VoicePrivate
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Superwhisper alternative:
VoicePrivate vs Superwhisper
Superwhisper runs local models and cloud models side by side, so the privacy answer changes with the mode you pick. VoicePrivate has one mode, on-device, and no server to send audio to. Prices below were read off superwhisper.com on August 26, 2026.
The short answer: VoicePrivate is the on-device only Superwhisper alternative
VoicePrivate vs Superwhisper in five lines
- Architecture. VoicePrivate transcribes on your computer and offers no cloud mode. Superwhisper Pro bundles local models and cloud models in one app, so the path your audio takes depends on the mode you selected.
- Price. VoicePrivate General Edition is $84 a year or $9.99 a month. Superwhisper Pro is listed at $8.49 a month, with a yearly tab advertised as two months free and a lifetime option.
- Free. Superwhisper has a free tier that does not expire. VoicePrivate has no free tier and includes a 7-day free trial on individual monthly and annual plans; a card is required and $0 is due today.
- Hardware. The Superwhisper FAQ says Intel Macs work best with Cloud models and that offline models only run really well on Apple Silicon Macs. VoicePrivate runs its on-device engine on macOS 13 or later and on Windows 10 and 11, and is tuned for Apple Silicon.
- Vertical work. VoicePrivate ships Healthcare, Legal, Finance and Insurance editions with the vocabulary built in. Superwhisper ships one general product for everyone.
Superwhisper figures read from the superwhisper.com home page and Windows page on August 26, 2026. VoicePrivate prices come from the VoicePrivate pricing page.
Superwhisper pricing in 2026, and what VoicePrivate costs next to it
Read off superwhisper.com on August 26, 2026.
| Plan | Listed price | What the plan includes |
|---|---|---|
| Superwhisper Free | $0, does not expire | Voice to text in any app, meeting recording and transcription, 100+ languages, unlimited use of the small AI models, custom prompt control, email support |
| Superwhisper Pro | $8.49 a month | Everything in Free, plus your own AI API keys, unlimited use of cloud and local AI models, translation into English, audio and video file transcription, priority support. Yearly tab advertised as two months free, lifetime option offered, 40% off for students |
| Superwhisper Enterprise | Quoted on request | Everything in Pro, plus SOC 2 Type II certification, centralized billing and authentication, model access control, enterprise hosted models, volume discounts |
| VoicePrivate General Edition | $84 a year or $9.99 a month | On-device transcription with no cloud mode, 99 languages, custom dictionary, speaker labels, file import, and export to TXT, JSON, Markdown, SRT and WebVTT. No free tier, 7-day free trial for individual monthly and annual plans |
Two details matter more than the headline numbers. First, Superwhisper is cheaper to start with, because the free tier costs nothing and the 15 free minutes of Pro let you test before paying. Second, VoicePrivate individual plans include seven days free, followed by a 7-day free trial for individual monthly and annual plans period beginning with the first paid charge; there is no free tier. If your comparison is purely about monthly cost, Superwhisper wins that line. If it is about what happens to the audio, keep reading.
VoicePrivate specialty editions are priced separately from General Edition, because they carry vocabularies rather than extra software seats. The VoicePrivate Legal Edition and VoicePrivate Healthcare Edition pages list what each one includes.
Where Superwhisper's local mode ends and VoicePrivate's architecture begins
Both apps can run locally. Only one of them can only run locally.
VoicePrivate: one path, on-device
- Audio is captured and held in memory on your machine
- Transcription runs on your own CPU and GPU
- No cloud model option exists in the app, so there is nothing to misconfigure
- Network is used only for license validation and optional model downloads, never for transcription
- Dictation keeps working with Wi-Fi off, on a plane, or behind a blocking VPN
- You can confirm it yourself with a network monitor running during dictation
Superwhisper: local or cloud, your choice each time
- The free tier gives unlimited use of the small AI models
- Superwhisper Pro adds unlimited use of cloud and local AI models in the same app
- Pro also supports your own AI API keys, which routes text through a third-party provider you pick
- The Superwhisper Windows page states that with on-device AI models your audio never leaves your machine and you do not need internet
- The Superwhisper FAQ says Intel Macs work best with Cloud models, so older hardware is nudged toward the cloud path
- Privacy therefore depends on the mode selected, not on the architecture
This is the whole comparison in one sentence. Superwhisper gives you a local option. VoicePrivate gives you a local guarantee, because there is no other option to select. For a hobby workflow that difference is academic. For a deposition summary, a clinic note, or a credit memo, it is the difference between a policy you have to audit and an architecture you can verify. VoicePrivate's offline speech to text guide walks through how to test that claim on your own Mac.
VoicePrivate vs Superwhisper, head to head
Superwhisper rows come from superwhisper.com as published on August 26, 2026. Rows the site does not publish are marked as not listed rather than guessed.
| Capability | VoicePrivate | Superwhisper |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription location | On-device only | Local or cloud, chosen per mode |
| Cloud models available | None in the app | Yes, unlimited on Pro |
| Bring your own AI API key | No | Yes, on Pro |
| Works with no internet | Yes, always | Yes with local models, best on Apple Silicon |
| Free tier | Yes, 7-day free trial | Yes, does not expire |
| Entry price | $84 a year, or $9.99 a month | $0 free tier, Pro at $8.49 a month |
| Refund window | 7-day free trial | 30 days |
| Platforms | macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 and 11 | Mac, Windows, iOS |
| Languages | 99 | 100+ |
| Specialty vocabularies | Healthcare, Legal, Finance, Insurance editions | None, one general product |
| Custom dictionary | Yes, on paid plans | Custom prompt control, dictionary not listed |
| Speaker labels | Yes | Not listed |
| Meeting recording | Not a named feature | Yes, included in the free tier |
| Audio and video file transcription | Yes, on paid plans | Yes, on Pro |
| Export formats | TXT, JSON, Markdown, SRT, WebVTT | Not listed |
| Enterprise certification | Not offered | SOC 2 Type II on the Enterprise plan |
Where Superwhisper beats VoicePrivate
A comparison that only flatters us is worthless to you.
