Wispr Flow transcribes your dictation in the cloud. StarWhisper runs OpenAI Whisper on your own Windows PC: press a hotkey, speak, and the text lands in the app you are in. It works offline after setup, keeps your audio local in Local Mode, and has a free plan with no account.
StarWhisper is a Wispr Flow alternative that runs OpenAI Whisper on your own computer, on Windows 10 and 11 and on Apple Silicon Macs. You press a hotkey, speak, and the text is typed into the app you are in. In Local Mode, the default, your audio is transcribed on your PC and not uploaded, and dictation works offline once the app and model files are downloaded. The free plan gives you 2,000 words per week with no account and no credit card. Pro is $10 per month or $80 per year.
Wispr Flow is a cloud dictation app for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Its transcription always runs on its servers, so it needs an internet connection. It has a Free plan too, and Pro is $15 per month, or $12 per month billed annually. Pick StarWhisper if you want local processing, offline use or the lower price. Pick Wispr Flow if you need phone apps, 100+ languages or SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 reports.
Wispr Flow details checked on October 29, 2026, from its pricing, privacy and data controls pages and its help center. Plans and limits change, so check them before you decide.
Green marks the option that is ahead in each row. Wispr Flow details checked on October 29, 2026.
Searches for a Wispr Flow alternative on Windows usually come down to where the audio goes and what the monthly bill is. Wispr Flow transcribes in the cloud and costs $15/month, or $12/month billed annually. StarWhisper transcribes on your PC and costs $10/month. Wispr Flow also has strengths StarWhisper does not, and the next section lists them.
A fair comparison has to say this part plainly. Wispr Flow is a mature cloud product with real advantages, and for some people it is the better choice.
Wispr Flow has iPhone and Android apps (Android 13 or newer). StarWhisper has no mobile app. If you want the same dictation on your phone, Wispr Flow is the pick.
Wispr Flow lists 100+ languages. StarWhisper's language picker shows about 30, although the underlying Whisper model recognizes about 99.
Wispr says SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 cover every product on every plan, and it signs a BAA for HIPAA-ready use on any plan. Growth adds SSO/SAML and org-wide HIPAA enforcement. StarWhisper sells one Pro plan with no team tier, and this page does not claim equivalent audit reports for it.
With dictation cloud storage on, your history is available on all your devices. Wispr Flow can also read limited text from the app you dictate into so names and jargon come out right, and you can turn that off.
Wispr Flow has a Notetaker for meetings on Mac and Windows. StarWhisper is a dictation tool and does not record or summarize meetings.
On Mac and Windows, Wispr Flow shows a notice at 2,000 free words a week and blocks new dictation only above 5,000, according to its help center. These defaults can change.
If you need the same account on your phone, Mac and Windows every day, a multi-platform cloud app can fit better than a local one.
Wispr Flow's data controls page says transcription always happens in the cloud, so every dictation leaves your computer. Wispr says it discards audio once it is transcribed, unless you turn on dictation cloud storage. StarWhisper uses whisper.cpp, an open-source inference engine, to run OpenAI Whisper on your CPU or NVIDIA GPU. In Local Mode, the default, the audio is not uploaded. The privacy section below lists the optional online features that are the exceptions.
Wispr Flow has a Windows app too, so the difference is depth rather than availability. StarWhisper is built around Windows: it lives in the system tray, uses a global hotkey, can start with Windows, and inserts the text into whichever app has focus using the clipboard and keyboard input. It also runs on Apple Silicon Macs.
StarWhisper's free plan gives you 2,000 words per week with the Tiny, Base and Small models and NVIDIA CUDA. You do not create an account or enter a payment method. Wispr Flow also has a free plan (2,000 words per week on desktop), but its app starts with a sign-in screen. If you only dictate a few emails and notes a week, either free plan may be all you need. Pro is for people who dictate through the day.
