Comparison
A superwhisper alternative that starts free
Last updated 27 August 2026
Is there a free superwhisper alternative?
Yes. MemoFlow gives unlimited on-device dictation free forever on macOS — no account, no word cap, no trial clock. Handy, OpenWhispr and FluidVoice are free and open source. superwhisper has no permanently free tier; it is $249 once.
All of these run the same class of speech model on your own hardware, so the accuracy gap between them is far smaller than the price gap. What $249 buys at superwhisper is depth and polish in the dictation workflow, not fundamentally better transcription.
What does each option cost?
superwhisper is $249 once. MacWhisper is around €59 once. Wispr Flow is $15 a month, which passes superwhisper's total in under 17 months. MemoFlow, Handy, OpenWhispr and FluidVoice all start at zero.
| App | Pricing model | 1 year | 5 years | On-device |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemoFlow | Free dictation forever, then one-time price, announced at launch | One-time | One-time | Yes |
| Wispr Flow | Subscription, $15/mo | $180 | $900 | No |
| superwhisper | One-time, $249 | $249 | $249 | Yes |
| MacWhisper | Free tier, ~€59 one-time | ~$64 | ~$64 | Yes |
| Handy | Free, open source | $0 | $0 | Yes |
| OpenWhispr | Free, MIT licensed | $0 | $0 | Optional |
| FluidVoice | Free, open source | $0 | $0 | Yes |
Worth noting in superwhisper's favour: its column does not move. Against a $15/month subscription, a one-time $249 is the cheaper choice from year two onward — the pricing model is right, it is the entry number that is high.
What does MemoFlow add that superwhisper does not have?
Meetings. MemoFlow records both sides of a call as separate tracks, transcribes live, writes summaries and action items, and answers questions across everything you have recorded. superwhisper is dictation only, by design.
It also transcribes Hindi in Devanagari and handles Hinglish code-switching on-device, which nothing else in this comparison does. The meeting features are the paid tier — a single payment, no subscription, laid out on the pricing page. Dictation is free either way.
Where superwhisper is still the better buy
It is more mature. superwhisper has been refined over far longer than MemoFlow has existed, and it shows in the depth of its modes, its provider options and the edges of its workflow. If dictation is the entire job and you want the most finished tool, buy it.
It has a longer track record. MemoFlow is new. That is a real consideration when you are choosing software you intend to rely on daily for years, and no comparison table resolves it in our favour.
If you want open source, neither of us qualifies. Handy and OpenWhispr do. If auditability matters more than features, start there rather than with either paid app.
Try free dictation before spending $249.
macOS 26 · Apple Silicon · nothing is ever uploaded