A free, private alternative to Superwhisper

Shopping for a Mac dictation app? Superwhisper, Wispr Flow and Apple's built-in Dictation are the names you'll see most. Aloud is a simpler option: free, on-device, no account, and it works in every app.

What Aloud is

• Hold a key, speak, let go. Your words land wherever your cursor is.
• Private by design. Your voice becomes text on your Mac. No cloud, no account.
• Free. No subscription, no word limit, no ads.
• Tidy as it types. Drops the “um”s, honors “scratch that,” and keeps your exact words in History.
• Your words. Vocabulary for names and terms, Snippets for text you use often.

At a glance

From each company's own website, checked October 2026.

Aloud vs Superwhisper

Superwhisper is a capable app with a lot on offer: AI modes that rewrite your text, cloud models, file transcription, meeting recording, and apps for Windows, iPhone and Android. Its free plan dictates with local models, and on that plan nothing you dictate leaves your device. Pro adds the cloud and AI features for $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once.

Aloud does one job. It types what you say, cleaned up, in any app. Everything is free and nothing goes to the cloud. Choose Superwhisper if you want AI rewriting or meeting notes. Choose Aloud if you want dictation that just works, at no cost.

Aloud vs Wispr Flow

Wispr Flow runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud. The free plan allows 2,000 words a week on desktop. Pro is $12 per user a month billed yearly, or $15 monthly.

Aloud turns your voice into text on your Mac, with no weekly limit and nothing to sign up for.

Aloud vs Apple Dictation

Dictation comes with macOS and costs nothing. Apple says general text dictation can be processed on your Mac, and Keyboard settings show whether it is. It stops on its own after 30 seconds without speech.

Aloud adds hold-to-talk on a key you choose, a hands-free mode, clean-up that drops filler words, Vocabulary, Snippets, and a History of exactly what you said. More in the Mac dictation app guide and private, offline dictation.