StarWhisper supports NVIDIA CUDA on Windows and Metal on Apple Silicon. In our benchmark on one Windows PC with an RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, the Small model's median process time over six short English clips was 1.08 seconds with CUDA and 8.50 seconds on CPU. That is one machine and it excludes recording and pasting, so read the benchmark page for the limits. A cloud service has no local hardware to tune, and its speed depends on your connection. See the original OpenAI Whisper paper for model background.
Wispr Flow Pro is $15/month, or $12/month billed annually. StarWhisper Pro is $10/month, or $80/year (about $6.67/month). That is 33 percent less on monthly billing and 44 percent less on annual billing. Pro has no word limit and adds all five Whisper models (Tiny to Large) and file transcription. One flat price, no per-seat fees and no per-minute charges.
Both are workable privacy models with different trade-offs. This is what each vendor says it does.
The practical difference is that with Wispr Flow the audio leaves your PC every time you dictate, and that cannot be switched off. If your policy says no third-party processing of voice, a cloud dictation tool is not approvable whatever the audit reports say, and Local Mode avoids the question. If your policy accepts vendors with SOC 2, ISO 27001 and a BAA, Wispr Flow is a valid option. Your organization still has to check its own compliance requirements.
For the offline setup in more detail, see offline AI dictation on Windows and offline speech to text for Windows.
The full financial picture over time, including what each price includes.
Against Wispr Flow's monthly price ($15, or $180 a year), StarWhisper Pro saves $100 in the first year and $300 over three years ($240 against $540). Against Wispr Flow's annual price ($12 a month, about $144 a year), it saves $64 in the first year and $192 over three years ($240 against $432).
The free plans are closer than the price tags suggest. Both give 2,000 words per week on desktop, but Wispr Flow shows a notice at 2,000 and blocks new dictation only above 5,000 words, while StarWhisper's 2,000 is the cap. If you cancel StarWhisper Pro, the free plan stays available, and Pro has a 30-day refund.
Two good products, two different bets.
Situations where StarWhisper's local approach has a concrete advantage, and where the choice depends on your policy.
Clinicians dictating notes, discharge summaries or referral letters can keep the audio on their own PC in Local Mode. Wispr Flow offers a signed BAA for HIPAA-ready use, so the right choice depends on your organization's rules. See our medical dictation software page for HIPAA-relevant details.
Dictating privileged correspondence or briefs into a cloud service can raise confidentiality questions under some rules. Local processing avoids the question. Some firms accept cloud vendors with audit reports and contract terms, so check your own rules first.
Commit messages, code comments, documentation and issue text, typed into VS Code, GitHub, Jira or any app with a normal text field. If a policy forbids sending customer code or customer audio to third parties, local transcription is easier to reason about.
Planes, trains, client sites and corporate networks that block or monitor consumer cloud services. In Local Mode StarWhisper needs no connection for transcription once the app and models are installed. Wispr Flow needs a connection for every dictation.
Drafts, interview notes and blog posts at speaking speed, typed into Word, Google Docs in the browser, Outlook and other apps with a normal text field. For more on this workflow, see our dictation software for writers guide.
StarWhisper's language picker offers about 30 languages plus auto-detect, including German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Polish, and the Whisper model recognizes about 99. Accuracy varies by language and audio quality. Wispr Flow lists 100+ languages, so check that yours is in StarWhisper's picker before you switch.
Switching takes a few steps, and you can keep both installed while you compare.
Get StarWhisper from the Microsoft Store, from the direct ZIP download or from the download section. The base installer is about 165 MB.
StarWhisper sets up models automatically and picks one for your hardware. The free plan has Tiny (about 75 MB), Base (about 142 MB) and Small (about 466 MB). Pro adds Medium (about 1.5 GB) and Large (about 3 GB). Once the app and model files are on your PC, normal dictation works offline.
Open Settings and set the dictation hotkey to whatever you prefer. If you used a specific Wispr Flow hotkey, you can use the same one in StarWhisper.
An NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support (GTX 10 series or newer) is recommended on Windows, and CPU-only operation works too. On Apple Silicon Macs, Metal does the same job. The benchmark page has measured timings and their limits.
