VoiceInk vs Hearsy: Mac Dictation Apps Compared

VoiceInk and Hearsy are both local Mac dictation apps running Whisper and Parakeet on-device. Neither sends audio to a cloud server. Both cost a one-time fee. If those are your only criteria, you'll need to dig into the details to find the real differences.

One disclosure upfront: Hearsy is my product. I've tried to write this honestly — including areas where VoiceInk is the better fit.

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What VoiceInk is#

VoiceInk is a local dictation app for macOS, open-sourced on GitHub. Press a hotkey, speak, and text appears system-wide in any app. Transcription runs entirely on your Mac via two AI engines: Whisper (using whisper.cpp) and Parakeet (via FluidAudio integration).

VoiceInk's signature feature is Power Mode: it detects which app is in focus and applies pre-configured settings automatically. Switch from Notion to Gmail to your code editor, and your settings for each context load without touching anything.

Available on the Mac App Store and as a direct download. Free trial before purchase.

What VoiceInk is: A local Mac dictation app with Whisper + Parakeet, automatic per-app configuration via Power Mode, and a codebase anyone can inspect or self-compile for free.

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What Hearsy is#

Hearsy is a menu-bar dictation app for macOS running the same two engines: Parakeet TDT and Whisper Large V3. Press a global hotkey, speak, and text is pasted at your cursor — entirely local, no network call.

The main differentiator is AI post-processing. Hearsy ships with a bundled local LLM — Qwen 2.5 via MLX — that handles AI cleanup templates without requiring an API key or internet connection. Clean & Format, Email, Code Comment, Summary: pick one before dictating, and cleanup runs entirely on-device.

What Hearsy is: A local Mac dictation app with two transcription engines and a bundled local LLM for zero-configuration AI cleanup. One-time purchase.

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At a glance#

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Engines: both run Whisper and Parakeet#

This is usually where a comparison post declares a winner. Here, there isn't one — both apps run the same two transcription engines.

Parakeet TDT (via FluidAudio) handles English dictation in under 50ms on Apple Silicon. Text appears essentially immediately after you stop speaking. Both VoiceInk and Hearsy have integrated this engine.

Whisper Large V3 (via whisper.cpp) covers 99+ languages with a 4.2% word error rate on the LibriSpeech clean test set, per OpenAI's 2023 paper. Processing takes roughly 1–2 seconds for a typical sentence on M-series hardware. Both apps use this.

The practical implication: if you're choosing between these two specifically for engine performance or language support, you won't find a meaningful difference. They're running the same code under the hood. The real differences are in everything built around the engines.

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Open source vs closed source#

VoiceInk is fully open source on GitHub under the MIT license. You can read every line, verify what happens to your audio, and compile it yourself at no cost. For users who consider open-source transparency a hard requirement — researchers, security-conscious professionals, anyone who wants to audit rather than just trust — VoiceInk wins this comparison outright.

Privacy claims are easy to make. An open codebase is independently auditable.

Hearsy is not open source. You can verify network behavior with a tool like Little Snitch during a session, and you'll see no outbound connections during transcription. But you're trusting that claim rather than reading code to confirm it.

If you need to know exactly what software does with your audio at the implementation level, VoiceInk has the more defensible position.

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Power Mode vs AI templates#

This is the most meaningful workflow difference between the two apps.

VoiceInk's Power Mode is automatic. The app detects which application is in the foreground and applies your pre-configured settings for that context. If you've defined specific formatting preferences for Gmail, a different Whisper model for a code editor, and a custom personal dictionary for a writing environment, those settings load on their own as you switch apps. There's no manual selection step.

Hearsy's approach is explicit. Before dictating, you pick a template: Clean & Format, Email, Code Comment, or Summary. Cleanup runs locally via the bundled Qwen 2.5 model — no API key needed, no internet connection. The templates handle the most common cases without any prompt configuration. If you need something different, you switch manually before the next dictation.

Neither approach is strictly better. Power Mode suits users who move between many contexts throughout the day and find manual template switching disruptive. Hearsy's explicit templates suit users who want to know exactly which processing will run — and who prefer AI cleanup that works out of the box rather than requiring per-app setup.

