Dictation apps for Mac and iPhoneHead to head
Wispr Flow vs Handy
Wispr Flow ranks #1 and Handy ranks #3 in our guide to the best dictation apps for Mac and iPhone. Wispr Flow is our pick for most people, and Handy is the best free option.
Wispr FlowPick Wispr Flow if you dictate long emails and Slack replies every day on both your Mac and iPhone.Free to startBest free
HandyPick Handy if you want hold-to-talk dictation in any Mac app at no cost, with audio kept offline.Free, open sourceWhat decides it
- Handy costs less over 3 years: Free, against $432 for Wispr Flow.
- Both run on Mac. Only Wispr Flow runs on iPhone and iPad.
Side by side
Prices are checked every day.
| At a glance | Wispr Flow | Handy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for 2,000 words a week on the Mac. Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly | Free and open source |
| How you pay | Free, with paid upgrades | Free |
| 3 years of use | $432 Yearly plan | Free Cheaper |
| Free trial | Free to start | Free to start |
| Runs on | Mac, iPhone, iPad | Mac |
| Where to buy | Developer, App Store | Developer |
| Rating | 4.8 19K ratings | Too few ratings |
| Features | None flagged | Open source, Offline |
| Made by | Wispr AI, Inc. | Not listed |
| Last updated | 31 Oct 2026 | Not tracked |
Who should get which
Get Wispr Flow if
You write long emails and Slack replies every day and can say them faster than you type them.
Get Handy if
You want to talk instead of type in any app, without a subscription or sending audio to the cloud.
Skip Wispr Flow if
You dictate the odd text message, and the dictation built into macOS and iOS is free for that.
Skip Handy if
You send short texts by voice now and then, and the Mac's built-in dictation does that free.
Our verdicts
Wispr Flow
Talk into any text field on your Mac or iPhone and get clean, punctuated text back, with filler words dropped and your mid-sentence corrections fixed. It learns names and jargon, adjusts tone for email versus chat and hears you even at a whisper. The free 2,000 words a week runs out fast for heavy writers, and Superwhisper is the better pick if you want dictation on free local models.
Handy
Free and open source, Handy does push-to-talk dictation into any app using Whisper or Parakeet models that run fully offline, so your voice never leaves your computer. Wispr Flow and Superwhisper charge a subscription for their best features, and Handy also runs on Windows and Linux. It only does live dictation, so for transcribing recorded audio or meetings MacWhisper is the better fit.
What each one helps you do
Wispr Flow
- Write emails by talking instead of typing
- Dictate into Slack, Notes or any text field
- Strip filler words from what you say
- Expand saved snippets by speaking a shortcut
Handy
- Dictate into any app with 1 shortcut
- Keep your voice recordings off the cloud
- Type long emails by talking
- Pick a faster or more accurate speech model
Where to get them
Wispr Flow
Free for 2,000 words a week on the Mac. Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly
Some links earn us a commission, which never changes a pick.
Neither one quite right?
The other picks in our guide to the best dictation apps for Mac and iPhone.
SuperwhisperPick this if you want to choose between offline and cloud models and never hit a weekly word cap.Free to start
MacWhisperPick this if you need transcripts of recorded interviews or lectures rather than typing by voice.Free to start
Read the full guideAll Wispr Flow alternativesAll Handy alternatives
More comparisons
- Wispr Flow vs SuperwhisperPick this if you want to choose between offline and cloud models and never hit a weekly word cap.
- Wispr Flow vs MacWhisperPick this if you need transcripts of recorded interviews or lectures rather than typing by voice.
- Superwhisper vs HandyPick it if you want hold-to-talk dictation in any Mac app at no cost, with audio kept offline.