Stilou vs Superwhisper
Superwhisper does the on-device thing properly, which removes our favourite argument in one move. So here is the comparison without it.
Choose Superwhisper if you want excellent private dictation and nothing else — it runs Whisper locally on Apple silicon, costs less than Stilou, and offers a one-time lifetime licence. Choose Stilou if you want what you dictate to become searchable memory that connects to your notes, screenshots, meetings and threads, and you will use more than the microphone.
Which one should you actually use?
Most comparison pages on this site can point at a privacy gap. This one cannot, so it has to be about scope instead.
Superwhisper is a focused tool that does one job locally and well. Stilou will cost you more and install eleven features you did not ask for. If the microphone is the whole requirement, the smaller tool is the better buy and we will not pretend to be insulted.
Superwhisper offers a one-time lifetime licence alongside its monthly and annual plans. Stilou is subscription only. For anyone who resents recurring software costs — a completely reasonable position — that structural difference outweighs most feature rows.
Superwhisper lets you choose among Whisper sizes and Parakeet, and bring your own API keys for cloud models. Stilou gives you Private and Connected and makes the model decision for you. Some people want the dial; we deliberately did not build one.
This is the entire argument. Superwhisper transcribes and hands you text. Stilou transcribes, hands you the same text, and keeps a dot — indexed by meaning, linked to the people and projects it mentions, sitting alongside your screenshots, meetings, notes, mail and Slack in one local brain you can question later.
If you are choosing purely on dictation quality and price, we think Superwhisper is the rational pick, and saying so costs us nothing we would want to keep.
What is Superwhisper?
Superwhisper is a speech-to-text app for macOS, Windows and iOS built around running transcription models on your own machine. On Apple silicon it can run Whisper models from tiny up to large-v3-turbo, as well as Parakeet, entirely on-device — no network, no audio leaving the Mac. Its own site puts it plainly: it works offline, so you can transcribe with no Wi-Fi. Intel Macs are steered toward cloud models instead, because the local ones need the neural engine to be quick.
Beyond raw transcription it supports over a hundred languages, custom prompts and modes that reshape what you dictated into an email, a message or notes, file transcription, and your own API keys if you would rather point it at a cloud model you already pay for. It slots into agentic coding tools, which is a large part of why it has the following it does.
Pricing is structured as a free tier, a paid Pro tier billed monthly or annually, and a one-time lifetime licence, with an Enterprise option and a student discount. We have deliberately not printed the figures here — see their pricing page for what is current, and see the note in the sources section for why we would rather link than quote.
Stilou vs Superwhisper, side by side
Checked on their own site on 10 August 2026. Where we could not verify a number to our own standard, the cell says so.
| Stilou | Superwhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | macOS only | macOS, Windows, iOS |
| On-device transcription | Yes, in Private mode | Yes, on Apple silicon |
| Works with no network | Yes | Yes |
| Audio leaves your machine | No, in Private mode | No, with a local model |
| Choose your own model | No — Private or Connected | Yes — Whisper sizes, Parakeet |
| Bring your own API key | No | Yes |
| One-time lifetime licence | No — subscription only | Yes |
| Paid price | From $29/mo | Lower — see their pricing page |
| Reshape dictation into an email or note | Yes, via Rewrites and Voiceprint | Yes, via custom modes and prompts |
| Writes in your own style | Yes, learned from your writing | Via prompts you write yourself |
| Transcript kept as searchable memory | Yes, indexed by meaning | History in-app |
| Linked to people and projects automatically | Yes | No |
| Screenshots, notes, meetings, mail, chat in the same memory | Yes — one brain | No |
| Ask questions across everything you captured | Yes, via Chat and Neo | No |
| Meeting notes | Yes, via Joey | File and meeting transcription |
| Intel Mac support | Apple silicon recommended | Yes, via cloud models |
Rows one to nine are a fair fight and Superwhisper takes most of them. Rows ten to fifteen are not a fight at all, because they describe a different category of product. That is the whole comparison, and whether it matters depends entirely on whether you want a microphone or a memory.
Both of us keep your audio at home. Only one of us keeps the meaning.
It is worth stating clearly that Superwhisper solves the privacy problem. Audio processed by a Whisper model on your own M-series chip has not been sent anywhere, cannot be retained by anyone, and does not depend on a policy document staying true. That is the same architectural position Stilou takes in Private mode, arrived at independently, and anyone telling you that local dictation on the Mac is rare or difficult is selling something.
