A privacy-first Wispr Flow alternative for Mac — the same hold-a-key-and-talk dictation, with an on-device option and a price around 40% lower.
An honest comparison. We'll tell you where Wispr Flow is the better choice, too.
| Dictately | Wispr Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| Pro price (monthly) | £6.99 / mo | $15 / mo |
| Pro price (annual) | £66.99 / yr (≈ £5.58/mo) | $144 / yr (≈ $12/mo) |
| Free tier | 2,000 words / month | 2,000 words / week |
| On-device (offline) mode | English, Apple Silicon | Cloud only |
| Audio stored on servers | Never | Cloud, opt-out |
| Works system-wide (any app) | ||
| AI formatting & punctuation | ||
| Edit / command by voice | Command Mode | Command Mode |
| Languages (auto-detect) | 99+ | 100+ |
| Personal dictionary | ||
| Snippets / text expansion | — | |
| Platforms | macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel) | macOS, Windows, iPhone, Android (beta) |
Wispr Flow details from wisprflow.ai (pricing & docs), June 2026. Prices in their native currency; we haven't adjusted for exchange rates. We'll keep this updated — if anything here is out of date, email hello@dictately.io.
This is the simplest difference. Dictately Pro is £6.99/month, or £66.99/year (about £5.58/month). Wispr Flow Pro is $15/month, or $144/year. If you dictate every day, that monthly gap adds up fast — and you're getting the same core experience: hold a key, talk, and clean text appears wherever your cursor is.
To be fair to Wispr: their free plan is more generous on raw word count (2,000 words a week versus our 2,000 a month). If you only dictate occasionally, that matters. The moment you go Pro, though, Dictately is the cheaper home for daily voice typing.
Wispr Flow is cloud-only by design — their documentation states transcription “always happens in the cloud” for speed and accuracy. They offer a Privacy Mode you can switch on, but your audio is still processed on their servers.
Dictately takes a different stance. On Apple Silicon Macs, English dictation can run entirely on-device— your voice never leaves your computer. And in every mode, Dictately never stores your audio. For people handling sensitive notes, client work, or anything they'd rather not send to a cloud, that's a meaningful difference. (Other languages use the cloud, where audio is processed and discarded, not stored.)
On day-to-day capability the two are well matched. Both insert text system-wide into any app, add punctuation and formatting automatically, let you edit and run commands by voice, support a personal dictionary, and handle 99–100+ languages with automatic detection. Dictately adds snippets (short triggers that expand into longer text) for signatures and boilerplate.
The honest summary: you are not giving up the essentials to save money. You're choosing a Mac-focused tool with a privacy option, rather than a broader cross-platform suite.
We'd rather you pick the right tool than feel misled. Wispr Flow is the better choice if you need to dictate on Windows, iPhone, or Androidas well as Mac — Dictately is Mac-only. It's also the more established product with a longer track record, and its free tier gives you more words per week.
If, on the other hand, you live on a Mac and care about price and privacy, Dictately is built precisely for you.
2,000 words a month, no card required. Hold a key, talk, and see the difference for yourself.
If you're on a Mac and want the same hold-a-key-and-talk dictation with a lower monthly price and the option to keep English transcription on your device, yes. Wispr Flow is excellent and more cross-platform (Windows, iPhone, Android); Dictately focuses on doing Mac dictation well, privately, and affordably.
Dictately Pro is £6.99/month (or £66.99/year, about £5.58/month). Wispr Flow Pro is $15/month, or $144/year. Month to month that's roughly 40% less, and the gap stays similar when you pay annually.
No. By their own documentation, Wispr Flow transcribes in the cloud to maximise speed and accuracy — there is no offline mode. Dictately can run English dictation fully on-device on Apple Silicon Macs, so your audio never leaves your machine. Other languages use the cloud.
Dictately never stores your audio. On Apple Silicon, English dictation can run entirely on-device. Wispr Flow offers a Privacy Mode you can opt into, but transcription itself still happens in the cloud.
Yes. Dictately runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. On-device English mode requires Apple Silicon; on Intel, dictation uses the cloud.
Both use modern speech models and produce clean, well-punctuated text in everyday use. We won't claim to beat Wispr on a benchmark — the honest reasons to choose Dictately are price, the on-device privacy option, and that it stays focused on Mac.