A free Wispr Flow alternative that works offline
Wispr Flow sends the audio of every dictation to the cloud. It needs an internet connection and a signed-in account, and its free plan allows 2,000 words a week on desktop. Oriole Voice runs speech recognition on your Mac. Your audio never leaves the Mac, and dictation works offline once the speech model has downloaded. The free app has no word limit and no account.
On a Mac with an Fn key, the default shortcuts are the same. Hold Fn and speak, or press Fn+Space to go hands-free, and your words paste at the cursor. Oriole Voice suits someone on an Apple Silicon Mac who dictates in one of its 25 European languages. If you need Windows or a phone, another language, or voice commands that edit your text, read when Wispr Flow is the better choice first.
Free. No account. Apple Silicon, macOS 15 or later.
Oriole Voice and Wispr Flow side by side
| Oriole Voice | Wispr Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| Where speech becomes text | On your Mac | In the cloud, on every platform |
| Your audio | Never leaves your Mac. Oriole Voice keeps no dictation audio. | Sent to Wispr’s servers with every dictation. With Dictation Cloud Storage on, the default, Wispr keeps your audio, transcripts, and history there. Turn it off and Wispr discards the audio after transcription. |
| Without internet | Dictation works once the speech model has downloaded | Transcription needs a connection. The desktop app saves your audio so you can retry. |
| Free plan | Unlimited dictation and meeting transcription | 2,000 words a week on desktop, plus limited Notetaker access |
| Paid plan | Pro is coming soon at $12 a month or $96 a year | Pro is $15 per user per month, or $144 a year |
| Account | None | Sign-in required |
| Text around your cursor | Oriole Voice reads it on your Mac to get spacing and capitals right. With Pro, cleanup also sends it to spell names and terms right, and our server keeps none of it. No screenshots. | Wispr always uses it to format your dictation. Context Awareness, on by default, can also send on-screen text. It takes no screenshots. |
| Shortcuts | Hold Fn to talk, Fn+Space for hands-free | Hold Fn to talk, Fn+Space for hands-free |
| Cleanup | Removes ums and repeated words in English, free. Self-corrections, numbers, and lists come with Pro, which is coming soon. | Removes filler words and fixes grammar by default, and writes the corrected version when you change your mind mid-sentence |
| Names and jargon | Vocabulary, kept on your Mac, free | A dictionary that syncs across devices and learns from your edits |
| Languages | 25 European languages, detected automatically | More than 100 |
| Meetings | Free. Oriole Voice records and transcribes on your Mac, with no bot in the call. | Notetaker on Mac (macOS 13 or later) and Windows, with no bot in the call. Wispr stores transcripts in its cloud and keeps meeting audio for 7 days. |
| AI apps over MCP | Free and read-only. Your meetings and dictations work with Claude, Cursor, and Codex on your Mac, not ChatGPT. | Notetaker meetings work with Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini |
| Runs on | Mac with Apple Silicon, macOS 15 or later | Mac with Apple Silicon or Intel on macOS 12 or later, Windows, iPhone, and Android |
When Wispr Flow is the better choice
Wispr Flow does more in some areas. If one of them is why you use it, stay with Wispr Flow.
- You use Windows, an iPhone, or Android. Wispr Flow runs on all three as well as the Mac, and your dictionary syncs between them. Oriole Voice is Mac only.
- Your Mac has an Intel chip or runs macOS 12 to 14. Wispr Flow supports macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon or Intel. Oriole Voice needs Apple Silicon and macOS 15.
- You dictate in a language Oriole Voice doesn’t cover. Wispr Flow dictates in more than 100 languages, including Chinese, Hindi, and Korean, and it writes Hinglish. Oriole Voice covers 25 European languages.
- You want your speech tidied as it lands. Wispr Flow’s default cleanup removes filler words and fixes grammar, and it writes the corrected version when you change your mind mid-sentence. Oriole Voice’s free cleanup removes ums and repeated words in English and fits the text to where it lands. Self-corrections come with Pro, which is coming soon.
- You edit or insert text by voice. On paid plans, Command Mode turns a spoken instruction into an edit on Mac and Windows. Snippets insert saved text from a spoken trigger on every plan.
- You want meeting notes that identify speakers and answer questions. The Wispr Flow Notetaker identifies speakers, answers questions about any meeting, and works with ChatGPT and Gemini over MCP. Oriole Voice numbers speakers after the call. Asking questions across meetings is part of Pro, which is coming soon, and its free MCP server works with Claude, Cursor, and Codex, not ChatGPT.
- You need a signed HIPAA BAA. Wispr Flow offers one on any plan, though it turns off the Notetaker.
Questions before you switch
Will my Wispr Flow habits carry over?
Mostly. On a Mac with an Fn key, Oriole Voice uses the same default shortcuts. Hold Fn and speak, or press Fn+Space to go hands-free. In hands-free mode, press the shortcut again to paste, or Esc to cancel. Wispr Flow’s double-tap for hands-free doesn’t carry over. Text pastes at your cursor, and your clipboard is put back afterward. If no text field is focused, the text stays on your clipboard. You can change both shortcuts, and if you keep both apps installed, give one of them a different shortcut.
Is there a word limit on the free plan?
No. Free dictation and meeting transcription are unlimited, with no trial or time limit, and there is no account to create. Pro, which is coming soon, adds cleanup in the cloud and AI meeting notes. Everything free keeps working without it.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Yes, once its models have downloaded. The first time you open it, Oriole Voice downloads about 500 MB of speech models. From then on, dictation works offline. Meetings need one more small download the first time you record one.
What does Oriole Voice do with the text around my cursor?
Free dictation reads it on your Mac to decide whether to continue a sentence in lowercase, add a missing space, or skip the formal final period in a chat app or terminal. That text stays in memory and is never stored. With Pro, which is coming soon, cleanup sends the dictated text, the app’s identifier, in a browser the website’s domain, and up to 2,000 characters of the text near your cursor in that window, so names and terms come out right. Our server stores none of it. It never sends audio, screenshots, your clipboard, a password field, or the full web address.
Which languages does it understand?
Oriole Voice transcribes 25 European languages and detects which one you’re speaking. They are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Ukrainian. Accuracy varies by language. The app itself is in English.
Try it on your next message
Free. No account. Apple Silicon, macOS 15 or later.
Checked on , against Wispr Flow’s own website and help center. Prices and features change, so confirm the current details with Wispr. Wispr Flow is a trademark of its owner. Oriole Voice is not affiliated with Wispr Flow.