SpeakribeSpeakribe vs superwhisper
This is the closest comparison on the page. Both can transcribe on-device, both cover 100+ languages, and both live in the menu bar. superwhisper does more (Windows, iOS, a wider set of models, configurable AI modes) and charges $8.49 a month for it. Speakribe does one thing on one platform and charges $29.99 once. Pick on breadth versus billing.
| Speakribe | superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29.99, once | $8.49/mo (Pro) |
| superwhisper Pro is $84.99 billed annually. Speakribe's $29.99 is a launch price; the regular price is $49.99. | ||
| Free tier | None | Local dictation, no word cap |
| superwhisper's free tier does on-device dictation without a word limit. Paying unlocks its configurable AI modes, file transcription and personal API keys — so if plain local dictation is all you want, their free plan is a real alternative to buying anything. | ||
| Where audio is processed | On your Mac | On-device or cloud, your choice |
| Works with no internet | Yes | Yes, with an on-device model |
| Account required | No | Yes, for Pro |
| Platforms | macOS | macOS, Windows, iOS |
| Languages | 100+ | 100+ |
| Future updates | Included, free | Included while subscribed |
superwhisper pricing and features verified September 7, 2026, from their own site. Plans change, so check theirs before deciding.
Choose Speakribe if…
You only dictate on a Mac and you would rather not hold another subscription. Speakribe costs less than four months of superwhisper Pro and then costs nothing. There is no account to make and nothing to cancel later.
Choose superwhisper if…
You want the same dictation on Windows or an iPhone as on your Mac. You want to pick between several speech models, or run text through configurable AI modes after transcription. superwhisper is the broader product, and at $8.49/mo it is not expensive for what it does.
The differences that actually matter
- Both run locally, so privacy is not the axis here
- On most of this page's other comparisons, on-device processing is the argument. Not this one. superwhisper runs on-device on Apple Silicon and does it well, and its free tier does local dictation with no word cap. The genuine distinction is narrower: superwhisper lets you choose between local and cloud models, and Speakribe has no cloud mode to choose. If you want the option, that is a point for them; if you want the guarantee that no option exists, that is a point for us. Neither is a privacy failure.
- Configurability versus having nothing to configure
- superwhisper is built around modes: several speech models to pick between, and custom AI prompts that reshape your text after transcription — turn this into an email, make this a bulleted summary. That is genuinely powerful and it is also a thing you have to set up and maintain. Speakribe has one job, one shortcut and a settings screen you visit once. Which of those is better is a question about you, not about the software.
- Where four months matters and where it does not
- superwhisper Pro is $8.49 a month, so Speakribe's $29.99 is level with it partway through the fourth month and free after that. Over three years that is roughly $300 against $29.99. But the free tier complicates the arithmetic honestly: if local dictation with no AI modes is all you want, superwhisper gives you that for nothing, and the comparison you should be making is against free rather than against $8.49.
Moving over from superwhisper
The closest migration on this page, because the two apps do the same thing in the same place. Nothing to export, and the muscle memory transfers directly.
Quit superwhisper before you test
Two menu-bar apps listening for a global shortcut is a bad configuration. Quit it rather than closing the window, so nothing is racing for the same binding.
Reuse the same shortcut
Bind Speakribe to whatever you had superwhisper on. The hand already knows it, and re-learning a chord is the friction that makes people abandon a dictation tool in the first week.
Move your custom words across
If you had built up a vocabulary in superwhisper, copy those terms into Speakribe's custom-words list. It is the one piece of state genuinely worth carrying, and it is a manual copy — there is no import.
Expect your AI modes not to exist
This is the real adjustment. If you were leaning on custom prompts to reformat text as you dictate, nothing here replaces that; Speakribe writes what you said and stops. Decide whether that was a feature you used or a feature you had.
Questions people actually ask
- How long until Speakribe is cheaper than superwhisper?
- Just under four months. superwhisper Pro is $8.49 a month; Speakribe is $29.99 once, so the two are level partway through the fourth month and Speakribe costs nothing after that.
- Do both run offline?
- Yes, if you configure superwhisper with one of its on-device models. It can also use cloud models. Speakribe only ever runs on your Mac; there is no cloud mode to switch off.
- Which is more accurate?
- They are close, because both can run a large on-device speech model. superwhisper lets you choose among more models, which matters if you want to trade accuracy against speed yourself.
- Is superwhisper's free tier enough on its own?
- For plain local dictation, quite possibly. It does not cap your words, and if you do not want configurable AI modes or file transcription you may never hit a reason to pay. We would rather you tried it and decided than took our word for it.
- What does Speakribe do that superwhisper doesn't?
- Honestly, less. The one thing it does differently is cost $29.99 once instead of $8.49 a month, and have no account, no modes and no cloud option to configure. That is a smaller product on purpose, and whether that is an advantage depends entirely on whether you wanted the rest.
Ready to stop typing?
One payment. Every future update included.