A free Superwhisper alternative, clean-up included.
Superwhisper is a capable Mac dictation app: free with local models, and $8.49 a month (or $249.99 for life) for AI clean-up and Pro features. Hush is free and open source, with on-device speech recognition and AI clean-up at no cost. Pick Superwhisper for file transcription and apps on Windows and iPhone. Pick Hush for AI clean-up without a subscription.
Free and open source · Apple Silicon Macs · No account
Why people look for a Superwhisper alternative
- 1
AI clean-up is a Pro feature
Superwhisper's free version dictates with local models but leaves out AI clean-up, which comes with Pro at $8.49 a month. In Hush clean-up is free: use Apple Intelligence, a local server such as Ollama, or your own key, and pay only your provider, if anything.
- 2
You want to see the code
Superwhisper is closed source, and its terms forbid extracting the app's source code. Hush is MIT licensed, so you can read it, build it and change it.
- 3
You want no analytics at all
Superwhisper's App Store privacy label lists diagnostics and a device identifier, though its privacy policy says it collects no usage data. Hush has no analytics or telemetry of any kind.
Hush vs Superwhisper
Feature by feature, including what Hush doesn't do yet. Hover or tap a cell for details.
| Feature | Hush | Superwhisper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $8.49/moOr $84.99/yr, or $249.99 lifetime. |
| Free version | Everything | Local modelsUnlimited dictation with local models, no AI clean-up. |
| Open source | MIT | ✗Terms forbid extracting the app's source code. |
| Account | Not needed | Not neededActivates with a license key. |
| On-device speech recognition | ✓Parakeet, Whisper, Moonshine, Canary and other open models run locally. | ✓Cloud models also available. |
| Works offline | ✓Only the optional AI clean-up with a cloud provider needs a connection. | ✓ |
| Audio sent to a server | Never | By defaultCloud models are the default on Pro; local models keep audio on your Mac. |
| Usage analytics | None | YesThe App Store privacy label lists diagnostics and a device ID; their privacy policy says no usage data is collected. |
| Live preview | ✓ | ✓Pro, with selected models. |
| AI clean-up | ✓Optional, with your own provider key or Apple Intelligence. | ✓Pro feature. |
| Bring your own key | ✓Groq, OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Cerebras or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. | ✓Pro feature. |
| On-device AI option | ✓Apple Intelligence on supported Macs. | ✓Their S1-mini model: English, Message and Mail modes. |
| Per-app styles | ✓Default, Message, Email, Code and Raw. | ✓ |
| Custom vocabulary | ✓ | ✓ |
| Voice snippets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Edit selected text by voice | Not yet, Coming next | ✓ |
| Context awareness | Not yet, Coming next | ✓Pro feature. |
| File transcription | Not yet, Coming later | ✓Pro feature. |
| Mac (Intel) | Not yet, Coming later | ✓Works best with cloud models on Intel. |
| Windows | Not yet, Coming later | ✓ |
| iPhone | ✗Not on the roadmap yet. | ✓ |
Superwhisper details come from its own website, docs and terms, checked October 2026. Spotted something wrong? Open an issue.
Where each one is ahead
Where Hush is ahead
Everything in Hush is free, including AI clean-up and bring-your-own-key, which are Pro features in Superwhisper. Live preview works with Hush's free Live preview model; in Superwhisper real-time text is a Pro feature with selected models. Hush never uploads your audio, while Superwhisper Pro uses cloud models by default. And the code is public.
Where Superwhisper is ahead
Superwhisper does more today. It transcribes audio and video files, edits selected text by voice, uses on-screen context (Pro), and runs on Intel Macs, Windows and iPhone. It also offers a lifetime license, so you can pay once instead of setting up an AI provider. Voice editing and context are next on the Hush roadmap, and file transcription comes later.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Hush if
- You want AI clean-up without a subscription
- You want open-source code you can check
- You want your audio to stay on your Mac, always
- You dictate on an Apple Silicon Mac
Stay with Superwhisper if
- You transcribe recordings and videos, not only live dictation
- You want to edit selected text by voice today
- You use Windows, an iPhone or an Intel Mac
- You'd rather pay once than manage an AI provider key
Switching from Superwhisper
Install Hush
Download Hush, drag it to Applications and grant Microphone and Accessibility access. There is no license key or account.
Pick a model
Choose Fast (Parakeet V3), Live preview (Nemotron Streaming) or Most accurate (Granite Speech 4.1), or a Whisper model from the full list. Each downloads once and runs on your Mac.
Turn your modes into styles
Hush has five styles (Default, Message, Email, Code and Raw) that you assign per app, so Slack, Mail and your code editor each get the right one.
Bring your words across
Hush has no importer, so add your vocabulary as custom words and recreate your snippets in Hush's settings. If both apps use the same shortcut, quit Superwhisper or change one of the keys.
Hush and Superwhisper: questions
Is there a free alternative to Superwhisper?
Does Hush work offline like Superwhisper?
Can Hush transcribe audio files like Superwhisper?
Comparing more apps? See the full comparison with OpenWhispr, Spokenly, Willow and Apple Dictation, or read Hush as a Wispr Flow alternative or a VoiceInk alternative.
You talk faster than you type.
About three times faster. Hush turns that into text you can actually send, for free, without your voice leaving your Mac.
Apple Silicon Macs · Free and open source