This is not an on-device versus cloud comparison. MacWhisper transcribes locally too, and says so plainly. The real difference is what each one is for — and one of them cannot do the other's main job at all.
MacWhisper states it uses "local models to transcribe your files" and lets you "process sensitive content locally without data ever leaving your Mac". Plainsay's Local mode does the same. If privacy is your reason for looking, both qualify.
It transcribes existing audio and video, produces subtitles, and handles batches. Plainsay does none of that — it has no way to open a file. It listens to a hotkey and pastes what you said.
MacWhisper Pro is €64 for a licence with lifetime updates. Plainsay's Local mode is free, and the whole client is MIT-licensed on GitHub, so the privacy claim above can be checked rather than believed.
| Plainsay | MacWhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription runs | On your Mac in Local mode | On your Mac — "local models", their wording |
| Dictate into any app | Yes, that is the entire app | Yes — "system wide dictation", listed among its features |
| Transcribe an existing file | No. There is no file import | Yes — audio and video, its original purpose |
| Price | Local mode free. Optional Cloud 12 PLN gross/month | Free tier €0/month; Pro €64 per licence, lifetime updates |
| Source code | MIT, public, every line | Not published — its site does not state a licence |
| Who makes it | DMT Sp. z o.o., Poland | "Jordi Bruin and friends at Good Snooze in the Netherlands" |
Most comparisons on this site turn on where your audio goes. This one does not. MacWhisper is a local-first transcription app and has been since it launched; the claim that your recordings stay on your Mac is one it makes on its own homepage. We are not going to imply otherwise to make a point.
What we do offer that it does not is the ability to check. Plainsay's client is MIT-licensed and public, so "the audio never leaves your Mac" is a statement you can read the source for. MacWhisper's site does not state a licence, so the same claim there rests on trusting the developer — which many people reasonably do.
MacWhisper began as a way to turn recordings into text: podcasts, interviews, lectures, video. Dictation came later, alongside subtitles, batches and meeting capture. It is a workbench.
Plainsay only ever does one thing. You hold a key, you speak, the text lands in whatever app you were already typing in. There is no library, no file list, no import. If you hand Plainsay a folder of recordings it cannot help you, and that is by design rather than by omission.
Buy MacWhisper if any of this is your actual work:
Choose Plainsay when dictation is the job — when you want the words in the document you are already writing, for nothing, from a client you can read.
Every claim about MacWhisper above comes from macwhisper.com, its own site, checked on 24 August 2026. Prices and features change often — verify there before repeating anything here. Note that MacWhisper is distributed from macwhisper.com, the Mac App Store, and its developer's Gumroad page; other domains with similar names are not the developer's.
vs Wispr Flow · vs superwhisper · vs VoiceInk · vs macOS Dictation