Whisper Notes review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Offline transcription for iPhone and Mac, bought once
Black Friday: is there a Whisper Notes sale?
Whisper Notes report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for offline transcription and Mac voice typing
Whisper Notes transcribes on the device, with an iPhone and iPad app at $7.99 once and a Mac app with voice typing from its website. It's Apple only, and the voice typing and assistant are not in the App Store build.
Who Whisper Notes is for
- Fits if you want offline transcription on an iPhone, iPad or Mac for a one-off price
- Works for people on a Mac who want Fn-key voice typing
Who Whisper Notes is not for
- Skip it if you use Windows or Android, as the vendor says none is planned
- Not for you if you have an older phone: the iPhone app needs iPhone 12 or later on iOS 18
- Tight if you dictate a lot on the free Mac app: 5,000 words a week
- Watch out: the $7.99 App Store app and the $14 Mac licence are separate purchases
- Not for you if you want voice typing on iPhone, as it's in the Mac website app only
Why Whisper Notes gets a 2.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for money$7.99 once on the App Store and $14 once for the Mac licence, each under a year of the category's middle subscription ($8.49 a month).
- BFree plan and trialThe Mac app from the website is free for 5,000 words a week. The iPhone app is a paid purchase.
- CFeaturesOffline transcription, file and meeting import, exports, on-device summaries and Shortcuts, but voice typing and the assistant belong to the website Mac app only.
- BEase of useNo store rating on record. An app you install and use, with nothing to set up.
- CPlatforms and integrationsApple only: iPhone, iPad and Mac. The vendor says no Windows or Android version is planned.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Whisper Notes's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Whisper Notes? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/whisper-notes#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/whisper-notes.svg" alt="Whisper Notes: 2.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Whisper Notes stands among voice dictation apps
Whisper Notes's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 22 of the 42 other voice dictation apps we grade, and level with 8.
It stands best on value for money (A, above 21 of 42) and worst on features (C, above 1).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 43 voice dictation apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Whisper Notes’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 21 of 42, level with 21
- BFree plan and trialAbove 18 of 42, level with 6
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 42, level with 19
- BEase of useAbove 13 of 42, level with 27
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 8 of 42, level with 18
Keep Whisper Notes, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Whisper Notes you would be making dictation that types into any app on your computer. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $7.99, paid once.
What you could not
- Dictation that types into any app on your computer.
- A bot that joins your calls and turns the talk into notes.
- Speech turned into text you can trust.
- Apps for macOS and iOS that stay in step with each other.
- It plugs into other products, Shortcuts, Apple Intelligence and Zoom among them.
- Hooks into the device itself: Shortcuts.
What this rests on. Whisper Notes’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Whisper Notes?
Whisper Notes is an offline speech-to-text app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that transcribes recordings, imported files and meetings on the device. The Mac app sold on the vendor's website adds hold-to-talk voice typing in any app and an on-device AI assistant for summaries.
Worth knowing
- Apple devices only: the vendor says there is no Windows or Android version and none is planned.
- The iPhone app needs iPhone 12 or later on iOS 18; the Mac website app needs Apple silicon.
- Voice typing and the AI assistant belong to the Mac app from the website, not the App Store build.
- The $7.99 App Store price and the $14 Mac website license are separate purchases.
Key features
- Fully offline transcription
- Recordings and transcripts are processed on the device with Whisper and Parakeet models, and the vendor says they never leave it.
- Fn voice typing on Mac
- Hold Fn in any app, speak and release; the text appears. This comes with the Mac app from the vendor's website.
- Import files and meetings
- Transcribes imported audio and video and, on Mac, records Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls, with on-device speaker labels.
- Export options
- Exports text with timestamps, SRT subtitles or Markdown; Mac also exports VTT.
- On-device summaries
- The Mac website app can summarize a transcript and answer questions about it using a downloaded local model; iPhone uses Apple Intelligence on supported devices.
- Shortcuts actions
- iPhone exposes actions in the Shortcuts app to start or stop a recording and transcribe a file.
Whisper Notes pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Whisper Notes has a free plan, and paid plans start at $7.99 one-time on the App Store; Mac app from the website $14 one-time.
- Starts at
- $7.99 one-time on the App Store; Mac app from the website $14 one-time
- Free plan
- Mac app from the website: Fn voice typing and Whisper Large V3 Turbo, free for 5,000 words a week.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone & iPad | $7.99one-time, App Store purchase | Unlimited transcriptions, 100+ languages and free updates; also covers the Mac App Store build. |
| Mac (website) Free | $0for 5,000 words a week | Mac app from the website with Fn voice typing and Whisper Large V3 Turbo, capped at 5,000 words a week. |
| Mac (website) license | $14one-time | Removes the weekly word limit on the Mac app from the website. |
Read from whispernotes.app on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Whisper Notes before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Lifetime licenseOne-time purchase, no subscription
The vendor sells the iPhone app for $7.99 once and the website Mac app for $14 once, with updates included.
Stated on whispernotes.app
Works with
Whisper Notes alternatives
- Whisper Notes vs MacWhisper
Free plan · from €65 one-time
- Whisper Notes vs Superwhisper
Free plan · from $8.49/mo
- Whisper Notes vs VoiceInk
Free trial · from $25 one-time
- Whisper Notes vs Sotto
From $49 one-time
- Whisper Notes vs Spokenly
Free plan · from $29 one-time
Common questions
Does Whisper Notes have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Whisper Notes is listed for iOS and macOS.
Does Whisper Notes have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Whisper Notes is listed for iOS and macOS.
Is Whisper Notes open source?
Whisper Notes is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Does Whisper Notes work offline?
Yes, according to its own site. What works without a connection differs by plan and platform, so check the vendor's page for the detail.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.