Superwhisper is free to start, VoicePrivate is not
Superwhisper's free tier does not expire and covers everyday dictation with the small models. VoicePrivate has no free tier. Individual monthly and annual plans include a 7-day free trial with a card required and $0 due today.
Superwhisper runs on iPhone, VoicePrivate does not
Superwhisper lists Mac, Windows and iOS. VoicePrivate is a desktop app on macOS 13 or later and Windows 10 and 11. If you dictate from a phone during the day, that is a real gap on our side.
Superwhisper lets you pick the model, VoicePrivate decides for you
Superwhisper Pro gives you cloud and local models plus your own API keys, which is genuinely useful if you like tuning. VoicePrivate configures its engine per edition and does not expose a model picker or an API key field.
Superwhisper has meeting recording and a longer refund
Meeting recording and transcription sit in the Superwhisper free tier, and the Superwhisper refund window is 30 days against VoicePrivate's 14. Neither is a privacy question, and both are fair reasons to stay put.
Who should switch from Superwhisper to VoicePrivate
Stay on Superwhisper if:
- You want a free tier and are happy with the small models
- You dictate from an iPhone as often as from a desktop
- You like choosing models, and bringing your own API key appeals to you
- Meeting recording is part of your daily workflow
- Nothing you dictate carries a confidentiality obligation
Switch to VoicePrivate if:
- You need to state, in writing, that dictated audio never leaves the machine
- You dictate client matters, patient notes, deal terms, or claim files
- You want vocabulary that already knows your field, not a prompt you maintain
- You work on blocked Wi-Fi, on aircraft, or inside a hospital network
- You would rather buy software once a year than manage model choices per session
Most people who land on a Superwhisper alternative search are not unhappy with dictation quality. They are trying to remove a variable. If your compliance answer has to hold for every dictation you ever make, an app with a cloud mode makes that answer conditional, and an app without one does not. Still shopping the wider field? VoicePrivate's roundup of local Whisper alternatives for 2026 covers the open source route, and the best voice to text software for Mac guide ranks the paid options against each other.
Superwhisper and VoicePrivate: common questions
Is there a free version of Superwhisper?
Yes. Superwhisper lists a Free tier at $0 that does not expire, covering voice to text in any app, meeting recording and transcription, support for 100+ languages, unlimited use of its small AI models, and custom prompt control, checked on superwhisper.com on August 26, 2026. New users also get 15 minutes of the Pro features to try. VoicePrivate has no free tier. Individual monthly and annual plans include a 7-day free trial with a card required and $0 due today.
How much does Superwhisper cost?
Superwhisper Pro is listed at $8.49 a month on superwhisper.com, checked on August 26, 2026, with a yearly tab advertised as two months free, a lifetime option, 40% off for students, and a 30 day refund on all plans. Enterprise pricing is quoted on request. VoicePrivate General Edition is $84 a year or $9.99 a month, and the Legal, Healthcare, Finance and Insurance editions of VoicePrivate are priced separately. Current figures for every edition sit on the VoicePrivate pricing page.
Is Superwhisper safe to use?
Superwhisper can run on your own machine, and the Superwhisper Windows page says that with on-device AI models your audio never leaves your machine and you do not need internet. The caveat is that Superwhisper Pro also bundles cloud AI models and support for your own API keys, and the Superwhisper FAQ says Intel Macs work best with Cloud models. How private any single dictation is therefore depends on the mode and the model you picked. VoicePrivate takes that choice away, because VoicePrivate has no cloud mode to enable and no transcription server to send audio to.
What is the best free dictation app for Mac?
If the budget is zero, the two honest answers are Apple's built-in macOS Dictation, which ships with every Mac, and the Superwhisper free tier, which does not expire and handles everyday voice to text with its small models. Neither is built for confidential work: macOS Dictation sends audio to Apple servers in its standard mode, and the Superwhisper free tier leaves the larger models behind a paid plan. VoicePrivate is not free. VoicePrivate starts at $84 a year and spends that budget on keeping every transcription on the device and on Healthcare, Legal, Finance and Insurance vocabularies. The full breakdown of the free option is on VoicePrivate's macOS Dictation comparison.
Does VoicePrivate work offline like Superwhisper local models?
Yes. VoicePrivate downloads its on-device engine once and then transcribes with no internet connection, on macOS 13 or later and on Windows 10 and 11. Superwhisper local models also run offline, and the Superwhisper FAQ notes that offline models only run really well on Apple Silicon Macs. The practical test is identical for both apps: turn off Wi-Fi and dictate a paragraph. VoicePrivate behaves the same way with the network down as it does with the network up.
Which Superwhisper alternative is best for legal, medical or financial dictation?
For work under a confidentiality obligation, the deciding question is not the feature list, it is whether the audio can leave the machine at all. VoicePrivate ships Legal, Healthcare, Finance and Insurance editions with vocabularies built in, including 12,000+ legal terms in the Legal Edition and 74,000+ medical terms in the Healthcare Edition, and all of that runs on the device. Superwhisper ships one general product with custom prompt control and no vertical editions.
How does this page relate to VoicePrivate's other dictation comparisons?
This page is the head to head between Superwhisper and VoicePrivate. For the cloud-first competitor, read VoicePrivate's Wispr Flow comparison. For the wider local field including open source, read the Whisper alternatives roundup. For what your Mac already does for free, read the macOS Dictation comparison.