Mac dictation · updated October 19, 2026
A Superwhisper alternative
that types what you said.
Halopen writes your words exactly as you spoke them, in every Mac app, and publishes the test that proves it: 27 of 27 phrases kept as spoken.
No card for the trial. By Jesse Meria, who makes Halopen.
01 / The difference
Built around
your words.
Superwhisper is built around AI modes: its own plans page says “Pro adds cloud models, AI processing, file transcription, and more.” (Superwhisper plans). More and more dictation runs your speech through a model that decides what you meant.
Halopen is built the other way round. Its default mode, Verbatim, writes what you said, your phrasing and your dialect, and runs no cleanup. When you do want polished text, you turn on Polish or Editorial for the apps where you want it.
02 / Your words
The test we publish,
so you can run it too.
Dictation apps increasingly pass your words through a language model that “fixes” them: just as good becomes just as well, we was running late becomes we were running late. Our test is 45 phrases like that, spoken by macOS’s own voice so anyone can reproduce the audio, and a scorer that counts which came back as spoken.
Halopen 1.8.47, at its default, kept all 27 scored phrases as spoken, and all 45 of 45 items reached the page (October 16, 2026). The transcripts are published with the test.
03 / Why Halopen
What you get.
- Your words, as you said them. Verbatim by default, with a public test that shows it.
- Every Mac app. Slack, Mail, Notes, Cursor, the terminal, the browser.
- Cloud and on-device in one app. Fast cloud transcription that streams while you talk, or on-device on Apple Silicon.
- You can see what it sends. Every cloud call is written to a log on your Mac.
- Cleanup when you ask. Polish and Editorial, set app by app.
Try it for 14 days
Everything unlocked, no card. Then Pro is $19 a month, $179 a year, or $499 once. macOS 14.0 or later.
04 / Questions
Before you switch.
Does Halopen rewrite what I say?
Not by default. Its default mode, Verbatim, writes what you said. In our public test, Halopen 1.8.47 kept all 27 scored phrases as spoken. Polish and Editorial modes tidy your text when you choose them, app by app.
Can I check that myself?
Yes. The 45 phrases, the audio and the scorer are open source at github.com/MeriaApp/dictation-fidelity-test. Read them into any dictation app, including the one you use now, and score what comes back in one command.
Which apps does Halopen work in?
Any Mac app with a text cursor: Slack, Mail, your editor, the terminal, the browser. Hold the key, talk, and the words land where the cursor is.
Can Halopen work without the internet?
Yes, with its on-device mode on Apple Silicon Macs. Cloud mode streams your audio for transcription while you talk, and every cloud call is written to a log on your Mac.
How do I try it?
Download it and use everything for 14 days, no card. Then Pro is $19 a month, $179 a year, or $499 once.
Try it on your own words
Say it your way.
See it written that way.
No credit card. macOS 14.0 and later.