Speakmac Lab
Speakmac vs Paraspeech: Two Offline Dictation Apps, Two Different Priorities
Paraspeech is a privacy-first dictation application for macOS that performs all transcription locally—no audio leaves the machine. It is distributed under multiple licensing tiers. Speakmac, by contrast, is a lightweight, single-payment tool whose sole selling point is instantaneous offline dictation accessed via a global hotkey.
Below is a fact-only overview drawn exclusively from each product’s public pricing and documentation.
Updated February 2026: Pricing and setup details were re-checked against publicly available product information.
At a Glance
| Decision factor | Speakmac | Paraspeech |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 one-time | $9/month, $49 lifetime (1 device), $63 lifetime (3 devices) |
| Free tier limits | No free tier | No permanent free tier |
| Offline support | Core workflow | Core workflow after first model download |
| Cloud processing | None required | None required |
| Best for | Low-overhead dictation with one-time purchase | Users who want tiered licensing and extra on-device formatting controls |
(All prices are in USD.)
Pricing Model
Paraspeech
The developer offers three non-overlapping tiers:
- Monthly – $9 each month, covers up to three Macs simultaneously.
- Lifetime (single-device) – $49 once, locked to a single Mac.
- Lifetime (multi-device) – $63 once, covers any three Macs owned by the same customer.
After payment, the model files (~1 GB) must be downloaded once before every feature becomes usable offline.
Speakmac
A single permanent license costs $19. After download from the Mac App Store, the app is usable immediately—there is no extra model stage—and remains functional indefinitely on any Mac signed in with the purchasing Apple ID.
From a cost perspective, Speakmac is the least expensive one-off purchase. Paraspeech introduces additional pricing dimensions: subscription sustainability, device multiplicity, and optional perpetual licensing.
Feature Focus
Paraspeech
- System-wide dictation is triggered with a user-defined hotkey (configurable in Preferences).
- On-device engine relies on Whisper-based models that are fetched and cached during first-run onboarding.
- Formatting and replacements panel lets users pre-define text snippets, punctuation overrides, and inline commands (for example, “comma” → “,” or “new para” → paragraph break). These rules are applied automatically as transcription occurs, entirely on-device.
Speakmac
- Onboarding is intentionally minimal: install, grant microphone permission, assign a global shortcut—the workflow takes under a minute.
- Core capability is unobtrusive speech-to-text capture in any text field; results are inserted in real time without intermediate dialogs.
- No supplemental windows or configuration tabs—everything lives in a menubar icon.
The functional split is clear: Paraspeech bundles extra lexical transformation tooling; Speakmac deliberately limits scope to fast, no-overhead dictation.
Which Should You Choose?
Paraspeech is more suitable when:
- Adjustable licensing—monthly cash-flow or lifetime multi-Mac coverage—is relevant.
- Your hardware is Apple Silicon, macOS 14.6 or newer, and you will benefit from the additional formatting layer.
Speakmac is more suitable when:
- The purchase decision hinges on obtaining the smallest possible one-time fee.
- A zero-setup dictation hotkey is the sole requirement.
- Broader version or chip compatibility beyond Apple Silicon is not a limiting factor.
Both tools address the same privacy constraint—data never leaves the Mac—yet differ in how they trade complexity for flexibility.
Bottom Line
Both applications perform end-to-end transcription offline. Paraspeech differentiates itself with tiered pricing and extra on-device formatting; Speakmac centers on simplicity and the lowest lifetime cost.
Related comparisons
Speakmac
Write faster with your voice
On-device dictation for Mac. Instant, private, and pause-friendly—no subscriptions.
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