Pines Voice vs Superwhisper
Both are dictation apps for the Mac. Both type into any app, and both run offline. They differ in price, in the platforms they cover and in how much they do beyond dictation. Here are the facts from both sites, so you can pick the one that fits how you work.
Facts about other apps checked on their own sites on 25 September 2026.
The facts side by side
| Pines Voice | Superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. The whole app, with a Pines Rocks account. | Free tier. Pro is $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 paid once. |
| Offline | Yes, by default. Parakeet or whisper.cpp on your Mac. | Yes. Local models on every plan. |
| Cloud | Optional, on your own OpenAI, Groq or OpenRouter key. | Cloud voice models and AI modes with Pro. |
| Types into | Any macOS app with a text cursor. | Any app or website. |
| Platforms | macOS 12 or newer, Apple silicon. | macOS 13.3 or newer, Windows, iOS and Android. |
| Your words | A dictionary of replacements for names and jargon. | Custom vocabulary and text replacements. |
What Superwhisper does well
- Every device
- Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, so the same tool follows you from desk to phone.
- A free tier
- Local models and custom vocabulary at no cost. File transcription is part of Pro.
- Modes
- Presets for messages, email and different tones, with AI rewriting on Pro.
- Beyond dictation
- Meeting recording, file transcription, and more than 100 languages with translation into English.
Where Pines Voice fits
- One gesture
- Hold the right Option key, speak, let go. Tap it once to keep it listening for a longer take, press Esc to throw a take away.
- Your own key
- Cloud transcription runs on a key you already own. Pines Voice prints what each dictation cost, to four decimals.
- The price
- The whole app is free. Nothing is held back for a higher plan.
- A log on your Mac
- Every dictation, the app it landed in, its word count and its cost, kept on your machine.
- The formatter
- The optional auto formatter is S1-mini, the open model Superwhisper released. It runs on your Mac and tidies English dictation.
Pick Superwhisper if you want dictation on Windows or your phone, AI rewriting modes, or meeting recordings. Pick Pines Voice if you work on a Mac and want free dictation into any app, offline by default.
Questions people ask
Is Pines Voice a Superwhisper alternative?
Yes. Both are Mac dictation apps that type into any app and run speech models on the Mac itself. Pines Voice is free, with a Pines Rocks account. Superwhisper has a free tier, and Pro is $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year or $249.99 paid once.
Does Pines Voice have a free plan?
Yes. The whole app is free: every engine, the dictionary, the log and the formatter, with no word limit. You sign in with Google or email to use it.
Does Pines Voice run on Windows or iPhone?
No. Pines Voice is for macOS 12 or newer on Apple silicon. Superwhisper also runs on Windows, iOS and Android.
Can I use my own OpenAI key with Pines Voice?
Yes. Pines Voice runs cloud transcription on your own OpenAI, Groq or OpenRouter key. The key is stored in the macOS Keychain and sent only to that provider, and the cost of each dictation is shown beside the transcript.