Guides

A free Wispr Flow alternative that stays on your Mac

By · Published · Updated

YapToText is a free Wispr Flow alternative for the Mac: one key starts dictation in any app, the speech model and the cleanup model both run on your Mac, and there is no account, no subscription and no weekly word cap. Wispr Flow, which a lot of people type as Whisper Flow, does real things YapToText does not, starting with apps for Windows, iPhone and Android. Its own pricing page, read on October 3, 2026, lists a free plan capped at 2,000 words a week on desktop and Pro at $15 per user a month, or $12 a month billed yearly.

My hands make typing difficult, so I dictate every day, and I wanted dictation that never needed a server or a monthly bill. I built YapToText, so read this with that in mind. Every Wispr Flow fact below comes from wisprflow.ai or its help center, read on the same day.

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: 7 sections
  1. Side by side
  2. What you keep, and what changes
  3. Move over in about ten minutes
    1. Step 1: Install YapToText and allow the microphone
    2. Step 2: Turn on Accessibility
    3. Step 3: Quit Wispr Flow, or give it another key
    4. Step 4: Choose your key
    5. Step 5: Move your names into Dictionaries
  4. If the first dictation does not type
  5. What Wispr Flow does that YapToText does not
  6. The short version
  7. Questions

Side by side

Checked October 3, 2026, on wisprflow.ai and docs.wisprflow.ai. Prices change, so check before you switch.

YapToTextWispr Flow
PriceFree, no paid tierFree plan; Pro $15 per user a month, or $12 billed yearly; Growth $23, or $18 billed yearly; Enterprise priced on request
Free word limitNone2,000 words a week on desktop, 1,000 on mobile
Where the audio goesStays on the MacThe cloud, always, per its privacy page
Works with Wi-Fi offYes, the App Store buildNo, transcription needs internet access
AccountNoneSign in during setup
Open sourceYes, GPL-3.0Not stated
Edits selected text by voiceYes, Quick Edit, freeCommand Mode, experimental, for paid plans and trials
Formats for the app you are inAuto mode, on the MacContext Awareness and Flow Styles
DevicesMacMac, Windows, iPhone, Android
Mac requirementApple silicon, macOS 14 or latermacOS 12 or later, Apple silicon or Intel
Languages29, plus auto-detectMore than 100

The full comparison puts superwhisper, MacWhisper, VoiceInk and Apple Dictation in the same table, and Apple Dictation vs Wispr Flow covers the free option that is already on your Mac. For a ranked list of seven, the roundup of the best Wispr Flow alternatives adds Willow Voice and Aqua Voice.

What you keep, and what changes

Here is the switch job by job: what Wispr Flow does first, then what YapToText does instead. You keep one key and words in any app, and your voice stops leaving the Mac.

  • Dictating into any app. Wispr Flow types where your cursor is while you hold its key, Fn by default on Macs with an fn key. YapToText starts with one tap of Right Command and stops with another, or works as Hold to talk if you would rather hold. Intelligent Insert reads the words around your cursor first, so a sentence added in the middle of a paragraph gets the right capital and spacing.
  • Editing by voice. Wispr Flow's Command Mode edits selected text from a spoken instruction, but it is off by default, sits under Settings, Experimental, and works only for paid plans and trials. In YapToText you select text, tap Right Option, say the change and tap again. That is Quick Edit, and it is free from the first launch. For 30 seconds after a dictation lands, scratch that removes it and replace X with Y fixes a word, with no key at all.
App Store poster headed Edit anything by voice: the Quick Edit card listening, applying the edit, and done.
Figure 1. Quick Edit, free from the first launch: select text, tap the Quick Edit key, say the change, and the card listens, applies it and says Done.
  • Formatting. Wispr Flow's Context Awareness reads the app you are in, the text near your cursor and the text on screen, and adapts style and formatting. Its Flow Styles set capitals and punctuation for each kind of app, in English only. YapToText's Auto mode does that job on your Mac: a letter with a greeting and a sign-off becomes an email, a quick chat message stays exactly as you said it, and ending with make it formal or as a bullet list reshapes the whole thing. The Auto mode guide lists every phrase it follows.
  • Your names and words. Wispr Flow learns names and jargon, and its free plan includes a dictionary and snippets. YapToText's Dictionaries fix a spelling and also prime the speech model, so a name is heard right in the first place, and its Commands type saved text when you say insert and the phrase. The Dictionaries guide has the details.
  • Price. Wispr Flow's free plan is capped at 2,000 words a week on desktop and 1,000 on a phone, and Pro lifts the cap for $15 per user a month, or $12 billed yearly. YapToText is free with no paid tier and nothing locked, and the optional tips buy no features. Nothing counts your words, so nothing runs out by Thursday. Every Wispr Flow plan, Growth and Enterprise included, is broken down on the Wispr Flow pricing page.
  • Where your voice goes. Wispr Flow's privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud, and its help center says voice transcription needs internet access. To be fair to it, Wispr says it keeps zero-data-retention agreements with all its third-party AI providers, and a setting under Data and Privacy decides whether your audio and transcripts may be used to improve its own models. In YapToText your voice never leaves your Mac. The App Store build ships both models, so it dictates with Wi-Fi off from the first launch, and the only network use is a model download you start yourself. The offline dictation guide shows what that looks like day to day.
App Store poster headed Nothing leaves your Mac, over YapToText's AI Models page with both models marked Included.
Figure 2. Both models ship inside the App Store app and show as Included on the AI Models page, which is why it dictates with Wi-Fi off from the first launch.

