Superwhisper vs Wispr Flow
Both do the same job well: you speak, text appears in whatever app you are using. The real decision is where the recognition happens — on your machine or on somebody's server — and everything else follows from that.
The short answer
Choose Superwhisper if you want the audio never to leave your Mac. It runs the model locally, so there is no server to trust and no network to depend on, and you can pick and swap the model yourself. On current Apple Silicon with a small model it is genuinely fast.
Choose Wispr Flow if you want it to be consistently quick without thinking about it. The recognition runs on their servers, so an older or busier machine transcribes as fast as a new idle one, and nothing heats up or drains the battery while you dictate.
The trade is real in both directions and neither side is obviously right. Local costs you speed on modest hardware and battery on a laptop. Cloud costs you the guarantee that the audio stayed with you. Anyone who tells you one of these is simply better is selling one of them.
Side by side
| Superwhisper | Wispr Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| Where recognition runs | On your Mac | On their servers |
| Audio leaves your machine | No | Yes |
| Works with no network | Yes | No |
| Speed on older hardware | Depends on the chip | Consistent |
| Battery impact while dictating | Noticeable | Minimal |
| Choose your own model | Yes | No |
| Pricing | One-time and subscription options | $15/mo, or $144/yr annually |
| Platforms | macOS desktop, iOS | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Linux | Not supported | Not supported |
Figures as published in 2026. Vendors change pricing; check theirs before buying.
The question that decides it
Neither runs on Linux, and that is the honest thing this page has to say about it. If the answer matters to you, the choice is between your own hardware and somebody else's — not between these two.
If neither fits: a third shape
Full disclosure — we make VibeVoice, so weigh this accordingly. Notice what both rows at the bottom of that table say. Superwhisper is Mac-only and Wispr Flow does not support Linux either, so this entire comparison is unavailable to anyone on a Linux desktop — which is who tends to arrive here after being turned away twice.
- — Native clients for Windows, macOS and Linux
- — Cloud recognition, so a five-year-old laptop keeps up with a new one
- — Audio deleted the moment transcription finishes, never used for training
- — No voice training, €3 a month, 30 minutes free
It is not for you if local-only processing is the requirement. We are cloud, like Wispr Flow, and if the audio must never leave your machine then Superwhisper is the correct choice and we would rather you bought it.
Common questions
Is local transcription more accurate than cloud?+
Not inherently — accuracy comes from the model, not from where it runs. What local costs you is speed on modest hardware, because a large model needs a fast chip. What cloud costs you is that the audio leaves your machine. Pick the constraint you care about.
Does Superwhisper work on Windows?+
No, Superwhisper is macOS-only. Wispr Flow covers macOS, Windows and iOS. Neither supports Linux.
Which is better for battery life?+
Cloud, clearly. Running a speech model locally is sustained compute, and on a laptop you feel it in both heat and battery. Streaming audio to a server costs almost nothing by comparison.
Is cloud dictation a privacy problem?+
It depends entirely on what the provider does with the audio, which is a question worth asking each of them directly — how long it is kept, whether it trains models, and where the servers are. Local processing sidesteps the question rather than answering it, which for some work is exactly what you want.
Can I switch models with Wispr Flow?+
No. Superwhisper lets you choose and swap the underlying model; Wispr Flow does not expose that. If tuning the model matters to you, that is a point for Superwhisper.
Last reviewed . Competitor pricing and platform support change; check theirs before buying.