TypeWhisper
Shares rank 20 of 26 dictation apps by recommenders
Free open-source dictation app for Mac that people say works very well and can be extended with plugins. No critics were found.
Free open-source dictation app for Mac that people say works very well and can be extended with plugins. No critics were found.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works very well on Mac
“It works very well, and has a few more bells and whistles without feeling bloated.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Yap – free offline voice dictation for Mac/Windows/Linux (Wispr Flow alt)” “It works very well, but then I tested multiple models”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Yap – OSS on-device voice dictation for macOS with no model to download” “Both work very well on a Mac.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Gemini-3.5-Transcribe” Extensible engine and plugin layer
“This is exactly why I made TypeWhisper’s engine and plugin layer extensible.”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Yap – OSS on-device voice dictation for macOS with no model to download” “For now, I settled on creating my own plugin for TypeWhisper”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Gemini-3.5-Transcribe” “create a plugin for TypeWhisper, and that's what I use”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Whistle: Speech to Text in 16.9 MB” People like the app
“TypeWhisper looks really nice man, great work.”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “The zero-cost fallacy: open-source software in the agentic era” “I like open whisper and typewispr for both.”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: BetterWispr – Free, open-source dictation for Mac”
Other dictation apps people recommend
The four most recommended other dictation apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handy | 150 | 20 | 88% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | Approved |
| Wispr Flow | 52 | 33 | 61% | 12 | — | — |
| MacWhisper | 31 | 9 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| macOS Dictation | 26 | 44 | 37% | 10 | — | — |
| TypeWhisperThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I like open whisper and typewispr for both.”
“create a plugin for TypeWhisper, and that's what I use”
“Both work very well on a Mac.”
“For now, I settled on creating my own plugin for TypeWhisper”
“This is exactly why I made TypeWhisper’s engine and plugin layer extensible.”
“It works very well, but then I tested multiple models”
“TypeWhisper looks really nice man, great work.”
“It works very well, and has a few more bells and whistles without feeling bloated.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.