Ekkooo vs. Superwhisper: Which Local Mac Dictation App Fits You

Ekkooo and Superwhisper are two of the very few dictation apps that actually run entirely on the Mac, no audio ever leaves the device with either one. That puts them on the same side of the architecture question that separates most of this category. The real difference between them is scope: Superwhisper grew into a broad AI toolkit, while Ekkooo stayed a focused dictation tool.

Where the two agree: local processing

Superwhisper transcribes using local Whisper models and markets that fact as a headline feature, not a footnote. Ekkooo works the same way: local Whisper transcription plus an optional local LLM for cleanup, both on-device. Neither one requires an internet connection for dictation, and neither one sends your voice to a third-party server. If privacy or offline reliability is the deciding factor, both apps clear that bar equally.

Where they differ: how much the app tries to do

Superwhisper has grown well past dictation. It handles meeting notes with automatic summaries, transcribes existing audio and video files, offers predefined "communication modes" (formal, casual, legal, chat), and has direct integration signals for coding tools like Cursor and Claude. Its own marketing and endorsements (Andrej Karpathy, Guillermo Rauch) lean into a technical, power-user audience that wants one app to handle several adjacent jobs.

Ekkooo does one job: turning spoken thoughts into clean text, system-wide, at the cursor, in whatever app is already focused. No meeting notes, no file transcription, no coding-agent integration. That narrower scope means less to configure and less to learn, which matters most for solo founders who want speed from the first launch, not a toolkit to set up.

Pricing

	Ekkooo	Superwhisper
Processing	100% on-device	100% on-device
Free tier	2,000 words/week	Unlimited use of smaller local models
Paid pricing	€9.99/month, or €39.99 one-time (lifetime)	$8.49/month, $84.99/year, or $249.99 lifetime
Scope	Dictation only	Dictation, meeting notes, file transcription, coding-agent integration
Works offline	Yes	Yes
Built for	Solo founders, creators, productivity hackers	Developers and technical power users wanting one broad AI toolkit

Superwhisper's free tier is more generous in one sense, no hard word cap, but it limits you to smaller, less accurate local models until you pay. Ekkooo's free tier uses the same models as the paid tier, capped by word count instead of quality. See the subscription cost calculator for what Superwhisper's subscription adds up to over 1, 2, 3, or 5 years.

When Superwhisper is the better choice

If you already want meeting transcription, file transcription, and coding-agent integration bundled into one app, Superwhisper's broader feature set is worth its higher price, and it has real developer-community credibility behind it. Ekkooo doesn't compete on breadth, and won't pretend to.

When Ekkooo is the better choice

If the job is specifically dictating your own thoughts, emails, and drafts as fast as you can speak them, without learning a larger toolkit built for meetings and file transcription you may never use, Ekkooo is the more focused tool for that narrower job, and the cheaper one on both the monthly and lifetime basis. See the full comparison methodology for how Ekkooo stacks up against a cloud-based competitor too, or the full comparison of every option.