Comparison
A VoiceInk alternative that costs $2.99 and runs on Intel
VoiceInk is a good app and the closest thing to a direct equivalent — also local, also open source, also paid once. This page is about the two places the two genuinely differ: what it costs, and which Macs it will run on.
The short answer
If your Mac is Intel, or you are still on macOS 13, VoiceInk will not install. Voz will. If your Mac is Apple Silicon on macOS 14.4 or later, the honest difference is $2.99 against $25.
This is not the usual comparison where one product uploads your audio and the other does not. Both transcribe on your own machine, both are GPL-3.0, and neither charges a subscription. VoiceInk is the more established of the two and its AI text rewriting is further along. Voz is cheaper and supports hardware VoiceInk dropped.
Side by side
| Voz Whisper | VoiceInk | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 once, any number of your Macs | $25 once for 1 Mac, $39 for 2, $49 for 3 |
| Where audio is transcribed | On your Mac | On your Mac |
| Works with no internet | Yes | Yes |
| Source available | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Subscription | None | None |
| Minimum macOS | 13 Ventura | 14.4 Sonoma |
| Intel Macs | Supported | Apple Silicon only |
| AI clean-up of your phrasing | Light formatting only | Yes, and a headline feature |
| Refunds | On request, no reason needed | 14-day guarantee |
The difference is hardware, not privacy
Most comparisons on this site turn on where your audio goes. This one does not, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise: VoiceInk transcribes on your machine exactly as Voz does, publishes its source under the same licence, and does not charge a subscription. On the question that usually decides these things, they agree.
What separates them is what you are running. VoiceInk requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14.4 or later. If you have an Intel Mac — any MacBook Pro before late 2020, any iMac before 2021 — it will not install at all. Voz runs on macOS 13 and later and ships a universal build, so Intel machines are supported. For a lot of people that is not a preference, it is the whole decision.
After that it is price. $2.99 against $25 for one Mac, or $49 if you want it on three. Voz is $2.99 for as many of your own Macs as you like.
Where VoiceInk genuinely wins
It is the more established app by a wide margin — thousands of GitHub stars, a real community, and years of polish Voz has not had time to accumulate. Its AI text enhancement, which rewrites and reformats what you said, is a headline feature and further along than our light formatting. If you are on a recent Apple Silicon Mac and want the more proven tool, buy VoiceInk. $25 is a fair price for it and we are not going to argue otherwise.
Who should switch
- Your Mac is Intel, or you are on macOS 13 — VoiceInk will not run at all, and this is the only line on the page that matters if it applies to you.
- You want it on several Macs. Voz is $2.99 for all of yours; VoiceInk charges per device.
- You also want meetings recorded and audio files transcribed by the same app, rather than dictation alone.
- $22 is a meaningful difference to you, and you would rather find out whether you like dictating at all before spending more.
If none of those apply and you are on a modern Mac, VoiceInk is a good product and you should probably just buy it. We would rather say that than win the sale and have you refund it a week later.
Checked 11 September 2026. Sources: the VoiceInk website pricing page and its public GitHub repository. Voz specifications from the shipping build.
Voz is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any other product named on this page. Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners, and are used here only to identify what is being compared. Prices and features are as published by each vendor and checked on 11 September 2026; they change. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us — we would rather correct this page than defend it.