One practical note: Hearsy's Qwen 2.5 LLM runs entirely in local RAM. VoiceInk includes AI-enhanced features (Context Awareness, AI Assistant), but implementation details vary — check VoiceInk's current documentation for which features run fully on-device versus which may use a network connection.

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App Store vs direct download#

VoiceInk is on the Mac App Store. Standard installation, automatic OS-level updates, App Store sandboxing.

Hearsy is not on the App Store and can't be. The app pastes text by simulating Cmd+V via CGEvent at the system level, which requires Accessibility permission and a non-sandboxed build. App Store apps are sandboxed, which prevents posting synthetic keyboard events to other apps.

In practice: if App Store distribution is a requirement — for MDM management, IT policy, or personal preference — VoiceInk is the option. Both apps are available as direct downloads from their respective developer sites.

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Pricing#

VoiceInk: $39.99 one-time purchase as of March 2026. Free trial available before buying. Self-compilation from the GitHub repository is an option at no cost if you have a development environment set up.

Hearsy: One-time purchase. No subscription, no word limits, no feature tiers. No free trial.

Both apps reject the subscription model used by Wispr Flow ($15/month) and SuperWhisper Pro ($8.49/month). For anyone dictating daily long-term, one-time pricing beats any subscription well before the two-year mark.

The concrete difference between the two: VoiceInk lets you try before buying. Hearsy doesn't. If that matters to your decision, it's a real factor.

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Which to choose#

Choose VoiceInk if:

• You want an open-source, auditable codebase — not just a privacy claim
• You move between many apps and want per-context settings to load automatically via Power Mode
• You prefer to try before purchasing (free trial available)
• You want App Store installation and updates
• You're comfortable configuring your own per-app settings upfront

Choose Hearsy if:

• You want AI cleanup that works immediately with no configuration — the local Qwen 2.5 model handles formatting without an API key or prompt setup
• You prefer selecting a template explicitly over automatic per-app switching
• You want a bundled local LLM included rather than managing your own AI feature configuration
• Direct download is fine and you don't need App Store distribution

The honest overlap: If your main criteria are local processing, offline capability, and one-time pricing, both apps deliver. The decision comes down to workflow approach (automatic Power Mode vs explicit templates), AI cleanup implementation (bundled LLM vs configurable features), and open-source transparency — not engine performance or privacy, where the two apps are equivalent.

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For a comparison with cloud-based options, see Wispr Flow vs Hearsy. For how Parakeet compares to Whisper as transcription engines, see Whisper vs Parakeet. For the full Mac dictation landscape, see best dictation software for Mac. For context on why local processing differs from cloud, see AI transcription: local vs cloud.

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Frequently asked questions#

What is VoiceInk?#

VoiceInk is an open-source local dictation app for macOS. It runs Whisper and Parakeet on-device, has no subscription, and costs $39.99 one-time — or nothing if you compile from the GitHub source. Power Mode automatically applies per-app dictation settings. Available on the Mac App Store.

Is VoiceInk free?#

VoiceInk has a free trial period. The app is also open source on GitHub under the MIT license — you can compile and run it yourself at no cost. The pre-built version from the App Store or the developer's site is $39.99 one-time, with no word limits or subscription.

VoiceInk vs SuperWhisper — what's the difference?#

VoiceInk is local-only with one-time pricing and supports Whisper + Parakeet. SuperWhisper offers a free tier (unlimited use of smaller Whisper models), subscription plans ($8.49/month or $84.99/year), a $249 lifetime license, and covers macOS, iOS, and Windows. VoiceInk's Power Mode automates per-app context; SuperWhisper's custom AI modes give more granular control over post-processing prompts.

Does VoiceInk work offline?#

Yes. VoiceInk runs Whisper and Parakeet locally on your Mac — no internet connection needed for transcription. Audio is processed in RAM and never transmitted to a server. Some AI-enhanced features may behave differently; check VoiceInk's documentation for specifics.

What is the best VoiceInk alternative?#

For local Mac dictation with a bundled local LLM for AI cleanup: Hearsy. For a free tier with Whisper models before committing: SuperWhisper. For cloud-based dictation with automatic screen-context awareness: Wispr Flow. VoiceInk, Hearsy, and SuperWhisper all process transcription locally — the differences are in AI post-processing, pricing model, and ecosystem support.