The best transcription software for a Mac.
"Best" depends on what you’re transcribing and where the audio is allowed to go. So this is verdicts by category, with the vendors’ own claims linked, and competitors named where they win.
The best transcription software for a Mac depends on the job: MacWhisper is the best-known local file transcriber and the one most people should try first; VoiceInk is the best open-source pick; Spokenly’s free local tier adds free live dictation; Edict is the strongest choice for hard-offline work and AI-agent workflows, transcribing an hour of audio in about 24 seconds on-device with speaker labels. All of these can process audio on the Mac itself rather than a server; Edict alone has no cloud path at all.
Last verified 2026-07-24
How this list works
Every tool here transcribes audio and video files on the Mac itself; where a vendor also offers cloud engines, that’s stated. Claims come from each vendor’s own site, checked on the date at the top of this page, and the maker of this site sells one of the tools below, labeled where it appears. Cloud transcription services (the Otter and Rev end of the market) are a different product class, built around meeting bots and team libraries; if you need those, none of these verdicts apply to you.
The field at a glance
Price models rather than prices, since prices move; each linked site carries current numbers.
| Tool | Files | Live dictation too | Where audio is processed | Price model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacWhisper | Yes, the core product | Yes | "Locally on your Mac using Whisper, Parakeet and other AI models." Optional cloud models can be switched in. | Free tier, one-time Pro |
| Edict (ours) | Yes, with speaker labels | Yes | On your Mac, always; models ship inside the app, offline from first launch. | One-time |
| VoiceInk | Yes | Yes | "VoiceInk processes all voice transcription locally on your device." Optional cloud engines exist if you enable them. Open source, GPL. | One-time |
| Spokenly | Yes | Yes | Local Whisper models free and offline, or cloud engines with your own key. | Free local tier, paid cloud |
| superwhisper | Yes | Yes | On-device models offline, optional cloud models you can switch to. | Free plan; Pro by subscription or lifetime |
| Apple Voice Memos | Its own recordings | No | On-device, on macOS 15 or later with Apple silicon; not available in all countries. | Free with macOS |
Best for most people: MacWhisper
MacWhisper’s free tier transcribes files locally in the common formats and includes system-wide dictation; for many people it ends the search, and the paid Pro (a one-time purchase) adds the power features. The reputation is deserved. If the audio is a Voice Memos recording, macOS 15 on Apple silicon can transcribe it itself for nothing, though not yet in every country. Spokenly’s free local mode is the third free route, with free live dictation of its own.
Best open source: VoiceInk
VoiceInk is built in public on GitHub under the GPL v3, transcribes locally by default, and is a one-time purchase you can dodge entirely by building it yourself. The codebase also ships optional cloud transcription engines (Deepgram, Groq, and others) you can switch on. If auditability is the requirement, an open codebase beats any vendor promise, including ours.
Best for hard-offline and agent work: Edict (ours)
Edict’s position in this list is the strict end of the privacy spectrum plus the agent workflow. The speech models ship inside the app, so it transcribes offline from the first launch, and the app has no network path for audio at all; there’s no cloud option to misconfigure. Files come back with speaker labels and SRT, VTT, or text export at roughly 150x real time (an hour in about 24 seconds), and the built-in MCP server means an AI agent can submit recordings and work from the transcripts without the audio leaving the machine. It’s a one-time purchase with a 7-day full trial. If you don’t care about agents and MacWhisper’s free tier covers your files, buy nothing.
Best if you also live in cloud AI models: superwhisper or Spokenly
Both are dictation-first apps that handle files and let you route work to cloud models when you choose (superwhisper to GPT or Claude, Spokenly to OpenAI, Deepgram, or Groq with your own keys), while keeping a local mode. superwhisper has a perpetual free plan, with file transcription in its Pro tier, sold as subscription or lifetime; Spokenly’s local tier is free. If you want one app that spans on-device and cloud, these two are the honest picks, with the obvious caveat that a cloud model means the audio or text goes to that cloud.
What "best" turns on
Three questions settle it. Is the audio allowed to leave the Mac? If no, the field narrows to the local modes above; among the apps only Edict has no other mode at all, and Apple’s Voice Memos transcription is likewise on-device only. Do you need who-said-what? Then check for speaker labels (Edict includes them; MacWhisper puts automatic speaker recognition in Pro). And is a machine or a person doing the reading? Agent workflows favor tools the agent can drive; human reading favors whatever exports cleanly into your notes. The speech to text overview covers the wider field, live dictation included.
Common questions
Is there a free option?
Several, and they are good enough that many people never pay. Rather than repeat them here, the free routes have their own page covering what each one does and where it runs out.
What’s the best transcription software that works offline?
Several here run local models. Edict is the strictest version: models are bundled inside the app, it works offline from first launch, and there is no cloud path to fall back to. MacWhisper, VoiceInk, Spokenly, and superwhisper all offer local processing too.
Which transcription apps show who said what?
Edict labels speakers, and MacWhisper does too on its paid Pro tier. Edict carries the labels into SRT, VTT, and text export, which is what makes multi-voice recordings like meetings and interviews readable.
Is on-device transcription accurate enough?
The local models these apps run (Whisper and Parakeet families) are the same class of model the cloud services run, on your own Mac. For clear speech the difference is marginal; for difficult audio, test with your own recordings, which is what free tiers and trials are for.
Why isn’t Otter or Rev on this list?
Different product class: those are cloud services built around meeting bots, team workspaces, and human-review add-ons, and your audio is processed on their servers. This list is software that transcribes on the Mac itself.
Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · macOS 15 Sequoia or later · 7-day full trial · one-time purchase