Free and open, vs closed and metered.
superwhisper is a capable dictation app for Mac, iOS, and Windows, with a free tier and local model options. It's also closed source, requires a login for licensing, and its AI cleanup pass is cloud-only. Plainsay is free for everyone, MIT-licensed, and its cleanup step is your choice — cloud, your own key, or off.
The short version
Plainsay is free, no tier, no limits. superwhisper's free tier gives 15 minutes of Pro-feature trial, then falls back to unlimited local small models — check their current pricing page for the Pro plan cost.
Plainsay's entire client is open. superwhisper is closed source — you get an app, not the code behind it.
Plainsay's cleanup is cloud by default but switchable to your own key or off. superwhisper's AI formatting runs through cloud LLM providers, with no local option surfaced.
Side by side
| Plainsay | superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, forever, no limits. | Free tier: 15-minute Pro trial, then unlimited use of local small models. Paid Pro tier exists — check superwhisper.com/pricing for the current figure, since we couldn't reliably confirm it from their page. |
| Transcription | On your Mac — Whisper or NVIDIA Parakeet via Core ML, always local. | Both offline (default: local Whisper Large on Apple silicon) and cloud models, depending on plan and hardware. |
| Cleanup pass | Cloud by default, but switchable to your own key, another provider, or off entirely. | Cloud LLM providers (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and others) — no local cleanup option found. |
| Source | MIT licensed, fully public. | Closed source, proprietary. |
| Account | None required to dictate locally. | Login required for license activation. |
| Platform | macOS (Apple silicon). | macOS (Intel + Apple silicon), Windows, iOS. |
superwhisper figures from superwhisper.com, 2026. Prices change — check the source links below. We were unable to reliably confirm superwhisper's exact Pro price from their page and have not stated a number.
Open, so you don't have to take our word for it
A closed-source app asks you to trust that it does what it says. An open one lets you read the code.
Plainsay's entire client is MIT licensed and public — the pipeline, the recorder, the settings, all of it. superwhisper is closed source: you get a capable app, but no way to verify its claims by reading the implementation, and no way to fork or self-host it if the company changes direction.
github.com/conrader/plainsay — read every line
Cleanup: your choice, or theirs
Both apps offer an AI pass that turns raw transcription into cleaner written text. Where they differ is who decides which model handles it, and whether that's negotiable.
Plainsay's cleanup defaults to a cloud model but is fully switchable — bring your own API key, pick a different provider, or turn it off and keep the raw transcript. superwhisper's cleanup runs through cloud LLM providers they've integrated (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and others); we found no local-cleanup option in their current docs. Transcription itself, for both apps, has a local option — this difference is specifically about the formatting pass, not the core dictation.
Where superwhisper is the better pick — honestly
- You need Windows or iOS — Plainsay is macOS-only today, superwhisper covers all three.
- You want built-in meeting notes, file transcription, and 40+ app integrations (Slack, Gmail, Notion, and more) out of the box.
- You want predefined output modes (Message, Email, Voice) without configuring your own cleanup prompt.
If instead you want free, open-source dictation with no account and a cleanup step you fully control — that's Plainsay.
Try the free, open one.
Download for macOS Free · MIT licensed · macOS 15+, Apple siliconSources
superwhisper pricing and features — superwhisper.com
Plainsay source — github.com/conrader/plainsay
superwhisper figures were current as of 2026 and are quoted from superwhisper's own pages, except the exact Pro price, which we could not reliably extract and have deliberately omitted. Verify at the link above.