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MacWhisper pricing: what the free version does and what Pro adds for €64

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MacWhisper pricing starts at free: the free version transcribes audio and video files on your Mac and exports .srt and .vtt subtitles, and MacWhisper Pro costs €64, paid once, with lifetime updates, on macwhisper.com as of October 5, 2026. The version sold on macwhisper.com has no subscription. The subscriptions belong to the App Store edition, called Whisper Transcription: MacWhisper's help center lists weekly, monthly and yearly options there, plus an optional Assistant subscription for cloud transcription and AI summaries.

I built YapToText, a free dictation app that also transcribes files, so read the last three sections with that in mind. Everything about MacWhisper here comes from macwhisper.com, its help center and its App Store listing, read on October 3 and October 5, 2026, and each source is listed at the end of the page.

App Store poster headed Yap it. Bam. It's typed. over the YapToText Home window and the three floating panel layouts.
Figure 1. YapToText, the free app I compare in the last three sections. One key opens the floating panel, and the words land wherever you were typing, with no license to buy.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

On this page: 10 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Every MacWhisper edition and price
  3. What the free version includes
  4. What Pro adds for €64
  5. The App Store edition and its subscriptions
  6. Where MacWhisper is the better buy
  7. The free alternative for files and dictation
    1. Step 1: Install YapToText
    2. Step 2: Pick the mode before the file
    3. Step 3: Drop the file
    4. Step 4: Take the text
  8. What YapToText cannot do
  9. The short version
  10. Questions

Steps

  1. Install YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it.
  2. Open the Utility page and pick Raw Transcription, or another mode, in the Mode menu on the Transcribe a file card.
  3. Drag an audio or video file onto the card, or press Choose File.
  4. When the text appears, press Copy, or Insert to type it into the app you were last using.

Every MacWhisper edition and price

Checked October 5, 2026, on macwhisper.com and its help center, with the feature lists read on October 3, 2026. macwhisper.com lists Pro in euros. Prices change, so check before you buy.

EditionWhere you get itPriceWhat it includes
MacWhisper Freemacwhisper.com€0File transcription on the Mac with local models, text and .srt or .vtt subtitle export, 100 languages, and system-wide dictation with Whisper.
MacWhisper Promacwhisper.com€64 once, with lifetime updatesEverything in Free, plus high quality dictation, speaker recognition, batch transcription, YouTube and podcast transcription, meeting recording, more export formats, AI cleanup through a provider you connect, and automation.
Whisper TranscriptionThe App Store, for Mac, iPhone and iPadIn-app purchases; the help center lists weekly, monthly and yearly subscription optionsThe same transcription core, with no dictation into other apps.
AssistantInside Whisper TranscriptionAn optional subscription; the help center pages I read give no priceCloud transcription, AI summaries and chat about a transcript. Not needed if you use your own API keys.

MacWhisper's help center describes the direct download as a one-time payment with no subscription. It also says a personal Pro license is meant for your own devices, with a soft limit of 3. For one Mac, the choice is Free or Pro, and Pro is one payment, not a monthly bill. The App Store edition is where a subscription comes in, and the section on it is further down.

What the free version includes

The free version is a file transcriber first, and a generous one. Here is what MacWhisper's own pages said about it on October 3, 2026:

  • Files. MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, OPUS, MOV and MP4, transcribed on the Mac with local models.
  • Exports. Plain text as .txt, and subtitles as .srt and .vtt, with timings, at no cost.
  • Languages. 100 of them.
  • Dictation. System-wide dictation with Whisper. You set a keyboard shortcut in its settings, and it types into any text field. This is only in the version sold on macwhisper.com.
  • Privacy. Its privacy policy says everything runs on your device and that no audio, text or other data leaves it, apart from anonymous analytics about license status.
  • Intel Macs. It runs on them, more slowly by its own account, and its help center points slow Intel Macs to optional cloud transcription providers.

What the free column leaves out is just as clear: speaker recognition, batches, meeting recording, AI cleanup of dictation and the extra export formats are all Pro. If what you need is subtitles from one file at a time, MacWhisper's free version already does it, and you may never need Pro. The guide to turning a video into text covers the plain text side of the same job.

What Pro adds for €64

Pro is a single €64 license, and macwhisper.com groups what it adds into a few jobs. Pro earns its price when your recordings have more than one voice, or when there are many of them.

