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superwhisper pricing: what the free plan includes, and what Pro and lifetime add

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superwhisper pricing starts at free: the free plan gives unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, custom vocabulary, text replacements and up to two modes without AI processing, and Pro costs $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once for a lifetime license, on superwhisper.com as of October 5, 2026. One Pro license covers your Macs and Windows PCs plus your iPhone and Android phone. What Pro buys is the AI: AI modes, Super Mode, file transcription, cloud models and more local speech models.

I built YapToText, a free dictation app that runs on the Mac, so read the last sections with that in mind. Everything about superwhisper here comes from superwhisper.com and its documentation, read on October 3 and October 5, 2026, and each source is listed at the end of the page. Plenty of people search for super whisper, with a space; it is the same app.

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: 11 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Every superwhisper plan and price
  3. What the free plan includes
  4. What Pro adds
  5. Monthly, yearly or lifetime: which costs less
  6. Platforms, and where superwhisper is the better buy
  7. Where a free on-device app fits
  8. Transcribe a file without paying for Pro
    1. Step 1: Install YapToText
    2. Step 2: Choose the mode
    3. Step 3: Drop the file
    4. Step 4: Take the text
  9. What each one cannot do
    1. superwhisper Free
    2. YapToText
  10. The short version
  11. Questions

Steps

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

Every superwhisper plan and price

Checked October 5, 2026, on superwhisper.com. Prices are in US dollars, before any tax. Prices change, so check before you buy.

PlanPriceWhat it includes
Free$0Unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, custom vocabulary, text replacements, and up to two modes without AI processing. Does not expire.
Pro, monthly$8.49 a monthEverything in Free, plus AI modes, Super Mode, file transcription, cloud models, the Parakeet and Cohere Transcribe local models, unlimited modes and speaker separation.
Pro, yearly$84.99 a yearThe same Pro features, billed once a year.
Pro, lifetime$249.99 onceThe same Pro features, paid for once.

New users get 3,000 words of free access to every Pro feature first. When that runs out, superwhisper's plans page says the app falls back to the Free plan and nothing is deleted. superwhisper also offers a refund within 30 days of purchase. There is one Pro, sold three ways: by the month, by the year, or once.

What the free plan includes

superwhisper's free plan is a working dictation app, not a trial. The free plan keeps your voice on the device and leaves out everything that runs your words through AI. Here is what it includes, per superwhisper's own pages:

  • Unlimited dictation. No word cap, with local Whisper models. The plans page names Fast, Nano and Standard as the Whisper models that come with the free tier, running locally on a Mac, PC or iPhone.
  • Your words. Custom vocabulary and text replacements.
  • Two modes. Up to two modes without AI processing. Super, Mail and every other mode that runs your words through AI are Pro.
  • On the device. superwhisper says nothing you dictate on the free plan leaves your device. Its privacy policy, last updated June 19, 2024, says audio is transcribed on your device.
  • No end date. The free plan does not expire.

What the free plan cannot do: tidy up what you said, edit a selection by voice, transcribe a file you already have, or use a cloud model. If plain local transcription is all you need, superwhisper Free covers it, and so does YapToText. The roundup of free speech to text apps puts both next to the other free options.

What Pro adds

Pro is where superwhisper's AI lives. If you want cleanup, voice editing or file transcription in superwhisper, you are looking at Pro. According to its plans page and documentation, Pro adds:

  • AI modes. Super, Mail and the other modes that run your dictation through a language model. Its documentation marks every language model, local or cloud, as Pro. The one local language model, S1-mini, is English only and works only in the Message and Mail modes.
  • Super Mode. It reads the active app, your selection and your clipboard. Its guide says it handles formatting a selection, such as title case or bullet points, and does not work well for rewriting one.
  • Context awareness. Listed on the plans page as part of Pro.
  • File transcription. Meeting recordings, lectures, interviews and voice memos. Its file transcription page says a file goes through your active mode, so the result uses that mode's voice model and AI formatting.
  • More speech models. The Parakeet and Cohere Transcribe local models, and cloud models from superwhisper, Deepgram and ElevenLabs.
  • The rest. Unlimited modes, speaker separation, your own API keys, and what the plans page calls realtime.

