The fast, private dictation app for Mac
Whisper turns your voice into text in any Mac app — press a hotkey, speak, and it types at your cursor. It's Metal GPU-accelerated (very fast on Apple Silicon), runs 100% on your device, and costs a one-time $29 — no subscription, no cloud.
Fast on Apple Silicon
Metal GPU acceleration transcribes about an hour of audio in roughly a minute — the M-series chip does the heavy lifting.
100% private & on-device
The speech model runs locally. Your audio and text never leave your Mac — no cloud, no subprocessors.
Works in any Mac app
Mail, Notes, Slack, Docs, your code editor — press the hotkey, speak, and it types right where your cursor is.
Where the Mac's built-in dictation runs out of road
Apple Dictation ships with macOS and it's handy for a quick sentence. But for real writing — long emails, notes, documents, code — most people hit the same walls: accuracy that slips over longer passages, punctuation and capitalization you end up fixing by hand, and length limits that cut you off mid-thought. Here's how Whisper compares.
| Feature | Apple Dictation | Whisper |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy on long passages | Degrades over longer speech | Modern speech model, holds up |
| Punctuation & capitalization | Manual / inconsistent | Automatic |
| Speed on Apple Silicon | Fine for short bursts | Metal GPU — ~1 hr audio in ~1 min |
| Privacy | Varies by mode/settings | 100% on-device, audio never leaves |
| Works in any Mac app | Yes | Yes — types at your cursor |
| Price | Free | One-time $29 (no subscription) |
Built to fly on Apple Silicon
Whisper uses Metal to run the speech model on your Mac's GPU instead of grinding away on the CPU. On M-series chips that means transcription happens almost as fast as you can talk — roughly an hour of audio processed in about a minute. It adds punctuation and capitalization automatically, so what lands at your cursor reads like finished text, not a raw stream of words.
- Metal GPU acceleration — the M-series chip does the work, so it stays fast even for long recordings.
- Automatic punctuation and capitalization, no manual cleanup.
- Dictate for as long as you want — no arbitrary length cap.
- Optional on-device AI can polish tone or rewrite a passage — still without leaving your Mac.
Your voice stays on your Mac
A lot of dictation tools stream your voice to a server to transcribe it. Whisper doesn't. The model runs locally, so your audio and the resulting text never leave your device — there are no subprocessors and no cloud pipeline to breach. That makes it a natural fit for confidential notes, client work, and anything you wouldn't want sent to someone else's servers.
Audio never leaves the device. Transcription needs no internet at all. The only network calls are a one-time model download and license activation — after that, Whisper runs fully offline. See the full security & privacy breakdown.
One-time price, not another subscription
Dictation is something you use every day — it shouldn't be a monthly bill forever. Whisper is a one-time $29 for your first seat, and +$15 for each additional seat if you're equipping a team (up to 100). You own it. No renewals, no per-minute metering, no cloud account to manage.
Dictation on Mac — FAQ
Does the Mac have a built-in dictation app?
Yes. macOS includes Apple Dictation (Edit menu → Start Dictation, or the shortcut you set in System Settings → Keyboard). It's free and fine for a quick sentence, but it's limited on accuracy, punctuation, formatting, and how long you can speak — which is why many people look for a dedicated dictation app for Mac.
Is Apple Dictation good enough, or do I need a dedicated app?
For short, casual dictation Apple's built-in tool works. Where it falls short is longer passages, technical vocabulary, reliable punctuation and capitalization, and consistent results across apps. Whisper uses a modern speech model, adds automatic punctuation and capitalization, and lets you speak for as long as you want — so it holds up for real writing, email, notes, and documents.
What's the best dictation app for Mac?
The right pick depends on what you value. If you want speed, privacy, and no subscription, Whisper is built exactly for that: it's Metal GPU-accelerated (very fast on Apple Silicon), runs 100% on-device so your audio never leaves your machine, works in any Mac app at your cursor, and is a one-time $29 rather than a recurring bill.
Is there a Dragon for Mac replacement?
Nuance discontinued the standalone Dragon dictation app for Mac, leaving a lot of longtime users without an upgrade path. Whisper is a natural switch: modern accuracy, automatic punctuation, dictate into any app, fully on-device, and a one-time price instead of a subscription. You install it, press a hotkey, and speak.
Does Whisper work offline on my Mac?
Yes. Transcription runs entirely on your Mac using a local AI model — no internet required to dictate. Your audio and text never leave the device. The only network calls are a one-time model download and license activation; after that it runs fully offline.
Which Macs does Whisper run on?
Whisper is built for Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and newer), where Metal GPU acceleration makes it especially fast — it can transcribe about an hour of audio in roughly a minute. It's a desktop app, so it also runs on Windows and Linux if you work across platforms.
A better dictation app for your Mac
Fast on Apple Silicon, 100% on-device, works in every app. One-time $29 — no subscription.
Get Whisper for Mac