Side by side
| Heron ours | Wispr Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| The basics | ||
| Where speech is processed | On your Mac | In the cloud, on Wispr’s servers |
| Works with Wi-Fi off | Yes, after setup | No offline mode described |
| Price | $99 once | $15 a month, or $12 a month billed annually |
| Free option | 7-day trial, every feature | Free plan with a weekly word limit |
| Devices | Up to 3 Macs | Per user, on all supported devices |
| Platforms | Mac only | Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android |
| Languages | English | 100+ |
| Dictation | ||
| Types into any app | Yes | Yes |
| Removes fillers, keeps corrections | Yes | Yes |
| Live words as you speak | Yes, in Heron notes | Not listed |
| Personal dictionary | Learns names from your notes | Yes, and learns when you correct spelling |
| Voice snippets | No | Yes |
| Tone by app | No | Yes, in English on desktop |
| Notes | ||
| Notes editor | Yes, with / commands and ⌘K | Scratchpad |
| Voice notes with title, tags and checklists | Yes | Not listed |
| Files itself into a folder | Yes | Not listed |
| Plain Markdown files you own | Yes | Not listed |
| Meeting notes | Yes, on your Mac, with no bot | Yes. Notetaker on Mac and Windows |
| Teams and compliance | ||
| Team plans and admin controls | No | Yes |
| Shared dictionary and snippets | No | Yes |
| SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA BAA | No | Yes |
“Not listed” means we couldn’t find it on Wispr’s public pages on 1 November 2026, not that it doesn’t exist.
Privacy: where your voice goes
This is the biggest difference between the two. Heron recognises and cleans up your speech on your Mac, so your voice and notes never leave it. It contacts a server to download the speech model once, and to activate your licence once.
Wispr’s privacy page says “Transcription always happens in the cloud”, with audio sent to its servers over TLS 1.2+. It does give you real controls. You can turn off cloud storage so audio is discarded after transcription, opt out of model training, and auto-delete local history.
So Wispr asks you to trust how it handles your audio, and it backs that with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification. Heron avoids the question by keeping audio on your Mac, but it holds no certifications. If your company’s security team needs paperwork, that counts in Wispr’s favour.
Cost over time
Wispr’s annual plan costs less per month, but it never stops. Heron passes its total cost in about 9 months on the annual plan, or about 7 months paying monthly.
| Total paid | Heron | Wispr Pro, annual | Wispr Pro, monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $99 | $144 | $180 |
| Year 2 | $99 | $288 | $360 |
| Year 3 | $99 | $432 | $540 |
One person, at current prices. [NEED: update policy: how long updates are included, since it affects this table]
Wispr’s free plan is a real option if you dictate lightly and stay under the weekly limit. Heron has no free plan, only the 7-day trial.
What happens to longer thoughts
Wispr Flow’s core job is turning speech into text where your cursor is, and it does that well. Longer thinking is where Heron takes a different path.
Press Right ⌘ and talk. Heron cleans up what you said, adds headings where the topic changes, turns spoken to-dos into a checklist, then writes a title and tags and files the note in a folder that fits. The result is a Markdown file that opens in any other app.
Wispr has Scratchpad for notes and Notetaker for meetings, and those are its answer to the same need. Heron’s difference is that a meeting, a voice note and a typed note all end up in one library of Markdown files, on your Mac. Heron’s meeting notes live in the same library as everything else.
Daily dictation
For a quick message, the two feel alike. Hold a key, speak, and clean text appears. Both drop fillers and handle you changing your mind mid-sentence.
Wispr has more tools around this: Snippets for text you repeat, Styles for tone by app, and a dictionary that learns when you correct a spelling. Heron picks up names from your notes, and shows your words live as you speak in a note.
From our test: [NEED: two or three lines from your side-by-side test on the same message and the same two-minute ramble]
Where Wispr Flow is the better choice
Every device
Dictation on Windows, iPhone and Android as well as Mac. Heron is Mac only, and only on macOS 26 or later.
100+ languages
Heron is English only for now.
Teams
Shared dictionaries and snippets, with admin controls on higher plans.
Compliance
SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and HIPAA-ready dictation with a signed BAA.
Older Macs
Heron needs Apple silicon, and its AI cleanup needs Apple Intelligence.
A day with each
A founder using Heron
Dictates Slack replies between calls. Talks through a launch plan on a walk, then opens a titled note with a checklist. Works on a flight with Wi-Fi off. Has paid once.
A sales lead using Wispr Flow
Dictates email on a Windows laptop and follow-ups on an iPhone. Gets meeting notes from Notetaker. Uses the team’s shared snippets. Has a subscription through work.
Switching from Wispr Flow
- Keep Wispr installed for now. Change its hotkey so it doesn’t clash with Heron’s Fn key.
- Install the Heron trial. Allow Microphone and Accessibility, and let the speech model finish downloading.
- Move your repeated text. Heron has no snippets yet, so keep those somewhere handy.
- Use Heron for a full work week. Dictate the same things you normally would, then decide.
Questions
For one person on a recent Mac who wants dictation, voice notes, meeting notes and a full notes app on-device with no subscription, yes. For anyone who needs Windows, a phone, team controls or languages beyond English, Wispr Flow is the better fit.
Its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud, and it doesn’t describe an offline mode. Heron works with Wi-Fi off once setup is done.
Heron costs $99 once. Wispr Flow Pro costs $144 to $180 a year, so Heron pays for itself in about 7 to 9 months. Over three years, Wispr Flow Pro comes to $432 to $540.
They take different approaches. Heron never sends your voice or notes off your Mac. Wispr sends audio to its servers, and gives you controls for storage, deletion and model training, along with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification. Heron holds no certifications.
Yes, though only one should own your shortcut. Change Wispr’s hotkey during the trial, so both can run while you compare them.
No. Heron is Mac only today.
Sources
- Wispr Flow pricing, read 1 November 2026
- Wispr Flow privacy, read 1 November 2026
- Wispr Flow features, read 1 November 2026
- How Heron handles your data