Pro is one license for every device: superwhisper says it works on unlimited Macs and Windows PCs, plus your iPhone and Android phone. If you dictate on a PC or a phone too, that one license is a real part of the price.

Monthly, yearly or lifetime: which costs less

All three Pro options buy the same features, so the choice is only about time. Here is what each one adds up to over the first three years, worked out from the prices above, before any tax:

Worked out from superwhisper.com prices, checked October 5, 2026.

AfterMonthly, $8.49Yearly, $84.99Lifetime, $249.99
1 year$101.88$84.99$249.99
2 years$203.76$169.98$249.99
3 years$305.64$254.97$249.99

The yearly plan works out to about $7.08 a month. The lifetime license costs a little less than three years of the yearly plan, and about as much as 29 months of the monthly plan. Lifetime only pays off if you are still using Pro in year three. If you are not sure yet, the 3,000 free Pro words and the 30-day refund are the cheaper way to find out.

Climb this ladder, smallest commitment first:

  1. superwhisper Free. Local Whisper dictation with no cap and no AI.
  2. The 3,000-word Pro trial. Comes with a new account, and falls back to Free when it runs out.
  3. Pro monthly. $8.49 a month, if you might stop within a year.
  4. Pro yearly. $84.99 a year, if you will use it for a year or two.
  5. Pro lifetime. $249.99 once, if you know you will still want it in three years.

Platforms, and where superwhisper is the better buy

superwhisper runs on more machines than most Mac dictation apps. On an Intel Mac, superwhisper's own advice points to the cloud models, which are Pro.

  • Mac. macOS 13.3 or later. Its FAQ points Intel Macs to its cloud models, because its offline models only run really well on Apple silicon.
  • Other devices. Windows, iPhone and Android, all under one Pro license.
  • Languages. More than 100.
  • Offline. Its local models work offline; cloud models, on Pro, do not stay on the device.

That is the honest case for paying: if you need Windows or a phone, cloud models, speaker separation or a language outside YapToText's 29, superwhisper Pro covers ground YapToText does not. The comparison of Mac dictation apps puts superwhisper next to Wispr Flow, MacWhisper and VoiceInk, and the VoiceInk page covers the other one-time purchase.

Where a free on-device app fits

YapToText is free with no paid tier and nothing locked. The speech model and the cleanup model both run on your Mac, and the parts superwhisper keeps for Pro are included: AI cleanup, editing by voice, custom modes and file transcription. Tips are optional and buy no features. The features that cost $8.49 a month in superwhisper are free in YapToText, on one Apple silicon Mac.

  • Cleanup. Auto mode and the six built-in modes, Raw Transcription, Clean Up, Note, Email, Message and Code Comment, all free. The modes guide shows what each does.
  • Editing by voice. Quick Edit: select text in any app, tap Right Option, say the change, and tap again. The Quick Edit guide has examples.
  • Context. Each mode's AI cleanup can see the app you are dictating into, the text you have selected and your clipboard, on the Mac.
  • Models. Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5) ships in the app, the AI Models page lists ten more Whisper models, and it takes any whisper.cpp model file of your own.
The AI Models page in YapToText: Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5) and Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct marked Included, model library below.
Figure 1. Both models ship inside the App Store app and are marked Included, so cleanup runs on the Mac at no price.
App Store poster headed Edit anything by voice: the Quick Edit card listening, applying the edit, and done.
Figure 2. Quick Edit, the free counterpart to Super Mode: select text, tap the Quick Edit key, say the change, and the card listens, applies it and says Done.

The trade is real. It runs only on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, the download is about 2.9 GB, it lists 29 languages plus auto-detect, and there is no cloud option, no speaker labels and no Windows or phone version. My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day, and I wanted cleanup and voice editing I would never have to pay for. The free superwhisper alternative page walks through the switch, including moving your text replacements into Dictionaries.

