Blurt vs VoiceInk: two apps that never phone home.
VoiceInk is open source and cheaper if you only have one Mac. Blurt costs more and gives you a second engine, local AI formatting, meeting capture and a dictionary that learns. Privacy is a tie, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
This is the closest comparison on the list. VoiceInk runs whisper.cpp on your Mac with no account, and so does Blurt. Neither sends your audio anywhere. If someone tells you Blurt is more private than VoiceInk, they are selling you something. The real choice is price shape against feature depth.
The honest split between them.
VoiceInk is cheaper for a single Mac
VoiceInk is a one-time purchase, listed on its own site at $25 for one Mac, $39 for two and $49 for three, with lifetime updates and a 14-day money-back window. Those are discounted from higher numbers you will still see quoted around the web. Blurt's lifetime is $99. For one machine and nothing fancy, VoiceInk wins on price.
VoiceInk is open source, Blurt is not
VoiceInk is GPL-3, so you can read every line, build it yourself and pay nothing. If auditable source is a requirement rather than a preference, that settles it. Blurt is closed source, signed and notarised, with an update manifest verified by minisign.
Blurt gives you a second engine
Whisper large-v3-turbo covers roughly 99 languages. Parakeet handles English and 25 European languages on the CPU and returns text faster. You pick per taste, not per install, and switching downloads the model in place.
Blurt adds the layers around dictation
Local Qwen formatting turns a run-on take into paragraphs and lists with no API key. Polish rewrites selected text anywhere with a shortcut. Meeting mode records your mic and the call's system audio as separate speakers. History is searchable and editable, and your edits feed the dictionary.
| Blurt | VoiceInk | |
|---|---|---|
| Where speech is processed | On your Mac. No cloud path | On your Mac. Optional cloud text cleanup with your key |
| Account required | None | None |
| Source | Closed source, signed and notarised | Open source, GPL-3, free if you build it |
| Price (Sept 2026) | $3.99/mo, $29/yr, or $99 once | $25 one Mac, $39 two, $49 three, one time |
| Speech engines | Whisper large-v3-turbo and Parakeet | whisper.cpp models |
| AI formatting | Local Qwen model, no key, works offline | Cloud enhancement with your own API key |
| Per-app behaviour | One global setup. Per-app profiles were removed in 1.1.0 | Power Mode: different settings per app |
| Meetings | Mic plus system audio, split into You and Others | Not a meeting tool |
| Trial | 14 days, then 20 dictations a day, never locked | Trial that locks when it runs out |
| Refunds | 30 days, no questions asked, including Lifetime | 14-day money-back |
Common questions
Is Blurt more private than VoiceInk?
No. Both process speech on your Mac and neither requires an account. VoiceInk goes further on transparency by publishing its source. Pick between them on features and price, not on privacy claims.
VoiceInk is $25 once. Why would I pay $99?
You would not, if a single Whisper engine and per-app settings are all you need. Blurt earns the difference when you want the Parakeet engine, offline AI formatting without an API key, meeting transcription, or a dictionary that keeps improving from your corrections.
Does Blurt have per-app settings like Power Mode?
Not currently. Per-app profiles came out in version 1.1.0. If you rely on different behaviour in your editor than in Slack, VoiceInk's Power Mode does that today and Blurt does not.
Can I use Blurt on more than one Mac?
Yes. The licence activates on your machines rather than being sold per seat, which is where the $99 lifetime starts to compete with VoiceInk's per-Mac tiers.
Are these prices current?
Read off both official sites in September 2026. VoiceInk's site was showing prices below the figures listed by review aggregators, so quote the site rather than a roundup, and check before you buy.
Run both. One of them will feel right.
Blurt gives you 14 unrestricted days with no card and no account, so the comparison costs you a download rather than a purchase.
Apple Silicon. 14-day trial, no card and no account. After the trial it keeps working at 20 dictations a day. Every paid plan, Lifetime included, carries a 30-day money-back guarantee.