The open-source alternatives to Superwhisper are VoiceInk, Handy, OpenWhispr and Whispering. VoiceInk is the closest match: a macOS app with modes per application, a personal dictionary and an optional language-model cleanup, under GPL-3.0. Handy and OpenWhispr add Windows and Linux. All four run Whisper on your own machine, and three also run NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU. VoiceInk's own README calls it an alternative to Superwhisper and Wispr Flow. A team switches when it wants the dictation to stay on the device and the code to be readable.
11 of 11 carry an OSI licence. 11 of 11 run on your own machines. Figures read from GitHub on October 26, 2026.
One project per need, with the reason from its own README and the one thing to know before you choose it.
GPL-3.0, offline, with modes that change settings per app or site, a personal dictionary, and an AI assistant mode. Its own README names Superwhisper and Wispr Flow as the tools it replaces.
Know firstmacOS 14.4 or later only, and the project is not accepting pull requests.
MIT, offline, and one job: hold a key, speak, paste. Installers for macOS, Windows and Linux, with Whisper on a GPU or NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU.
Know firstIts post-processing step is a command-line toggle whose behaviour the README does not describe, so polished prose is not the point here.
GPL-3.0, on-device Nemotron, Parakeet, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech or Whisper, with a write mode that rewrites selected text and a command mode.
Know firstmacOS 15 or later and Apple Silicon for all models; the optional enhancement model, Fluid Intelligence, is local but closed.
AGPL-3.0, seven bundled local models including Nemotron 3.5 and Qwen3-ASR, cleanup through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and a self-hosted server option.
Know firstWindows only for the client, and the community channels are Chinese-language by the README's own note.
MIT, built on Handy's dictation core, with a trigger phrase, a local English cleanup model, screen-aware answers and Kokoro speech, on all three desktops.
Know firstUnsigned installers that Windows and macOS warn about, and a young project at its first releases.
MIT. Local models or cloud models with your key, a cleanup step through GPT, Claude, Gemini, Groq or a local model, and call detection with speaker labels on device.
Know firstNotes sync and team spaces run through the maintainers' hosted cloud.
AGPL-3.0, inside the Epicenter monorepo. Any cloud or self-hosted transcription endpoint, an optional polish step, and a local-first store you own.
Know firstBuilt from source with Bun; neither README lists an installer to download.
The facts that decide most choices. Each project's page carries the full panel.
| Project | Best for | Openness | Licence | Runs as | Own machines | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VoiceInk | A Mac, with modes per application | OSI | See LICENSE | Desktop app | Yes | 6,933 |
| Handy | All three desktops, nothing else running | OSI | MIT | Desktop app | Yes | 34,761 |
| FluidVoice | A Mac with the newest local models | OSI | GPL-3.0 | Desktop app | Yes | 12,462 |
| SayIt | Windows, with an editable cleanup step | OSI | AGPL-3.0 | Desktop app, Docker (self-hosted server) | Yes | 453 |
| SpeakoFlow | Handy plus a cleanup model and an assistant | OSI | MIT | Desktop app | Yes | 366 |
| OpenWhispr | Cleanup by a model you choose, plus meetings | OSI | MIT | Desktop app | Yes | 10,041 |
| Whispering | Choosing your own transcription provider | OSI | See LICENSE | Built from source (Bun), Desktop app (Tauri), Browser | Yes | 4,826 |
| Jot | OSI | Apache-2.0 | Desktop app | Yes | 497 | |
| Whispree | OSI | MIT | Menu-bar app | Yes | 131 | |
| yap | OSI | MIT | pipx, from source, or PyInstaller-frozen app | Yes | 77 | |
| sayszz | OSI | MIT | Python package, menu-bar app | Yes | 12 |
Licence and star figures read from GitHub on October 26, 2026. Stars are shown as a dated fact and were not used to rank this page.
A macOS dictation app under GPL-3.0 whose README names Superwhisper and Wispr Flow as the tools it replaces, with local models, per-app modes, a personal dictionary and an AI assistant mode.
GPL-3.0, offline, with modes that change settings per app or site, a personal dictionary, and an AI assistant mode. Its own README names Superwhisper and Wispr Flow as the tools it replaces.
Know firstmacOS 14.4 or later only, and the project is not accepting pull requests.
A free, offline push-to-talk dictation app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs Whisper or NVIDIA Parakeet on your own machine and pastes the text at your cursor, under MIT.
MIT, offline, and one job: hold a key, speak, paste. Installers for macOS, Windows and Linux, with Whisper on a GPU or NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU.
Know firstIts post-processing step is a command-line toggle whose behaviour the README does not describe, so polished prose is not the point here.
A GPL-3.0 macOS dictation app that runs Nemotron, Parakeet, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech or Whisper on the device, with command and write modes, per-app prompts, and an optional closed local enhancement model.