Once StarWhisper works in your routine, manage the Wispr Flow subscription under Plan & Billing in the Wispr Flow desktop app, as Wispr's pricing FAQ describes. Check the renewal date there so you are not billed for another cycle. If you only used the Free plan, there is nothing to cancel.
The only comparison that settles this is your own voice in your own writing app. Wispr Flow has a Free plan and a 14-day Pro trial, and StarWhisper has a free plan, so you can run both at no cost.
If the test shows you need the same account on your phone, Mac and Windows every day, a multi-platform cloud app such as Wispr Flow may fit better.
Free plan: 2,000 words/week, no account required. Pro at $10/month when you need unlimited.
Download StarWhisper FreeCommon questions from users evaluating StarWhisper as a Wispr Flow alternative. Wispr Flow details checked on October 29, 2026.
Yes. Wispr Flow runs on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, and it transcribes in the cloud on every platform, so it needs an internet connection. StarWhisper runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on Apple Silicon Macs, and it transcribes on your own computer by default.
Where the transcription runs. StarWhisper runs OpenAI Whisper on your PC, so in Local Mode the audio is not uploaded and the app works offline after setup. Wispr Flow always transcribes on its cloud servers and offers phone apps, 100+ languages and SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 reports. StarWhisper gives up that reach for local processing and a lower price: $10 per month against $15.
For Windows users who want local processing, offline use or a lower price, yes. It is a poorer fit if you need iPhone or Android apps, more than the roughly 30 languages in its language picker, or compliance reports for procurement. In those cases Wispr Flow is the better choice.
StarWhisper Pro is $10 per month or $80 per year. Wispr Flow Pro is $15 per month, or $12 per month billed annually (about $144 per year). Both have a free plan with 2,000 words per week on desktop, and Wispr Flow also offers a 14-day Pro trial.
StarWhisper uses OpenAI Whisper running locally. Wispr Flow's public pages do not name its speech model, so a comparison by model is not possible, and we have no accuracy test to cite. Dictate the same 300 words into both with your own microphone and compare how much you have to correct. Both have free plans, so the test costs nothing.
It works in most apps that have a normal text field, including browsers, Word, Outlook, Slack and VS Code. The hotkey sends the text to the focused input when the app supports it. Behavior can vary by app, so check the result the first time you use a new one.
In Local Mode, which is the default, StarWhisper transcribes on your own computer and does not upload the audio. Optional online features and account functions can still use the internet: Pro has an optional cloud fallback that sends audio to OpenAI when you turn it on, and the first-time setup microphone preview can use cloud transcription until the local engine is ready. Wispr Flow always transcribes in the cloud. Per its privacy pages it discards audio after transcription unless dictation cloud storage is on, lets you switch off training use on Free and Pro, and says it is audited for SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.
Yes. The free plan allows 2,000 words per week with no subscription, no account, no credit card and no expiry, and it includes the Tiny, Base and Small models and NVIDIA CUDA. Pro costs $10 per month or $80 per year and has a 30-day refund. The free plan stays available if you cancel Pro.
The free plan includes Tiny, Base and Small. Pro adds Medium and Large, for all five sizes. Approximate download sizes are Tiny 75 MB, Base 142 MB, Small 466 MB, Medium 1.5 GB and Large 3 GB. StarWhisper picks a model for your hardware automatically, and the settings let you choose a different one.
Yes, in Pro. Pro adds file transcription for WAV, MP3 and video files, on top of live dictation with a hotkey.
We have no figures on Wispr's reach, so we can only say what its public pages show: it runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, supports 100+ languages, has a free plan and a 14-day Pro trial, and does all transcription in the cloud. StarWhisper competes on local processing, offline use and a lower individual Pro price.
The free plan has no account and no credit card. Dictation runs on your own computer with OpenAI Whisper, so you can try it on your real work before you decide anything.
Windows 10 and 11 are supported, StarWhisper is available on the Microsoft Store, and NVIDIA GPU acceleration is included in the free plan. It also runs on Apple Silicon Macs.
Free plan: 2,000 words/week • Pro: $10/month unlimited • No account required to start
Also compare StarWhisper against other alternatives: