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Amical vs MacWhisper
MacWhisper is a Mac transcription tool focused on turning recorded audio files into text. Amical is a live dictation tool that puts words into your apps as you speak. Different jobs, and most people keep both installed.
The short version
Pick Amical if…
Pick Amical if you want to talk and have words appear instantly inside your editor, browser, Slack, or terminal as you work, with top-tier accuracy running on your own machine.
Pick MacWhisper if…
Pick MacWhisper if your real job is turning meeting recordings, podcasts, voice notes, or video files into written transcripts with speaker labels and timestamps you can edit and share afterwards.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Amical | MacWhisper |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Live dictation into apps | File and recording transcription |
| Local-first by default | ||
| Open source | Yes, MIT licensed | No, closed source |
| Price | Free | Free tier · paid Pro |
| Platforms | macOS · Windows · Android · iOS | macOS only |
| Push-to-talk into any app | ||
| Transcribes audio files | Not the focus | |
| Speaker diarisation | ||
| AI summaries of recordings | ||
| Live captions while you talk | Limited |
Where Amical wins
Live dictation, not post-processing
Amical is built for the moment you are writing. Hold a hotkey, talk, and text appears in whatever app you are using, whether that is VS Code, a browser, Slack, or a terminal. MacWhisper expects a finished recording to chew through afterwards, which is a completely different workflow.
Open source and cross-platform
Amical is MIT licensed on GitHub and runs on macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS. You can read exactly how it captures audio, fork it for your own setup, or contribute back. MacWhisper is closed source and Mac-only, which is fine for many people but limits inspection and reuse.
Free with no paid tier gating features
Every Amical feature is available to every user with no Pro upgrade behind a paywall. MacWhisper has a generous free tier but locks longer files, large models, and advanced exports behind a one-off purchase that is reasonable but still real money out of pocket.
Experience the future of dictation
Local and Cloud Models
Choose from powerful cloud-based AI models or run everything locally for maximum privacy and control. Switch seamlessly between providers to find the perfect balance of speed, accuracy, and security.
Custom Vocabulary
Customize the AI to recognize your specific terminology, jargon, and proper nouns for industry-specific accuracy and personalized transcription results.
Project PhoenixMcConaughey
CI/CD pipelinek8s
SOC2PostgreSQL
JiraROI metrics
⌘Space
⌥⌘A
CtrlAltSpace
Custom Shortcuts
Create personalized voice commands and shortcuts to streamline your workflow and boost productivity with hands-free operation.
Multi Language Support
Transcribe and dictate in 100+ languages with native-level accuracy. Switch between languages seamlessly or use mixed-language dictation.
Frequently asked questions
Other Amical comparisons
Built for the way you work
Loved by builders
From San Francisco to Tokyo — what real users are saying about Amical.
ごめん、勝間さん。
ScribesよりAmicalだわ
This is really an amazing app, and I'm super impressed with how smooth it works, and their amazing support. It's just fast and accurate, and it formats the text depending on what application I'm using. This is really my go-to blathering app, and it makes my day so sweet and easy. Read on AppSumo →
【音声入力】
現状Windowsでも使えるおすすめはこの3つ。
・Amical
・Aqua Voice
・Typeless
個人的には慣れもあるけどAqua Voiceが好き。Typelessは整形キツめなのが難点だけどUIUXが良い。Amicalはローカル完結で無料なのがデカい。
音声入力は移り変わりが激しいので年払いはしない方がいいです。
[Free] Amical for voice input is way too convenient. Reviewing the good and bad of Amical — and walking through installation too.
Translated
有益なアプリをありがとうございます☺️
r/LocalLLMu/todokanai_koi
There's also github.com/amicalhq/amical
Switched to it a couple of weeks back, sleek UI and decent feature set. Works offline and on both windows and mac.
Amical - Open-source AI dictation app (@amical_app)
Cossmology Profile: dub.sh/Vk7tPkn
Key People: Haritabh Singh, Naomi Chopra (@NaomiChopra)
#SpeechRecognition #OpenSource #OSS #COSS
ごめん、勝間さん。
ScribesよりAmicalだわ
This is really an amazing app, and I'm super impressed with how smooth it works, and their amazing support. It's just fast and accurate, and it formats the text depending on what application I'm using. This is really my go-to blathering app, and it makes my day so sweet and easy. Read on AppSumo →
【音声入力】
現状Windowsでも使えるおすすめはこの3つ。
・Amical
・Aqua Voice
・Typeless
個人的には慣れもあるけどAqua Voiceが好き。Typelessは整形キツめなのが難点だけどUIUXが良い。Amicalはローカル完結で無料なのがデカい。
音声入力は移り変わりが激しいので年払いはしない方がいいです。
[Free] Amical for voice input is way too convenient. Reviewing the good and bad of Amical — and walking through installation too.
Translated
有益なアプリをありがとうございます☺️
r/LocalLLMu/todokanai_koi
There's also github.com/amicalhq/amical
Switched to it a couple of weeks back, sleek UI and decent feature set. Works offline and on both windows and mac.
Amical - Open-source AI dictation app (@amical_app)
Cossmology Profile: dub.sh/Vk7tPkn
Key People: Haritabh Singh, Naomi Chopra (@NaomiChopra)
#SpeechRecognition #OpenSource #OSS #COSS
ごめん、勝間さん。
ScribesよりAmicalだわ
This is really an amazing app, and I'm super impressed with how smooth it works, and their amazing support. It's just fast and accurate, and it formats the text depending on what application I'm using. This is really my go-to blathering app, and it makes my day so sweet and easy. Read on AppSumo →
【音声入力】
現状Windowsでも使えるおすすめはこの3つ。
・Amical
・Aqua Voice
・Typeless
個人的には慣れもあるけどAqua Voiceが好き。Typelessは整形キツめなのが難点だけどUIUXが良い。Amicalはローカル完結で無料なのがデカい。
音声入力は移り変わりが激しいので年払いはしない方がいいです。
[Free] Amical for voice input is way too convenient. Reviewing the good and bad of Amical — and walking through installation too.
Translated
有益なアプリをありがとうございます☺️
r/LocalLLMu/todokanai_koi
There's also github.com/amicalhq/amical
Switched to it a couple of weeks back, sleek UI and decent feature set. Works offline and on both windows and mac.
Amical - Open-source AI dictation app (@amical_app)
Cossmology Profile: dub.sh/Vk7tPkn
Key People: Haritabh Singh, Naomi Chopra (@NaomiChopra)
#SpeechRecognition #OpenSource #OSS #COSS
ごめん、勝間さん。
ScribesよりAmicalだわ
This is really an amazing app, and I'm super impressed with how smooth it works, and their amazing support. It's just fast and accurate, and it formats the text depending on what application I'm using. This is really my go-to blathering app, and it makes my day so sweet and easy. Read on AppSumo →
【音声入力】
現状Windowsでも使えるおすすめはこの3つ。
・Amical
・Aqua Voice
・Typeless
個人的には慣れもあるけどAqua Voiceが好き。Typelessは整形キツめなのが難点だけどUIUXが良い。Amicalはローカル完結で無料なのがデカい。
音声入力は移り変わりが激しいので年払いはしない方がいいです。
[Free] Amical for voice input is way too convenient. Reviewing the good and bad of Amical — and walking through installation too.
Translated
有益なアプリをありがとうございます☺️
r/LocalLLMu/todokanai_koi
There's also github.com/amicalhq/amical
Switched to it a couple of weeks back, sleek UI and decent feature set. Works offline and on both windows and mac.
Amical - Open-source AI dictation app (@amical_app)
Cossmology Profile: dub.sh/Vk7tPkn
Key People: Haritabh Singh, Naomi Chopra (@NaomiChopra)
#SpeechRecognition #OpenSource #OSS #COSS
Not sure why nobody's talking about it, but there's a free AI voice input app that's incredibly usable. It's called Amical — I use it daily.
Translated
tried amical (free & open source) alternative to whispr flow, aquavoice because they both charged me over $10
and the fact that it lets me run everything locally so nothing leaves my machine is crazyyy🤯
r/macappsu/IAM-rooted
nice comparison. been using amical lately and surprised it's not mentioned more. it's open source, runs locally or with cloud models, and actually formats stuff based on what app you're in. feels way more usable than just whisper or vosk on their own.
I was using VoiceDash, currently I'm using Blip AI, and now I'm testing Amical. So far, Amical is really, really good in recognizing my language and fantastic in recognizing the English language. I'm really impressed in this short period of time of using it. Read on AppSumo →
Amical for voice input is great — runs locally so it's super fast. I was on Aqua Voice but the 0.5s lag between speaking and seeing text was stressful every time. Local model accuracy is slightly lower but well within acceptable.
Translated
🎊 Big news! Amical @amical_app reached 1,000 stars on GitHub! High five! 🙌
Type 10x faster with AI-powered voice dictation
openalternative.co/amical
Not sure why nobody's talking about it, but there's a free AI voice input app that's incredibly usable. It's called Amical — I use it daily.
Translated
tried amical (free & open source) alternative to whispr flow, aquavoice because they both charged me over $10
and the fact that it lets me run everything locally so nothing leaves my machine is crazyyy🤯
r/macappsu/IAM-rooted
nice comparison. been using amical lately and surprised it's not mentioned more. it's open source, runs locally or with cloud models, and actually formats stuff based on what app you're in. feels way more usable than just whisper or vosk on their own.
I was using VoiceDash, currently I'm using Blip AI, and now I'm testing Amical. So far, Amical is really, really good in recognizing my language and fantastic in recognizing the English language. I'm really impressed in this short period of time of using it. Read on AppSumo →
Amical for voice input is great — runs locally so it's super fast. I was on Aqua Voice but the 0.5s lag between speaking and seeing text was stressful every time. Local model accuracy is slightly lower but well within acceptable.
Translated
🎊 Big news! Amical @amical_app reached 1,000 stars on GitHub! High five! 🙌
Type 10x faster with AI-powered voice dictation
openalternative.co/amical
Not sure why nobody's talking about it, but there's a free AI voice input app that's incredibly usable. It's called Amical — I use it daily.
Translated
tried amical (free & open source) alternative to whispr flow, aquavoice because they both charged me over $10
and the fact that it lets me run everything locally so nothing leaves my machine is crazyyy🤯
r/macappsu/IAM-rooted
nice comparison. been using amical lately and surprised it's not mentioned more. it's open source, runs locally or with cloud models, and actually formats stuff based on what app you're in. feels way more usable than just whisper or vosk on their own.
I was using VoiceDash, currently I'm using Blip AI, and now I'm testing Amical. So far, Amical is really, really good in recognizing my language and fantastic in recognizing the English language. I'm really impressed in this short period of time of using it. Read on AppSumo →
Amical for voice input is great — runs locally so it's super fast. I was on Aqua Voice but the 0.5s lag between speaking and seeing text was stressful every time. Local model accuracy is slightly lower but well within acceptable.
Translated
🎊 Big news! Amical @amical_app reached 1,000 stars on GitHub! High five! 🙌
Type 10x faster with AI-powered voice dictation
openalternative.co/amical
Not sure why nobody's talking about it, but there's a free AI voice input app that's incredibly usable. It's called Amical — I use it daily.
Translated
tried amical (free & open source) alternative to whispr flow, aquavoice because they both charged me over $10
and the fact that it lets me run everything locally so nothing leaves my machine is crazyyy🤯
r/macappsu/IAM-rooted
nice comparison. been using amical lately and surprised it's not mentioned more. it's open source, runs locally or with cloud models, and actually formats stuff based on what app you're in. feels way more usable than just whisper or vosk on their own.
I was using VoiceDash, currently I'm using Blip AI, and now I'm testing Amical. So far, Amical is really, really good in recognizing my language and fantastic in recognizing the English language. I'm really impressed in this short period of time of using it. Read on AppSumo →
Amical for voice input is great — runs locally so it's super fast. I was on Aqua Voice but the 0.5s lag between speaking and seeing text was stressful every time. Local model accuracy is slightly lower but well within acceptable.
Translated
🎊 Big news! Amical @amical_app reached 1,000 stars on GitHub! High five! 🙌
Type 10x faster with AI-powered voice dictation
openalternative.co/amical