MacWhisper, Superwhisper and VoiceInk on Windows, and the Deixis answer to each
Most of the dictation tools people love were built for the Mac, and the search that brought you here probably ended in "for Windows". These pages take one tool each, map what it does onto what Deixis does on a Windows PC, and say plainly what you would lose as well as gain. Deixis recognises speech on your own processor and needs no account; it runs on the Mac and on Android too, with an iPhone keyboard in beta, and on Windows it needs an Intel or AMD processor with AVX2, from 2013 on. Every fact about the other tool is dated and linked to the page it came from.
- MacWhisper has no Windows build at all. It is a file-transcription app first; Deixis is dictation first, typing at your cursor, and does not take files.
- VoiceInk needs an Apple Silicon Mac. Its source is public and it is a one-time purchase; Deixis is free for everything that runs on your device, but not open source.
- Superwhisper does run on Windows, ARM64 machines included, but its own docs list features not there yet, and its AI modes are Pro. Deixis tidies your dictation for free.
- Willow Voice dictates through its cloud and needs an account. Deixis keeps the audio on your PC.
- Aqua Voice sends your audio to the cloud and starts you on 1,000 free words. Deixis uploads no audio and counts nothing.
Weighing every Windows option at once rather than one tool? The roundup of dictation software for Windows compares fifteen of them side by side, and offline dictation on Windows narrows the field to the ones that work with no internet.
For Windows switchers
One page per tool
The MacWhisper alternative for Windows
MacWhisper has no Windows build. Deixis is the same idea on Windows, and on your Mac and phone too: speech recognition on your device, no account, ever.
The VoiceInk alternative for Windows
VoiceInk needs an Apple Silicon Mac. Deixis keeps the same promise on Windows, Mac and phone: speech recognition on your own device, no key, no account.
The Superwhisper alternative for Windows
Superwhisper on Windows still trails its Mac version. Deixis ships whole on Windows, and runs on Mac and phone: recognition on your device, no account.
The Willow Voice alternative for Windows that keeps dictation on your PC
Willow Voice dictates through the cloud and needs an account. Deixis does it on your Windows PC, sends no audio anywhere, and is free with no sign-in.
The Aqua Voice alternative for Windows where nothing leaves your PC
Aqua Voice sends your audio to the cloud and starts you on 1,000 free words. Deixis runs on your Windows PC, uploads nothing, and is free with no account.
Side by side
Every tool here, and Deixis, on one table
| Tool | Speech recognition happens | Account needed | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeixisWindows 10 and 11 (64-bit, on an Intel or AMD processor with AVX2: 2013 and later; no build for Windows on ARM), Mac (Apple Silicon) and Android (a dictation bubble in any app, plus meetings), with an iPhone keyboard in beta on TestFlight and not yet in the App Store. Meetings run on Windows and Android. One engine on all of them, and dictation audio never leaves the device. | On your own device, inside the app, on every platform. Dictation audio never leaves it; a meeting's, only if you turn on cloud processing on Android. | None, ever, for anything that runs on your device. The cloud extras have a seven-day trial you start with an email code. No card. | Free forever for everything local, meetings included. Pro is $49 a year for the cloud extras with nothing to set up. |
| MacWhispermacOS, iPhone and iPad, as a separate App Store edition | On your device or in the cloud, your choice | not documented | Free tier: free forever, with file transcription in 100 languages, subtitles and system-wide dictation; cleanup, grammar improvement, AI prompts, speaker recognition and meeting recording are Pro; €64 one-timechecked 27 September 2026 |
| VoiceInkmacOS | On your device or in the cloud, your choice | not documented | Free tier: a seven-day trial; the source is public under GPL v3, and a copy you build yourself is free but misses the automatic updates and priority support of a bought copy; $25 one-timechecked 27 September 2026 |
| SuperwhispermacOS, Windows 10 and 11, on x64 and ARM64, iOS, Android | On your device or in the cloud, your choice | not documented | Free tier: a free plan that does not expire: unlimited dictation on any local Whisper model, custom vocabulary, text replacements and up to two modes, plus 3,000 words of Pro to try; $249.99 one-time; $8.49 a month; $84.99 a yearchecked 7 October 2026 |
| Willow VoicemacOS, Windows, iOS | On your device or in the cloud, your choice | Required | Free tier: a free plan on the weaker Frontier Mini model; the pricing page calls dictation on it unlimited and caps Scribe at 20 uses a week, while the help centre's plan chart caps it at 2,000 words a week and five minutes per recording; $15 a month; $144 a yearchecked 27 September 2026 |
| Aqua VoicemacOS (one universal download for Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10 and 11, iOS | In the cloud | Required | Free tier: 1,000 words on the Starter plan, no card; its Mac and Windows pages call that about seven minutes of talking; $10 a month; $96 a yearchecked 27 September 2026 |
Each tool's facts are from its own pages, on the date shown. Its page here has the rest: what leaves your machine, where it wins, and who should not switch.
What you get
More than dictation. One key, and everything behind it.
Hold the key and press a letter: free mode, a grab, a meeting, a recording, a translation, your own buttons. All of it on your own device, all of it free, none of it behind an account.
Dictation, where your cursor is
Hold a key, speak, release. Clean, punctuated text lands in whatever has focus, on your PC, your Mac and your phone, with your clipboard handed back.
Free mode: talk and point
Narrate for as long as you like while you grab a region, pick a button on screen or take a selection. One note, what you said interleaved with what you pointed at, pasted where you finish and saved as Markdown.
Screen grabs, annotated
Freeze every screen at the keypress, drag a region, add arrows, boxes, text and numbered steps, and pixelate what is private. Saved as a PNG that stays editable.
Screen recording, shared as a link
Record the screen with your narration. The recording writes itself up with a title, chapters and a summary, and from your Deixis account it shares as a link anyone can open without one. The Loom you can stop paying for.
Meetings, no bot, names included
Your microphone and the other side, transcribed on your machine while the call runs. Deixis tells the voices apart and remembers the ones you name, and never uploads a voice.
Your own buttons and workflows
Add a button to the palette: it gets the note on stdin and types back whatever it prints. Send finished notes to any URL you own. Chain steps: read the text off a screenshot, translate it, summarise it, post it.
Hold a key. Speak. Keep working.
Deixis is free, needs no account, and runs on your own device.
v1.3.2 · 64‑bit Windows 10/11 on Intel or AMD · macOS 13 on Apple silicon · 51 MB · nothing else to install · also for Windows · Android on Google Play