Both turn your voice into clean text on a Mac. The real difference is philosophy: Dictately just works out of the box, while Superwhisper is a deeply configurable power toolkit.
An honest comparison — including where Superwhisper is the better pick.
| Dictately | Superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Pro price (monthly) | £6.99 / mo | $8.49 / mo |
| Pro price (annual) | £66.99 / yr | $84.99 / yr |
| Lifetime (one-time) | — | $249.99 |
| Setup | Zero-config, works out of the box | Modes & model choices to configure |
| On-device (offline) | English, Apple Silicon | Across languages (core focus) |
| Languages (auto-detect) | 99+ | 100+ |
| Works system-wide (any app) | ||
| AI formatting & commands | ||
| Personal dictionary | ||
| Platforms | macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel) | macOS, Windows, iOS |
Superwhisper details from superwhisper.com (pricing & docs), June 2026. Prices shown in their native currency. Spot something out of date? Email hello@dictately.io.
This is the heart of it. Superwhisper is powerful precisely because it's configurable — custom modes, selectable AI models, local model downloads, per-context prompts. For tinkerers, that's a feature. For a lot of people, it's the most common complaint: there's a lot to set up before it feels right.
Dictately takes the opposite bet. Install it, grant permissions, pick a key, and talk — clean, punctuated text appears wherever your cursor is, with nothing to configure. If you'd rather get the result than tune the tool, that's the difference.
On monthly price the two are close — Dictately is £6.99, Superwhisper $8.49 — so price isn't a real reason to switch either way. Worth knowing: Superwhisper offers a one-time lifetime licence(around $249.99) that Dictately doesn't, which can work out cheaper for very heavy long-term users.
On privacy, we'll be straight: if your priority is keeping everything offline, Superwhisper is the stronger option — on-device recognition is its core focus, across languages. Dictately keeps English on-device on Apple Silicon and never stores your audio, but other languages use the cloud. Pick Superwhisper for maximum offline; pick Dictately for English-local with zero setup.
We'd rather you choose well than feel oversold. Superwhisper is the better pick if you want a lifetime purchase, the deepest offline coverage, heavy customisation, or apps on Windows and iPhone as well as Mac.
Dictately's case is narrower and simpler: the friendliest, fastest-to-set-up way to dictate on a Mac, from a small UK team that sweats the details.
2,000 words a month, no card required. Install it and you'll be dictating in under two minutes.
If you want voice dictation on your Mac that works the moment you install it — no modes to build, no models to download or pick — yes. Superwhisper is excellent and more configurable; Dictately is the simpler, just-works option at a flat monthly price.
Not really — they're close. Dictately is £6.99/month; Superwhisper is $8.49/month, which is roughly the same once converted. Superwhisper also offers a one-time lifetime licence (about $249.99) that Dictately doesn't. Choose on fit, not price: Dictately for simplicity, Superwhisper for configurability and a one-off purchase.
Superwhisper is the stronger choice if maximum offline use is your priority — it runs speech recognition on-device across its language range. Dictately runs English on-device on Apple Silicon and never stores audio, but other languages use the cloud. If you need everything offline, Superwhisper has the edge there; if you want English kept local with zero setup, Dictately covers it.
No. Install it, grant permissions, pick your activation key, and start talking. There are no modes to design or AI models to download and manage — that simplicity is the main reason to pick Dictately over Superwhisper.
No — Dictately is Mac-only (Apple Silicon and Intel). Superwhisper also runs on Windows and iOS, so if you need those, Superwhisper is the better fit.