $84.99/year, or $249.99 lifetime** adds the larger local models, every cloud model, file transcription and bring-your-own-API-key. A 40% student discount and 30-day refund apply, and one licence covers all three platforms.

## Strengths

- **The lifetime licence:** $249.99 once beats Wispr Flow's $144/year inside two years, and nothing else in this class still offers one.
- **Offline genuinely works:** "The audio is processed on your own hardware and never touches the internet." Wispr Flow and Aqua Voice are cloud-only and stop when the connection does.
- **A free tier, not a trial:** It "never expires" and does not meter words. Wispr Flow caps you at 2,000 words a week on desktop, Willow Voice likewise.
- **Actively built:** 4.4/5 from 812 App Store ratings, several releases a month through August 2026, by a bootstrapped six-person team in Toronto.

## Limitations

- **"On-device" is a setting now, not a guarantee.** Pro added cloud transcription and cloud LLMs, where "audio goes to the Superwhisper proxy, gets transcribed, and comes back." **The privacy policy never mentions that pathway** — it says "there is no need for data transmission." The local option is real, but selecting it is on you.
- **Windows lags Mac badly:** macOS is at 2.18.0, Windows at 1.5.10 — separate version lines, not a point release apart. Windows only went generally available around November 2025.
- **Intel Macs are throttled, not excluded:** the largest local models effectively want Apple Silicon.
- **No Android, Linux or web version**, and no SRT/VTT subtitle export — a gap conceded to MacWhisper on Superwhisper's own comparison page.
- **Accuracy claims are unverified:** no independent benchmark covers Superwhisper specifically, and Dragon still leads on dense technical vocabulary. "100+ languages" is an aggregate across the model lineup, not a promise from any one model.

## Alternatives

[MacWhisper](/writing-tools/macwhisper) is better value on Mac alone — about €65 once, with free-build dictation and the subtitle export Superwhisper lacks — but no Windows version. [Wispr Flow](/writing-tools/wispr-flow) is the only one covering Android, at $15/month with no offline mode. [Dragon Professional Individual](/writing-tools/dragon-professional-individual) suits only authors with an established voice profile or heavy specialized vocabulary.