A superwhisper alternative with nothing to set up
superwhisper and Mumbly both keep your voice on your Mac, so this is not an argument about privacy. It is about how much you have to configure before you can dictate, and what it costs once you use it every day.
What superwhisper does well
superwhisper transcribes locally and works with no internet. Its privacy policy says it collects no usage data and does not train on what you say.
It does more than Mumbly does: modes for different tones, a choice of models, transcription of audio and video files, and meeting notes. If you want to configure all of that, it is the better tool and this page is not for you.
Where Mumbly is different
One shortcut, one model. There are no modes to build and no model to choose: hold ⌥ Space, speak, let go.
Free, all of it. superwhisper's free tier is its small local models; the larger ones, the cloud models and file transcription cost $8.49 a month or $249.99 once. Mumbly has one model and does not charge for it.
No recordings left behind. superwhisper writes every dictation to disk as an audio file by default. Mumbly holds the audio in memory until the text lands, and then it is gone.
Side by side
Including the rows where the two of them are the same.
| Mumbly | superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your voice is processed | On your Mac. | On your Mac, or in their cloud if you pick a cloud model. |
| Works with no internet | Yes. | Yes, on the local models. |
| What it costs | Free. No subscription, no word limit, no account. | Free on the small local models. $8.49 a month or $249.99 once for the rest. |
| What it sends back about you | Basic anonymous usage data. Never your voice or your text, and you can turn it off at any time. | Their privacy policy says no usage data is collected. |
| Runs on | Mac. | Mac, Windows. |
Mumbly is free. If it does not fit the way you work, superwhisper is a good tool and it will still be there.