Superwhisper and Vext are the two most-asked-about local Mac dictation apps right now. Both run speech recognition entirely on your Mac, both are one-time purchases instead of subscriptions, both target people who want polished dictation without the cloud.
They make different bets. This is what those bets are and how to decide.
Disclosure: we make Vext. We'll try to be honest about Superwhisper's strengths anyway — pretending it doesn't have them doesn't help anyone reading this.
At a glance
| Superwhisper | Vext | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $249 lifetime | $49 lifetime (current major version) |
| Free trial | Yes | 100 dictations, 50 notes, 10 meetings |
| Platform | Mac (macOS 13+) | Mac (macOS 14+), Apple Silicon only |
| Speech engine | Whisper (multiple sizes) | Parakeet default, Whisper optional |
| Processing | Local | Local |
| Cleanup | Mode-based prompts | Enhance (single LLM pass) |
| Meeting transcription | No | Yes |
| Live translation | No | Yes |
| Speaker labels | No | Yes (in meetings) |
| Modes / contexts | Yes (deep) | Three fixed modes |
| Cross-platform | No | No |
What each one is best at
Superwhisper is the better dictation-focused tool. The mode system is what sets it apart. You define different prompts for different writing contexts — emails, code, casual chat, technical writing — and switch between them with a hotkey. Each mode has its own LLM prompt that shapes the cleanup behavior. If your day involves a lot of context switching ("write a Slack message", "draft an email", "leave a code comment", "summarize this for an exec"), Superwhisper's modes match that shape better than anything else.
The polish on the dictation experience itself — the UI, the cursor handling, the rare edge cases — is excellent. Years of focus on one thing show.
Vext is the broader workflow tool. Dictation is one of three modes. The other two are meetings (record + transcribe + summarize, with speaker labels) and notes (quick voice memos stored locally). Plus features that Superwhisper doesn't have: live translation, screenshot capture during dictation, YOLO Mode for AI tools, hands-free dictation, system audio ducking.
If you want dictation only, Superwhisper wins on focus. If you want dictation plus meetings plus translation in one app, Vext is what we built that for.
Where they overlap
The core dictation experience is genuinely similar:
- Hold a hotkey, speak, release, text appears at cursor
- Local Whisper or Parakeet does the speech recognition
- A local LLM cleans up filler words and structure
- Audio never leaves your Mac
- One-time purchase, no subscription
If all you do is the core dictation flow, both apps will feel familiar to use. The difference is in how each handles the edges.
Speed and accuracy
Both apps use the same underlying models (Whisper variants, Parakeet) so transcription accuracy is bounded by the model, not the app. Where they diverge:
Default engine. Superwhisper defaults to a Whisper variant (you choose during setup). Vext defaults to Parakeet for English dictation, which is faster (~150x realtime on M2) and matches Whisper Small/Medium accuracy on clean English. For non-English, Vext switches to Whisper. Superwhisper sticks with Whisper across the board.
Latency to first token. Parakeet streams tokens as you speak; Whisper waits for the 30-second window. For short dictation, Parakeet feels instantaneous (~80ms first-token on M2). Whisper Small is ~350ms, Medium ~700ms, Large-v3 ~1.4s. If latency matters and you mostly dictate English, Vext wins by default. Both apps let you pick the engine per task, so this is configurable on both.
Cleanup quality. Superwhisper's mode-specific prompts produce better-tuned output when you're switching contexts — a "casual Slack message" mode reads different from a "formal email" mode. Vext's Enhance is one general-purpose prompt with the option to customize. For a dictation generalist, both are fine. For someone who really cares about tone matching the destination, Superwhisper's mode system is the right answer.
Meeting transcription
Vext records meetings (microphone + system audio simultaneously) and produces transcripts with speaker labels, screenshots, and AI summaries. Works with Zoom, Meet, FaceTime — anything that produces audio on your Mac.
Superwhisper doesn't do meetings. You'd pair it with a separate meeting tool (Granola, MacWhisper for after-the-fact files, etc.).
If you take meetings regularly and want one app for everything voice-related, this is the biggest difference between the two products.
Translation
Vext speaks-any-language, types-your-target-language: set a target language in settings, dictate in source, get translated text at your cursor. Useful if you read in a non-native language but write in English (or vice versa), or for international work.
Superwhisper has translation through OpenAI Whisper's built-in translate mode (audio to English only), not a full bidirectional language pair.
If translation is a real workflow need, Vext is built for it. If you only ever work in one language, this doesn't matter.
Pricing
Superwhisper is $249 lifetime. Vext is $49 for the current major version, with major upgrades at 50% off for existing customers (so likely $24.50 for the next major).
Five-year cost picture:
- Superwhisper: $249 once
- Vext: ~$49 + ~$25 + ~$25 = roughly $100 over five years (depending on how many major versions ship)
Either way both are dramatically cheaper than Wispr Flow's $15/month ($900 over five years).
The $200 gap between Superwhisper's price and Vext's covers Superwhisper's longer track record and the depth of polish on the dictation experience. Whether that gap is worth it depends on how often you dictate and how much value you put on the mode system.
Hardware and OS requirements
Superwhisper: macOS 13+, Intel or Apple Silicon, but Apple Silicon strongly recommended.
Vext: macOS 14+, Apple Silicon only (M1–M4). Intel Macs not supported.
If you're on Intel, Superwhisper is the only one of the two that works.
Workflows that fit each
Superwhisper fits if:
- You dictate frequently with different tones across destinations
- You want the most polished, dictation-focused tool
- You're on Intel Mac or older macOS
- You're fine pairing it with separate tools for meetings/translation/notes
Vext fits if:
- You want dictation + meetings + translation in one app
- You write to AI tools a lot (YOLO Mode, screenshot capture)
- You're on Apple Silicon with macOS 14+
- The lower price matters
- You work multilingually
Where they're both wrong choices
If you want cross-platform (Windows + Mac), neither fits. Wispr Flow is the cloud-based answer there.
If you want open-source, neither qualifies — both are closed-source. VoiceInk is the option there.
If you want the most accurate file transcription with batch processing of recordings, neither is built for that. MacWhisper Pro is the right pick.
If you only ever dictate occasionally and your needs are basic, Apple Dictation is free and good enough — neither paid app is necessary.
The honest summary
Superwhisper is more polished as a pure dictation app. The mode system genuinely makes a difference if your workflow looks like context-switching between tone styles. The price reflects the focus.
Vext is broader — same local-first principles, four times cheaper for the major version, but with meeting transcription, translation, screenshot capture, YOLO Mode, and hands-free in addition to dictation. The tradeoff for that breadth is less depth on any one feature.
Both have trials. The fastest way to decide is to use each for a day on your actual work. The right answer is the one you stop fighting first.