Move over in about ten minutes

The switch is five steps and needs no account. Three of them can trip you up, so those come with a check. Two permissions and one key, and your dictation runs on your own Mac.

Step 1: Install YapToText and allow the microphone

Get YapToText from the Mac App Store and open it. On the Home page, in the Get set up card, press Continue next to Microphone and allow it when macOS asks.

Step 2: Turn on Accessibility

  • You: In the same card, press Grant next to Accessibility, then switch YapToText on in the list that opens.
  • macOS: Opens System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility. An app cannot switch this on for itself.
  • Check: The Get set up card shows Accessibility as granted. If it will not stay on, press Show in Finder, drag the app into the list, and press Recheck.

Step 3: Quit Wispr Flow, or give it another key

Two dictation apps waiting on the same key is asking for trouble, so quit Wispr Flow, or change its shortcut, before you give YapToText that key. That is caution, not something I measured.

Step 4: Choose your key

  • You: On the Dictation page, in the Keys card, keep Right Command or record another key, and choose Tap to start / stop or Hold to talk. Fn/Globe is one of the choices if your hands already know Wispr Flow's key.
  • YapToText: Listens for that key on its own. A tap only counts when no other key was pressed with it, so Command C still copies.
  • Check: Click into a note, start, say one sentence, and stop. The words land at your cursor. If they went to the clipboard instead, go back to Step 2.
YapToText's Dictation settings page on a Mac: the Keys, Recording, Microphone and Delivery cards.
Figure 3. The Keys card at the top of the Dictation page: the dictation key and the way it responds sit side by side, with Right Command and Tap to start / stop as the defaults.

The keys and shortcuts guide lists every key the app can use, including a backup shortcut that works without Accessibility.

Step 5: Move your names into Dictionaries

  • You: In any note, select a name or term spelled the way you want it, tap Right Option, say add this to my dictionary, and tap again. Start with the names you dictate most.
  • YapToText: Saves the word with exactly that spelling and capitals, and uses it to prime the speech model from then on.
  • Check: The Quick Edit card says the word was added, and the entry shows on the Dictionaries page.

Snippets move over by hand. On the Commands page, open Snippets, press Add Snippets, and put the phrase under Say this and the text under Inserts. While the insert prefix is on, which is the default, you say insert before the phrase.

YapToText's Commands page: Enable voice commands on, Require the word insert before a command on, and the Snippets tab.
Figure 4. The Snippets tab on the Commands page: the phrase goes under Say this, the text goes under Inserts, and the insert prefix is on by default.

If the first dictation does not type

If the first dictation does not land where you expect, climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Click into the other app first. YapToText never types into its own window, so a dictation started while it is in front goes to the clipboard.
  2. Turn on Accessibility. Without it, every dictation is copied to the clipboard instead of typed. Step 2 has the path.
  3. Look for a second app on the key. If Wispr Flow still waits on the same key, quit it and try again.
  4. Pin a method for that app. In Settings, Advanced, add the app under Per-app method and choose Type character-by-character.

The troubleshooting guide covers the rest, including the alert beep some apps play at Intelligent Insert.

What Wispr Flow does that YapToText does not

Wispr Flow is good software, and some of what it does, I do not do at all. If your dictation has to follow you to a phone or a PC, Wispr Flow is the honest pick.

  • Other devices. Wispr Flow runs on the Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, and it can keep your dictation history on its servers for cross-device features. YapToText is a Mac app only.
  • Older and Intel Macs. Wispr Flow supports macOS 12 Monterey or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. YapToText needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.
  • More languages. Wispr Flow lists more than 100. YapToText's picker has 29 languages plus auto-detect, and its interface is English only. The languages guide lists all 29.
  • Meetings and teams. Wispr Flow has a Notetaker for meetings, a shared dictionary and snippets on Pro, and single sign-on and org-wide HIPAA enforcement with a signed BAA on Growth. YapToText takes no meeting notes and has no team features.
  • A tested screen reader path. Wispr Flow's help center says it is tested with VoiceOver on the Mac. YapToText announces every state to VoiceOver, from Listening to done, but I have not run that test pass yet.

The short version

  • What you gain. Wispr Flow's core job, one key and your words in any app, with no account, no word cap and no cloud.
  • What it takes. About ten minutes: install, allow two permissions, pick a key, and teach it your names.
  • When to stay. If you dictate on Windows or a phone, need a language outside the 29, or work on an Intel Mac.

If your dictating happens on one Apple silicon Mac, none of it needs a subscription. If something here does not match what you see in either app, open an issue on GitHub. 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

Is there a free alternative to Wispr Flow?

Yes. YapToText is free with no paid tier, no weekly word cap and no account, and it runs its speech and cleanup models on your Mac. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.

Is Whisper Flow the same as Wispr Flow?

Usually. Whisper Flow, WhisperFlow and Whisper Flow AI are common ways of typing Wispr Flow, the dictation app at wisprflow.ai, but other products use those spellings, so check the web address before you download anything.

How much is Wispr Flow?

Pro is $15 per user a month, or $12 a month billed yearly, on wisprflow.ai as of October 3, 2026. The free plan is capped at 2,000 words a week on desktop, Growth is $23 a month or $18 billed yearly, and Enterprise is priced on request. YapToText is free.

Does Wispr Flow work offline?

No. Its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud, and its help center says voice transcription needs internet access. The App Store build of YapToText works with Wi-Fi off, because both of its models ship inside the app.

Is Wispr Flow open source?

Not that its own site says. The wisprflow.ai pages I read never mention published source code, and its transcription runs in the cloud. YapToText's code is public on GitHub under the GPL.