Transcribe a file without paying for Pro

File transcription is the Pro feature people ask about most. In YapToText it is one card on the Utility page. The same Whisper model that handles your dictation transcribes the file, on the Mac, for free.

Step 1: Install YapToText

Get it from the Mac App Store and open it. Both models ship inside the app, so there is nothing else to download.

Step 2: Choose the mode

  • You: On the Utility page, in the Transcribe a file card, open the mode menu and pick Raw Transcription, or a mode such as Note.
  • YapToText: Uses that mode for the file. Raw Transcription gives exactly what was said, and any other mode runs its cleanup on the result.
  • Check: The menu shows the mode you want.

Step 3: Drop the file

  • You: Drag an audio or video file onto the card, or click Choose File. Voice Memos work too.
  • YapToText: Transcribes it on the Mac. A long file is cut at quiet moments and handled in pieces.
  • Check: The card says it is transcribing your file.

Step 4: Take the text

  • You: Click Copy, or Insert to type it into the app you were last using.
  • YapToText: Gives you plain text, with no speaker labels or timestamps.
  • Check: The text is where you wanted it.

The guide to transcribing an audio file on a Mac covers file types and what to do when a transcript comes back wrong. If you need speaker separation, superwhisper Pro has it and YapToText does not.

What each one cannot do

Neither app does everything, and the gaps point in opposite directions. superwhisper Free leaves out the AI; YapToText leaves out everything beyond one Apple silicon Mac.

superwhisper Free

  • No cleanup. Only two modes, both without AI processing, so what you say is what you get.
  • No editing by voice. Super Mode is Pro.
  • No files. File transcription is Pro.
  • No cloud or extra local models. Parakeet, Cohere Transcribe and the cloud models are Pro.

YapToText

  • One kind of computer. An Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, with no Windows, iPhone or Android version and nothing for Intel Macs.
  • Fewer languages. 29 plus auto-detect, against superwhisper's more than 100.
  • No cloud models. It runs Whisper models only, and only on your Mac, which is the point, but it means no Deepgram or ElevenLabs.
  • No speakers or subtitles. A transcribed file is plain text.
  • Websites as triggers. A superwhisper mode can switch on for chosen websites; YapToText switches modes by app.

If the missing piece for you is the network, the offline dictation guide shows which apps keep working with Wi-Fi off, superwhisper's local models included.

The short version

  • Free. $0: unlimited local Whisper dictation, vocabulary, replacements and two modes without AI. It does not expire.
  • Pro. $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once, for AI modes, Super Mode, file transcription and cloud models.
  • Lifetime. Cheaper than the yearly plan only from year three on.
  • Every device. One Pro license covers Macs, Windows PCs, iPhone and Android.

superwhisper charges for the AI and the extra devices; YapToText charges nothing and stays on one Mac.

If a price or feature here no longer matches superwhisper'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 superwhisper cost?

superwhisper Pro is $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once for a lifetime license, on superwhisper.com as of October 5, 2026. The free plan costs nothing and does not expire.

Is superwhisper free?

Yes, with limits. The free plan gives unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, custom vocabulary, text replacements and up to two modes without AI processing. AI modes, Super Mode and file transcription are Pro.

Does superwhisper have a lifetime license?

Yes. Pro is sold once for $249.99, as well as $8.49 a month or $84.99 a year. Worked out from those prices, lifetime costs less than the yearly plan only from the third year on.

Is file transcription free in superwhisper?

No. File transcription is a Pro feature, and a file goes through your active mode. YapToText transcribes audio and video files on the Mac for free, as plain text.

Does one superwhisper license work on Windows and iPhone?

Yes. superwhisper says one Pro license works on unlimited Macs and Windows PCs, plus your iPhone and Android phone.

Is there a free alternative to superwhisper Pro?

Yes. YapToText is free with AI cleanup, Quick Edit and file transcription included, all on your Mac. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.