  • Speakers and batches. Speaker recognition, and batch transcription of many files at once.
  • Links, podcasts and app audio. Transcription of YouTube and other media links and of podcasts, and capture of audio from other apps.
  • Meetings. Recording of Zoom, Teams, Webex, Skype, Chime and Discord calls, and noticing when they start and end.
  • More exports. Formats such as .docx, .pdf and Markdown, beside the free text and subtitles.
  • Better dictation. High quality dictation, plus automatic spelling and grammar improvement, AI prompts and app-specific prompts.
  • Automation. Watch folders, sending transcripts to Notion, Zapier, Obsidian and others, and a command-line tool.

One detail matters for the price. Pro's cleanup and AI prompts run through an AI provider you set up yourself: your own API key, or a local model in Ollama or LM Studio. If you pick a paid API, check that provider's own pricing before you count on Pro's AI features.

The guide to transcribing an interview shows where speaker labels and timestamps matter, and where plain text is enough.

The App Store edition and its subscriptions

MacWhisper comes in two editions, and the help center is careful to separate them. The direct download is pay once; the App Store edition is where the subscriptions are.

  • MacWhisper, from macwhisper.com. Free, with Pro as a one-time €64 license and lifetime updates. This is the only edition with dictation into other apps.
  • Whisper Transcription, from the App Store. Sold with in-app purchases, and the help center lists weekly, monthly and yearly subscription options. It runs on iPhone and iPad as well as the Mac, and the iOS app handles files.
  • No dictation in the App Store edition. The help center says dictation is only in the version sold on macwhisper.com, because of restrictions Apple puts on apps sold on the Mac App Store.
  • Assistant. An optional subscription for Whisper Transcription users that adds cloud transcription, AI summaries and chat. The help center says you do not need it if you use your own API keys.

I did not confirm the App Store prices for each subscription, so look at the In-App Purchases list on the listing before you subscribe. If you want dictation into other apps, buy from macwhisper.com. If you want the same app on an iPhone or iPad, the App Store edition is the one that runs there.

Where MacWhisper is the better buy

MacWhisper is good software, and for a lot of people the free version or a single Pro payment is the right call. It is the better choice if you need any of these:

  • Subtitles. Free .srt and .vtt export with timings. YapToText makes no subtitles.
  • Who said what. Speaker recognition on Pro. YapToText labels no speakers.
  • Many files, links or meetings. Batches, YouTube and podcast links, and call recording on Pro. YapToText takes one file at a time, and the file has to be on your Mac.
  • An Intel Mac. MacWhisper runs on one, more slowly. YapToText needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later.
  • Many languages. 100 listed. YapToText lists 29 plus auto-detect.
  • An iPhone or iPad. Whisper Transcription runs there. YapToText is a Mac app only.

For recordings that need subtitles, speakers or batches, MacWhisper is worth installing, and €64 once is a fair price for what Pro adds. The full comparison sets it beside superwhisper, Wispr Flow and VoiceInk, and the Wispr Flow pricing page breaks down a subscription app the same way.

The free alternative for files and dictation

YapToText is free with no paid tier, no account and no license key. Tips are optional and add no features. It does two of the jobs MacWhisper does: it transcribes a file into plain text, and it dictates into any app. Both run on your Mac, with the speech model, Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5), and the cleanup model, Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct, shipped inside the App Store app. My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day, and dictation is the job I built it for. Plain text from a file and cleaned-up dictation in any app cost nothing here.

Step 1: Install YapToText

Get it from the Mac App Store and open it. The download is about 2.9 GB, because both models are inside, so it works with Wi-Fi off from the first launch.

Step 2: Pick the mode before the file

  • You: Open the Utility page and, on the Transcribe a file card, open the Mode menu. Pick Raw Transcription for exactly what was said, or a mode such as Note to clean it up.
  • YapToText: Uses that mode for the file. Your dictionaries apply too, so names you have taught it come out right.
  • Check: The menu shows the mode you want.

Step 3: Drop the file

  • You: Drag an audio or video file onto the card, or press Choose File.
  • YapToText: Reads the file by its content, not its extension, and transcribes it on the Mac. A recording over 4 minutes is cut at quiet moments into pieces of about 2 minutes.
  • Check: The text appears in the card. A file with no speech in it says so instead.

Step 4: Take the text

  • You: Press Copy, or Insert to type the text into the app you were last using.
  • YapToText: Copies or inserts plain text. Send below passes it to the next card, where you can run it through another mode.
  • Check: The text is where you wanted it.
YapToText's menu bar panel: Start Dictation, mode and microphone pickers, Transcribe file, Regenerate and Insert last.
Figure 2. The other route to a free transcript: click the capybara and choose Transcribe file, and the text is copied and saved to History under the file's name.