GPL-3.0, on-device Nemotron, Parakeet, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech or Whisper, with a write mode that rewrites selected text and a command mode.
Know firstmacOS 15 or later and Apple Silicon for all models; the optional enhancement model, Fluid Intelligence, is local but closed.
An AGPL-3.0 voice typing app for Windows that ships seven local speech models including Nemotron 3.5 ASR and three Qwen3-ASR sizes, with an editable AI cleanup step through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
AGPL-3.0, seven bundled local models including Nemotron 3.5 and Qwen3-ASR, cleanup through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and a self-hosted server option.
Know firstWindows only for the client, and the community channels are Chinese-language by the README's own note.
An MIT desktop voice assistant for Windows, macOS and Linux that extends Handy's dictation core with a trigger phrase, a local cleanup model, screen-aware answers and Kokoro speech, with no account and no telemetry.
MIT, built on Handy's dictation core, with a trigger phrase, a local English cleanup model, screen-aware answers and Kokoro speech, on all three desktops.
Know firstUnsigned installers that Windows and macOS warn about, and a young project at its first releases.
A dictation and meeting-notes app under MIT that runs Whisper or Parakeet locally or cloud models with your own key, detects Zoom, Teams and FaceTime calls, and labels speakers on device.
MIT. Local models or cloud models with your key, a cleanup step through GPT, Claude, Gemini, Groq or a local model, and call detection with speaker labels on device.
Know firstNotes sync and team spaces run through the maintainers' hosted cloud.
A speech-to-text app inside the Epicenter monorepo under AGPL-3.0 that records, transcribes with a provider you choose, cloud or local, optionally polishes the text, and pastes it at the cursor.
AGPL-3.0, inside the Epicenter monorepo. Any cloud or self-hosted transcription endpoint, an optional polish step, and a local-first store you own.
Know firstBuilt from source with Bun; neither README lists an installer to download.
An Apache-2.0 macOS dictation app that calls Gemini 3.5 Transcribe with your own key, writes audio to disk from the first millisecond for crash safety, and inserts polished text at your cursor without an account.
A free, MIT dictation app for macOS that speaks into any prompt box on your Mac, uses Groq for speech and a Codex OAuth token for language-model cleanup, and can also run local Whisper and Qwen models.
A free, MIT push-to-talk dictation app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs faster-whisper locally by default, learns your vocabulary, and can also send audio to Groq or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
An MIT-licensed on-device dictation app for macOS and Windows that tap-triggers Whisper, with Metal acceleration on Apple Silicon through MLX, a searchable local history and a setup wizard.
The questions that settle it, in the order they usually come up.
VoiceInk. Per-app modes, a personal dictionary and an assistant mode, offline, GPL-3.0, and its README names Superwhisper as the tool it replaces.
Handy or OpenWhispr, both with installers and local models.
OpenWhispr lets you choose GPT, Claude, Gemini, Groq or a local model. VoiceInk has an assistant mode. Handy pastes the raw transcript.
Superwhisper, in the vendor's own words, is an app that lets you "just speak, write faster" and "turn your voice into polished text" in Slack, Gmail and any other site or app, by its own description. superwhisper.com. The cases below are where that still wins.
Stars, licence, last commit and last release are read from the GitHub API by a script every week and carry the date they were read. Nobody types them.
What each project does is written from its own README and LICENSE, read in full on the date shown, and phrased as the project's claim. The sources are listed at the end.
That a project is faster, better or cheaper than Superwhisper. A price for anyone. A user count. A roadmap. If a fact is not on this page, it was not in the source.
VoiceInk. It is a macOS app whose README names Superwhisper and Wispr Flow as the tools it replaces, with push-to-talk, per-application modes, a personal dictionary, and an AI assistant mode. It is GPL-3.0, installable through Homebrew or built from source, and the maintainers also sell a compiled build with automatic updates.
Handy and OpenWhispr. Handy ships an x64 Windows installer and a winget package; OpenWhispr ships a Windows .exe. Both run Whisper locally with GPU acceleration where available, and both run NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU.
Handy and VoiceInk are offline only: the speech model runs on your machine and no audio leaves it. OpenWhispr runs offline with local models and can also use cloud models with your own key. Whispering can use a local model in its desktop build or a cloud provider you choose.
VoiceInk has a personal dictionary with custom words and text replacements. Handy references a dictionary through its Raycast integration. OpenWhispr and Whispering do not describe a dictionary in their READMEs.
OpenWhispr lets you pick GPT, Claude, Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter or a local model for the cleanup step. VoiceInk has an AI assistant mode and context-aware modes, and its README does not name which model runs them. Whispering has an optional polish step tied to the provider you configure.
Reveneau sets up the replacement on your own servers, connects it to your product, and builds the software around it.