MacWhisper review
8.1/10★★★★★Private, on-device transcription for Mac using Whisper and Parakeet models
- Best for
- Mac users who transcribe a lot of files and want privacy and a one-time price
- Price
- Freemium · from €64 one-time
Free: Smaller Whisper models, 100+ languages, TXT/SRT/VTT export - Platforms
- Mac, iOS
- Made by
- Good Snooze, Netherlands
- App store ratings
- iOS 3.9★ (168)
What it is
MacWhisper transcribes audio and video files, meetings and dictation entirely on your Mac using OpenAI's Whisper and Nvidia's Parakeet models, so recordings never leave the computer. The free version runs smaller models; Pro adds the most accurate models, speaker recognition, batch transcription and meeting recording.
What the AI does
- On-device Whisper and Parakeet transcription
- Speaker recognition
- Batch transcription and watched folders
- Meeting and system-audio recording
- Optional AI summaries and chat via OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and others
Pros and cons
- Audio is transcribed locally and never uploaded
- Excellent accuracy with the larger Whisper models
- One-time price instead of a subscription
- Rich exports, including SRT/VTT subtitles, DOCX and PDF
- Mac and iOS only, with no Windows or Android version
- Gumroad and App Store versions have different pricing, which confuses buyers
- Speaker labels can split one person into several
How it scores
Top-tier accuracy and privacy for a one-time price; held back only by being Apple-only.
Feature checklist · 7 of 9
- Transcribes uploaded audio and video files (yes)
- Records audio in the app or on its own device (yes)
- Labels different speakers (yes)
- Transcribes 50+ languages (yes)
- Can transcribe on your device, without uploading audio (yes)
- Exports subtitles (SRT or VTT) (yes)
- AI summaries or Ask AI about recordings (yes)
- Translates transcripts into other languages (no)
- Optional human-checked transcripts (no)
Alternatives
See all MacWhisper alternatives, ranked →
- Happy Scribe 7.8/10Video teams and researchers who need accurate transcripts and subtitles in many languages
- Rev 7.8/10Journalists, lawyers and researchers who sometimes need a guaranteed-accurate transcript
- Plaud 7.7/10People who record in-person meetings, lectures and phone calls and want a dedicated recorder
- Notta 7.6/10People who transcribe a mix of meetings, interviews and files in several languages
MacWhisper vs Happy ScribeMacWhisper vs RevMacWhisper vs PlaudMacWhisper vs NottaMacWhisper vs OtterMacWhisper vs TurboScribeMacWhisper vs AudioPenMacWhisper vs SonixMacWhisper vs Apple Voice Memos