The menu bar panel has the same job, called Transcribe file, and the History page has a Transcribe File button. That route uses your current mode, copies the text to your clipboard, types it into the app you were using when Insert text automatically is on, and saves it to History. The Utility guide covers the rest of that page, and the guide to transcribing an audio file for free lists every format.

For dictation, by default you tap Right Command, talk, and tap again, and the words land at your cursor in any app. Auto mode picks a format for each dictation, which the Auto mode guide explains, and Quick Edit changes text you already wrote: select it, tap Right Option, say the change. The Quick Edit guide has examples. In MacWhisper, cleanup of dictation is a Pro feature that needs a provider you connect; here the cleanup model is already on the Mac.

App Store poster headed Edit anything by voice: the Quick Edit card listening, applying the edit, and done.
Figure 3. Quick Edit, free in YapToText: select text in any app, tap the Quick Edit key, say the change, and the card goes from listening to applying to done.

What YapToText cannot do

The free part has real limits, and they line up with what MacWhisper sells. YapToText gives you the words, not who said them or when.

  • No timestamps, subtitles or speakers. A file transcript is plain text, with no timestamps, no subtitle export and no speaker labels.
  • One file at a time. There are no batches, no watch folders and no command-line tool.
  • Files on your Mac only. It cannot open a YouTube or podcast link, and it does not record meetings or system audio.
  • Utility work is not filed. A transcript made on the Utility card is not saved to History. Transcribe file in the menu bar does file one.
  • Apple silicon, macOS 14 and the Mac. No Intel Macs, and no iPhone, iPad or Windows version.
  • 29 languages. Plus auto-detect, against MacWhisper's 100.

Climb this ladder, smallest commitment first:

  1. Plain text and dictation. YapToText, free, on an Apple silicon Mac, with cleanup and Quick Edit included.
  2. Subtitles from a file. MacWhisper Free, with .srt and .vtt export, on Apple silicon or Intel.
  3. Speakers, batches, links and meetings. MacWhisper Pro, €64 once, with lifetime updates.
  4. The same app on an iPhone or iPad. Whisper Transcription from the App Store, with in-app purchases and subscriptions.

Nothing stops you from running both apps, as long as they do not listen for the same shortcut. The MacWhisper alternative page walks through using them side by side, and the roundup of free speech to text apps has the other free choices.

The short version

  • Free. MacWhisper's free version transcribes files on the Mac, exports .srt and .vtt subtitles, and dictates in the macwhisper.com version.
  • Pro. €64 once, with lifetime updates, for speakers, batches, links, meetings, more exports and AI cleanup through a provider you connect.
  • Subscriptions. Only in the App Store edition, Whisper Transcription: weekly, monthly or yearly, plus the optional Assistant.
  • YapToText. Free plain text from a file and dictation in any app, on the Mac, with no timestamps, subtitles or speakers.

MacWhisper charges once for recording tools; YapToText charges nothing and does the talking and the plain text.

If a price or feature here no longer matches MacWhisper's site, open an issue on GitHub and I will fix it. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

How much does MacWhisper cost?

MacWhisper Pro is €64, paid once, with lifetime updates, on macwhisper.com on October 5, 2026. The free version costs nothing and transcribes files and exports subtitles.

Is MacWhisper free?

Partly. The free version from macwhisper.com transcribes audio and video files on the Mac, exports .srt and .vtt subtitles and includes system-wide dictation. Speaker recognition, batches, meeting recording and AI cleanup need Pro.

Is MacWhisper a subscription?

Not the version sold on macwhisper.com, which its help center describes as a one-time payment. The App Store edition, Whisper Transcription, lists weekly, monthly and yearly subscription options, plus an optional Assistant subscription.

What is the difference between MacWhisper and Whisper Transcription?

Whisper Transcription is the App Store edition of MacWhisper, sold with in-app purchases and also on iPhone and iPad. It has no dictation into other apps, which is only in the version from macwhisper.com.

What does MacWhisper Pro add over the free version?

Speaker recognition, batch transcription, YouTube and podcast transcription, meeting recording, more export formats, high quality dictation, AI cleanup through a provider you connect, and automation such as watch folders.

Is there a free alternative to MacWhisper Pro?

For plain text and dictation, yes. YapToText is free on Apple silicon Macs, transcribes files and dictates into any app on the Mac, but it makes no subtitles, timestamps or speaker labels.