DownloadSpeakey vs VoiceInk
Two local, pay-once dictation apps for Apple silicon. Here is where each one is the better buy. Prices checked November 2026.
At a glance
| Name | Price | Macs | Engines | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Speakey | FreePaid onceFree plan; Pro $4.99 once | Up to 3 | Parakeet, Qwen3-ASR, Whisper, Apple | Closed |
 VoiceInk Solo | Paid once$25 once | 1 | Parakeet, Whisper, SenseVoice, more | GPL-3.0 |
| VoiceInk Personal | Paid once$39 once | 2 | Same | GPL-3.0 |
| VoiceInk Extended | Paid once$49 once | 3 | Same | GPL-3.0 |
The short version
VoiceInk and Speakey solve the same core problem: hold a key, talk, and the words land in whatever app has focus. Both run speech recognition on the Mac itself, both use NVIDIA's Parakeet and OpenAI's Whisper, and neither charges a subscription.
The differences sit around that core. VoiceInk is a GPL-3.0 project on GitHub with about 7,000 stars, sells licenses from $25 to $49, and leans into transcription choice: several local models plus cloud providers like ElevenLabs, Deepgram and AssemblyAI. Speakey is closed source, costs $4.99 once (an early adopter price, normally $9.99), and splits its work into three modes: Dictate, Rewrite and Agent.
Price and licenses
VoiceInk's site lists three one-time tiers: Solo at $25 for one Mac, Personal at $39 for two, and Extended at $49 for three. Each includes lifetime updates and a 14-day money-back guarantee. There is a free trial, but the site doesn't say how long it lasts. Because the code is GPL-3.0, you can also build it from source for free; the paid build adds automatic updates and priority support.
Speakey has a free plan with weekly limits (2,000 words across Dictate, Rewrite and Agent, plus 5 minutes of Live Listen) and no limits in the first 3 days. Pro is $4.99 once for up to 3 Macs, with a 7-day refund you can do yourself from Settings or getspeakey.com/refund. There is no account to create.
For three Macs, that is $49 for VoiceInk against $4.99 for Speakey at today's price.
Speech engines
VoiceInk's recommended-models page lists Parakeet Ultra for English and European languages, SenseVoice Small for Chinese, Japanese and Korean, Cohere Transcribe for languages like Arabic and Vietnamese, Whisper Large v3 Turbo, and Nemotron Multilingual. On top of those it can send audio to cloud services if you choose to.
Speakey ships four on-device engines and picks one for your Mac and your languages: Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3 (25 European languages), Qwen3-ASR (about 30 languages including Indonesian, macOS 15 or later), Whisper Large v3 Turbo through WhisperKit (about 99 languages) and Apple Speech. It has no cloud transcription option at all, so audio never leaves the Mac.
One honest caveat on Speakey's side: Qwen3-ASR writes Indonesian mostly in lowercase without punctuation. That is how the model was trained. Whisper adds punctuation in every language but is slower.
What happens after the words
VoiceInk's AI enhancement removes filler words, structures long notes, drafts emails and rewrites selected text from a spoken instruction. It also has custom words, Smart Replace for phrase expansion, and a Markdown journal of timestamped notes. Cloud Enhancement is optional and sends text only.
Speakey's Rewrite mode runs your words through a Rule (Professional, a custom style, and so on) before typing them, and can read the text on screen as context so a reply fits the thread. Agent mode goes further than text: it opens apps, arranges windows, closes tabs, answers calendar questions, drafts Gmail replies and works through multi-step web tasks with its own cursor. Rewrite and Agent use your own Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini sign-in, so they need internet. Dictate does not.
Requirements
- VoiceInk: Apple silicon only. The website says macOS 14.4 or later with 8 GB RAM recommended; the GitHub README says macOS 15.0 or later.
- Speakey: Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later. Qwen3-ASR needs macOS 15. Parakeet is suggested on Macs with 8 GB of RAM or more.
Where VoiceInk wins
- Open source under GPL-3.0. You can audit what it does with your microphone and build it yourself.
- More engine choice, including SenseVoice for Chinese, Japanese and Korean, and cloud providers if you want them.
- A 14-day refund window against Speakey's 7 days.
- A built-in journal for voice notes.
Where Speakey wins
- Price: $4.99 once for 3 Macs, and a free plan that keeps working after the first days.
- Agent mode, which controls the Mac by voice instead of only typing.
- Indonesian and English in one sentence on the fast Qwen3-ASR engine, picked for you based on your languages.
- No cloud transcription path to switch on by mistake.
Questions
Is VoiceInk free?
The source code is free under GPL-3.0 if you build it yourself. The ready-made app has a free trial (length not listed) and then costs $25, $39 or $49 once depending on how many Macs you need.
Do both apps work offline?
Yes for plain dictation. VoiceInk transcribes locally unless you pick a cloud model. Speakey only transcribes locally. Speakey's Rewrite and Agent answers need internet because they use your own AI account.
Which one handles Indonesian better?
Speakey suggests Qwen3-ASR for Indonesian and English on macOS 15, which is fast but mostly lowercase in Indonesian, or Whisper Turbo for punctuation. VoiceInk offers Whisper Large v3 Turbo and Cohere Transcribe; check its language picker for your mix.
Can I move my license to a new Mac?
Speakey Pro covers up to 3 Macs and you can remove a Mac in Settings to free its slot. VoiceInk's tiers cover 1, 2 or 3 Macs.
Sources
Facts about other apps come from their own pages, checked when this page was updated. Prices and plans change, so check before you buy.
Read next
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- Speakey vs Wispr Flow: on-device or in the cloudBoth let you hold a key and talk into any text box. The real differences are where your voice is processed, what it costs, and which devices you need.
- Best dictation apps for Mac (2026)Seven Mac dictation apps ranked on privacy, speed on Apple silicon, cost over time and what they do beyond typing.