So the question is not where the audio went. It is what remains once the text has been typed. In Superwhisper, what remains is a transcript in an app's history — findable if you remember roughly when you said it and what words you used. That is a perfectly ordinary and reasonable place for it to end up, and it is where almost every dictation tool leaves you.
In Stilou, the transcript is indexed by meaning rather than by keyword and linked to whatever it was about. A dictation from March about a client's renewal terms will surface when you ask, in November, what you had agreed with that client — even though you have forgotten the phrase you used, the date, and that you ever dictated it at all. It sits next to the screenshot of their pricing table, the Slack thread where it was confirmed, and the meeting where it came up, because all four went into the same brain.
That is the only claim this page is making. It is not that Superwhisper transcribes worse — we would not bet on that — or that it costs too much, because it costs less. It is that a transcript and a dot are different objects, and one of them keeps paying.
Where Superwhisper is the better choice
- It is cheaper, and you can buy it onceMonthly, annual, or a one-time lifetime licence. Stilou has no perpetual option and costs more per month. If you are equipping yourself rather than expensing it, that is a serious argument and it is not one we can answer.
- It runs on Windows and iPhoneStilou does not, and will not this year. Superwhisper covers macOS, Windows and iOS.
- You control the modelPick a Whisper size to trade speed against accuracy, use Parakeet, or point it at a cloud model with your own key. Stilou gives you two modes and makes the rest of the decision for you, which is a real loss of control that some people will not accept.
- It works properly on Intel MacsBy falling back to cloud models. Stilou is built around Apple silicon and an older Mac is a poor experience.
- It does one job, so it is easy to trustA focused tool has a smaller surface, fewer permissions and less to go wrong. Stilou asks for a great deal more access to your working life, and that is a fair thing to be cautious about.
The genuinely honest summary: if you are not going to use the brain, Superwhisper is the better product for you and Stilou is overpriced dictation. The brain is the entire reason to pay us more.
Looking for a Superwhisper alternative?
If you got here from that search, it is usually not because the dictation disappointed you — it is because you noticed that a year of transcripts is not the same as a year of memory, and you started wondering where all of it went.
There is no import. Stilou starts empty, and the first fortnight is the price of entry. What we would suggest instead of switching is running both for a while: keep Superwhisper on the key your hands already know, put Stilou on another, and watch which one you reach for when the thing you are saying is something you might need again.
Worth knowing. If the answer after two weeks is that you never needed it again, that is a real result and Superwhisper is your app. Not everyone's work accumulates, and the people whose work does not accumulate should not pay for a brain.
Frequently asked questions
Does Superwhisper work offline?
Yes. On Apple silicon it runs Whisper models and Parakeet entirely on-device, and their site states plainly that it works offline. This is one of the few dictation tools where our own offline claim is not a point of difference. Intel Macs are pointed at cloud models instead, so offline use there is limited.
Is Stilou more private than Superwhisper?
For dictation, no — both keep audio on the machine when running locally, and neither has an advantage worth claiming. Where the question gets more complicated is everything else: Stilou also holds your screenshots, notes, meetings, mail and Slack in the same local brain, which is a larger amount of your life in one place. That is a bigger privacy question, not a smaller one, and it is why /privacy exists as a page rather than a paragraph.
Which is cheaper?
Superwhisper, on every axis. It has a lower monthly price than Stilou's $29 and offers a one-time lifetime licence, which we do not. See their pricing page for current figures.
Can Superwhisper search what I dictated?
It keeps a history you can look through. What it does not do is index by meaning or link a dictation to the people and projects it mentions, so finding something depends on remembering roughly when you said it or what words you used. Stilou's retrieval is built for the opposite case — you remember the shape of the thing and none of the words.
Can I run both?
Yes. They are separate apps on separate hotkeys with no conflict, and running both for a fortnight is the fastest way to find out whether the brain is worth anything to you.
Where these facts came from
Everything stated above about Superwhisper is taken from their own site and documentation, on the date shown. Products change — if you find something here that has gone out of date, tell us at hi@stilou.app and we will fix it.
- Superwhisper — official sitechecked 10 Aug 2026
- Superwhisper — pricingchecked 10 Aug 2026