Wispr Flow alternative
A free Wispr Flow alternative that runs on your Mac
Purr does the core thing Wispr Flow does: hold a key, talk, and your words type into whatever app you’re using. The difference is where that happens. Wispr Flow sends your audio to the cloud to transcribe it [2]. Purr transcribes on your Mac, works offline, and is free and open source, with no account and no word limit.
What’s different?
- Where your voice goes. Purr turns speech into text on your Mac and never uploads it. Wispr Flow always transcribes in the cloud [2].
- Offline. Purr works without internet once its model has downloaded. Wispr Flow can’t start dictation on a Mac that’s offline [4].
- Account. Purr has none. Wispr Flow asks you to sign in with Apple, Google, Microsoft, SSO or email [5].
- Price. Purr is free with no limit. Wispr Flow is free up to 2,000 words a week on desktop, and Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly [1].
- When the text appears. With Smart Typing on, Purr types while you’re still talking. Wispr Flow types after you let go of the key [4].
- Source code. Purr is MIT-licensed and on GitHub. Wispr Flow’s code isn’t public.
How do they compare on speed and accuracy?
I played the same recordings into both apps as their microphone, with Wispr Flow on its free plan. Lower is better for latency and word error rate (WER), and higher for names spelled right.
| Purr | Wispr Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| Latency (key release to text) | 0.22 s | 0.63 s |
| WER, everyday speech | 3.8% | 3.4% |
| WER, hard audio (noise, accents, quiet speech) | 4.0% | 4.0% |
| WER, in non-English languages | 7.1% | 5.8% |
| Names and jargon spelled right | 72.6% | 93.5% |
Purr puts text on screen faster. Wispr Flow makes slightly fewer errors and gets far more names and terms right. The full comparison adds Superwhisper and VoiceInk.
When is Wispr Flow the better choice?
If you need Windows, an iPhone, Android or an Intel Mac, Wispr Flow runs on all of them and Purr doesn’t [3]. Its AI also tidies up self-corrections and formats lists for you [6]. Purr drops “um” and “uh” but otherwise types what you said, unless you ask Voice Edit to change it. And if your dictation is full of names and jargon, Wispr Flow got many more of them right in the test above.
How do I switch from Wispr Flow to Purr?
- Download Purr and open it. Setup downloads the Parakeet speech model (about 450 MB) and asks for Microphone and Accessibility.
- Click into any text field, hold Right Option, speak and let go. You can pick another key in Settings.
- Add the names and terms you use in Settings › Vocabulary, along with fixes for any word it keeps mishearing.
- For languages other than English, switch to Whisper in Settings › Engine. It covers about 100.
Related
- Purr vs Wispr Flow, Superwhisper and VoiceInk
- Dictation that works offline on your Mac
- Meeting notes that stay on your Mac
Sources
- Wispr Flow pricing
- Wispr Flow privacy
- Wispr Flow docs: supported devices
- Wispr Flow docs: your first dictation
- Wispr Flow docs: signing in
- Wispr Flow website
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