Superwhisper vs Aqua Voice: local models or a cloud model?

Pick Superwhisper if you want dictation that can run entirely on your Mac, works offline and costs less, or if you'd rather pay once with its lifetime license. Pick Aqua Voice if you write a lot of technical text, you're always online, and you want a cloud model that streams words as you speak with almost nothing to configure.

We make Sayburst, a third option covered at the end. Facts about the other two come from superwhisper.com, Superwhisper's plans page, Aqua Voice pricing and Aqua's own comparison page, checked October 31, 2026. We haven't tested either app hands-on for this page.

#Side by side

#The real difference: whose model, and where

Superwhisper is a front end for several speech models. On the free plan you run Whisper models locally, and Superwhisper says nothing you dictate leaves your device. Pro opens up cloud voice models and two more local models, Parakeet and Cohere Transcribe. You choose per mode. Its homepage notes offline models run best on Apple silicon and that Intel Macs work best with cloud models.

Aqua Voice goes the other way. It runs one model, Avalon, which it trained itself, on its own servers. Aqua says that's why there's no local model to download or configure, and why text can stream in as you speak. The tradeoff is spelled out in its own FAQ: it processes audio in the cloud, so it needs an internet connection. Aqua has a Privacy Mode under which, it says, nothing is stored on its servers, and its pricing page lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001.

Aqua also publishes a benchmark it built, AISpeak-10, where it reports 97.4% key-term accuracy for Avalon against 65.1% for Whisper Large v3, and it's careful to say that figure measures key terms, not whole transcripts. If your dictation is full of library names, product names and acronyms, that's the claim to weigh. We haven't verified it.

#Price, over time

Superwhisper is cheaper at every tier, and its free plan is far more generous: unlimited local dictation versus Aqua's 1,000 words.

• Superwhisper Pro: $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once. Students, educators and non-profits get 40% off if they ask before buying.
• Aqua Voice Pro: $120 a year on annual billing; Max, which adds Realtime Mode and Voice Commands, is $228 a year. Students get 70% off with a school email.

Over three years on yearly billing, that's about $255 for Superwhisper Pro against $360 for Aqua Pro or $684 for Aqua Max. Superwhisper's lifetime license is cheaper than three years of either Aqua plan.

#Features that matter day to day

• Modes and rules. Superwhisper's modes are its center of gravity: up to two non-AI modes free, unlimited and AI modes (Super, Mail) on Pro, switched automatically per app. Aqua offers Custom Instructions on Pro to set tone and rules.
• Context. Aqua includes Deep Context, which reads your screen, even on the free plan. Superwhisper's context awareness is a Pro feature.
• Beyond dictation. Superwhisper Pro records meetings on Mac, transcribes audio and video files, separates speakers and can record system audio. Aqua's pages focus on dictation, plus voice commands on Max.

#Which should you pick?

• Superwhisper if you want local, offline dictation, the lower price, a lifetime license, or meetings and file transcription in the same app.
• Aqua Voice if you're always online, your writing is dense with technical terms, and you want streaming text from a single cloud model with no setup.

#A third option: Sayburst

If you're only dictating on a Mac, there's a simpler middle path. Sayburst transcribes on your Mac (Parakeet v3 by default, Whisper models for 99 languages), works with no internet once the model is downloaded, and costs $29 once for one Mac after a 7-day free trial. No account, no word cap.

Technical vocabulary is where Aqua makes its case, so here's that kind of dictation. You add "fetchInvoices", "Priya" and "Postgres" to Sayburst's vocabulary once, then say:

"Rename the, uh, fetch invoices helper and move it into billing utils. New line. Also Priya should review the Postgres migration before Friday."

What lands in your pull request comment:

Rename the fetchInvoices helper and move it into billing utils. Also, Priya should review the Postgres migration before Friday.

With Parakeet, Sayburst corrects near-misses toward your vocabulary terms without touching ordinary words; with Whisper models, the recognizer is nudged toward them as it listens. Text is inserted when you finish speaking, while the overlay shows your words live.

Sayburst is Mac-only and doesn't record meetings, so if you need Windows, a phone app or meeting notes, one of the two above fits better. More context: local vs cloud dictation, Sayburst vs Superwhisper, Aqua Voice vs Wispr Flow, and every matchup on /compare.

Our take

Superwhisper wins on price, offline use and breadth of features; Aqua Voice wins if you want one strong cloud model that streams text and handles jargon with no setup. For Mac-only dictation that stays on your machine, Sayburst does the core job for a one-time $29.

Questions people ask

What's the main difference between Superwhisper and Aqua Voice?

Where your speech is processed. Superwhisper can transcribe on your Mac with local models and also offers cloud models on Pro. Aqua Voice runs its own Avalon model in the cloud, so it needs an internet connection.

Which is cheaper, Superwhisper or Aqua Voice?

Superwhisper. Its Pro plan is $8.49 a month or $84.99 a year, with a $249.99 lifetime option, and its free plan has unlimited local dictation. Aqua Voice Pro is $12 a month or $10 a month billed yearly, and its free plan is 1,000 words.

Does Aqua Voice work offline?

No. Aqua Voice says it processes audio in the cloud to run its Avalon model, so it needs a connection. Superwhisper's local models work offline.

Do both work on Windows and phones?

Yes. Both list Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. A single Superwhisper Pro license covers all of them, and Aqua Voice runs on all four on one subscription.