Measured September 20, 2026 · by Jesse Meria, who makes Halopen
A Wispr Flow alternative
that writes what you said.
On identical audio, Halopen kept 10 of 12 constructions as spoken. Wispr Flow kept 2. Wispr Flow was faster, and costs less. The raw results
We make Halopen, so read this knowing that. Every number below links to the raw output it came from, and the page says where Wispr Flow is the better choice.
01 / The short answer
Two apps, two
different promises.
Both apps do the same thing on a Mac: hold a key, speak, and your words appear where your cursor is. Where they differ is what happens to those words on the way. At its defaults, Wispr Flow tidies what you say into standard written English. Halopen’s default is Verbatim: it writes what you said, and cleanup is something you turn on (method and raw output).
If you want polished prose without thinking about it, that tidying is the point, and Wispr Flow does it well and quickly. If you want your own words — your phrasing, your dialect, the way you actually talk — it is the thing to avoid.
02 / Your words
What each app did
to the same sentences.
We wrote twelve short constructions that a cleanup model is tempted to “correct” — dialect, filler, a doubled word, a common malapropism — and played the identical audio into each app three times. Halopen kept 10 of 12 as spoken (83%). Wispr Flow kept 2 of the 11 we could score (18%); one of the twelve came back in a form we could not score either way, so we left it out rather than count it for either side. Wispr Flow’s three runs were identical (its raw output, Halopen’s).
| What was said | What Wispr Flow wrote |
|---|---|
| “just as good” | “just as well” |
| “me and him went” | “he and I went” |
| “we was running late” | “we were running late” |
| “should of checked” | “should have checked” |
| “there’s three files” | “there are three files” |
| “this is real important” | “this is really important” |
| “the the config” | “the config” |
| “irregardless of the deadline” | “regardless of the deadline” |
| “it don’t matter” | “it doesn’t matter” |
Some of those changes you may want. “Should of” is a misspelling of “should have”, and a doubled “the the” is a slip. Others are not errors at all: “we was running late” and “it don’t matter” are how many people speak, and turning them into “we were” and “it doesn’t” rewrites the speaker rather than the typing. A dictation app that decides which is which, silently, on every sentence, is making a choice about your voice.
03 / Speed
Wispr Flow is faster.
Here is by how much.
We timed each app from the moment the key is released to the moment text appears on screen, using an outside probe rather than either app’s own timer, on a 10-second recording of a person speaking. People do not all let go at the same instant, so we varied the gap between the last word and releasing the key. 6 takes per app at each gap, alternating between the apps so that network weather landed on both (raw timings).
| Pause before releasing | Halopen 1.8.29 | Wispr Flow 1.6.897 |
|---|---|---|
| 0.10 s | 783 ms | 453 ms |
| 0.25 s | 829 ms | 459 ms |
| 0.40 s | 2,052 ms | 489 ms |
| 0.80 s | 1,697 ms | 457 ms |
Wispr Flow’s time barely moved, 453 to 489 ms whatever the pause. Halopen was about 330 ms slower when the key came up promptly, and much slower — 2,052 ms — after a pause of four tenths of a second (raw timings).
04 / How we tested
So you can check us.
Builds: Halopen 1.8.29 and Wispr Flow 1.6.897, both at their default settings, on one MacBook Pro with its built-in microphone, September 20, 2026. Only one app ran at a time — both listen for the same key, so a take answered by the wrong app would be void.
Fidelity audio: spoken by macOS itself, so anyone can rebuild it byte for byte: say -v Samantha -r 170 reading this script. Each app heard it 3 times.
Speed audio: a 10-second recording of a person speaking, timed by an outside probe from key release to text on screen.
Everything we recorded, including the limits, is in the README next to the raw files.
05 / The honest part
Wispr Flow or Halopen?
Choose Wispr Flow if
Features and prices from Wispr Flow’s pricing page, checked October 8, 2026; speed from our test.
- Speed matters most. It was faster in every condition we measured.
- You want polished writing by default, without choosing a mode.
- 2,000 words a week covers you — its free plan costs nothing.
- You also dictate on Windows, iPhone or Android.
- You want the lower price: $15 a month against Halopen’s $19, or your team needs single sign-on or a signed HIPAA agreement.
Choose Halopen if
- You want what you said written as you said it — your phrasing and your dialect — with cleanup only when you ask for it.
- You work on a Mac and want cloud transcription and an on-device mode for Apple Silicon in the same app.
- You want to see what the app sends: every cloud call it makes is recorded in a log on your Mac.
Halopen has no free plan after its 14-day trial and is Mac-only. For every Wispr Flow plan and price, see Wispr Flow pricing, worked out.
06 / Questions
Before you switch.
Answers about Wispr Flow come from its pricing page, checked October 8, 2026, and from our measurements of September 20, 2026.
Is there a Wispr Flow alternative that doesn’t rewrite what you say?
On identical audio measured September 20, 2026, Halopen 1.8.29 kept 10 of 12 constructions that cleanup models tend to correct, as spoken. Wispr Flow 1.6.897 at its defaults kept 2 of the 11 we could score. Halopen’s default output mode is Verbatim; its cleanup modes are optional.
Is Halopen faster than Wispr Flow?
No. In our test Wispr Flow was faster at every gap we measured between the last word and releasing the key — a median of 453–489 ms, against Halopen’s 783 ms at best. Halopen slows further, to 2,052 ms, when you pause before letting go.
Is Halopen cheaper than Wispr Flow?
No. Halopen Pro is $19 a month or $179 a year; Wispr Flow Pro is $15 a month or $12 a month billed annually, and Wispr Flow has a free plan. Halopen has no free plan after its 14-day trial. Wispr Flow prices checked October 8, 2026.
Does Halopen work on Windows or iPhone?
Not today. Halopen is Mac only, macOS 14.0 or later. Wispr Flow runs on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.
Can I check these results myself?
Yes. The fidelity audio is spoken by macOS itself (say -v Samantha -r 170) from a script we publish, so you can rebuild identical audio and play it into any dictation app. The raw output from every run is published alongside it.
Does Halopen also clean up dictation?
Yes, if you ask it to. Polish and Editorial modes tidy your text, and Halopen shows what they changed. The difference is the default: Verbatim writes what you said until you choose otherwise.
Try it on your own words
Say it your way.
See it written that way.
No credit card. macOS 14.0 and later.