Press the hotkey
Use push-to-talk or lock recording on, whichever suits your workflow.
Voice to text app for Mac · runs offline
Dictate instead of typing. With a nudge where a second look pays off.
Press ⌥ Space and speak, English and German mixed if you like. The text lands at your cursor right away. If there is a spot worth checking, Witness points to it, and you can hear what you actually said. Everything runs on your Mac.
What about the Mac's built-in dictation? It underlines ambiguous words in blue, and you switch languages with the Globe key. Witness speaks up when a second look pays off and plays you the original audio of that spot. Comparison with sources
13-day full trial 3 days without an email, then a key by mail Apple silicon macOS 14.4+ no credit card
01 / Workflow
From thought to text in four steps
A short, visible workflow. No separate editor to switch into.
Speak naturally
English, German, or both mixed together. Technical terms included.
Text at your cursor
Straight into the app you are writing in. If an app blocks insertion, the clipboard takes over.
Look when Witness asks
If there is a spot worth checking, a marker appears in the menu bar. One click shows it with the original audio and the raw transcript.
02 / Verification
See exactly what needs checking
Many dictation tools do not explicitly show where a review is warranted. That can let €14,000 quietly become €40,000.
Witness marks the spots worth checking, and a marker in the menu bar tells you when a look pays off. There you can play the original audio of that spot and compare it with the raw transcript.
01Original audio02Raw transcript03Menu bar marker
03 / Privacy
Offline means offline, and you can verify it
Turn Wi‑Fi off and keep dictating. Speech processing stays available.
Audio and text are processed on your Mac. Audio stays in memory only for the active dictation and any review, then it is discarded.
Ready offline
1Speech
→2STT
→3Text
Processed on this Mac
No user account
Email only for the licence key. No profile or password.
No DPA for dictation content
We neither transmit nor process your speech content on your behalf.
Network access disclosed
Fetch the model once, get a key, release a Mac, plus nine events about setup and the trial, which you can switch off.
Audio, transcripts, vocabulary, clipboard data, other app content, and highlighted risk fragments are never transmitted. Three things go out when you press something: the request for the speech model, your email address with a device identifier to get a licence key, and that key back when you release a Mac. Nine events about setup and the trial go with them: installed, speech model loading, ready or failed, microphone refused, trial started, key requested, offers shown. Each carries an app version, a macOS version and a random identifier made at install, three also a word from a fixed list, and nothing else; Settings → Privacy turns them off. Read the full privacy policy ↗
04 / Languages
English and German in one sentence
Tick the languages you speak, nothing is guessed. Four languages are measured end to end, the other 96 are recognised.
English✓Deutsch✓РусскийУкраїнська+96 more
Personal vocabulary+
Müller-LüdenscheidtGerman
AuftragsverarbeitungsvertragGerman
KubernetesEnglish
DB NavigatorAll languages
ZeiterfassungAll languages
Names, product terms, and abbreviations are written the way you need them.
05 / Tools
Small in your menu bar. Big in your day.
Only the tools that make the path from speech to text shorter or safer.
Your vocabulary
Names, abbreviations, and technical terms per language.
Restore raw transcript
Return to the untouched recognition result in one click.
For your work apps
Direct insertion or a clipboard fallback when an app blocks it.
No internet required
On a train, on a plane, or in the basement.
Two Macs
One licence for your MacBook and iMac.
Pay once
€99 lifetime or €49 for one year.
06 / Comparison
Why not free, and why not the cloud
| Feature | Witness | Wispr Flow | sprecho.ai | Superwhisper | VoiceInk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speech processing | ✓local | cloud | EU cloud | local or cloud | local |
| Uncertain passages | ✓highlighted, with the original audio | not publicly documented | not publicly documented | not publicly documented | not publicly documented |
| Language choice | ✓ticked by you, 4 measured | 100+ languages | auto-detection | language per mode | model-dependent |
| Free entry | ✓13-day full trial | Free, 2,000 words a week | 14-day full trial | ongoing free tier | 14-day refund window |
| Paid price | ✓€99 once / €49 year | $15 month / $144 year | €12.99 month / €10.99 billed annually | $8.49 month / $84.99 year / $249.99 lifetime | $25 / $39 / $49 once |
| Ready Mac download | ✓yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
If you enjoy configuring Whisper yourself, open-source tools are a good choice. Witness is for people who would rather get straight to work: configured, with verification and reachable support.
Official sources, checked 1 Oct 2026: Wispr Flow · Sprecho · Superwhisper · VoiceInk07 / Pricing
Pay once. Keep using it.
Type less. Nothing leaves your Mac. And no monthly charge you eventually forget to cancel.
LifetimeRecommended
€99 final price
Pay once and keep using it.
- 2 Macs
- All version 1 updates
Annual licence
€49 final price / year
€4.08 a month, billed yearly
Use it for one year, then cancel.
- 2 Macs
- All updates during your term
13 days free, no credit card. Try it first, then decide. Purchase happens in the app after your trial. Payment methods will be confirmed before checkout.
2 years of cloud$360→Witness Lifetime€99As of August 2026
08 / FAQ
Straight answers before you install
No footnotes that quietly undo the product promise.
Does speech recognition really work offline?+
Yes. Speech recognition and text processing run on your Mac, and so does the licence check. It verifies a signature without asking anyone. You need a connection once for the speech model and once for the licence key. Audio, text, vocabulary, and other app content are never included.
Does my company need a data processing agreement?+
Not for dictation content: Witness does not transmit or process it on our behalf. Hosting, licensing, payment, and support remain separate data-processing activities. The privacy policy names each recipient, legal basis, and retention period in full.
How is it different from macOS Dictation?+
You choose which languages occur instead of leaving it to detection, plus a personal vocabulary, conservative cleanup, and clear highlighting of uncertain passages.
Why pay when open-source tools are free?+
You do not have to. They are a good choice if you enjoy configuring models yourself. What you get here is a signed, Apple-notarised package with your own language selection, verification, and support.
Which languages are supported?+
You can tick 100, singly or in any combination. English, German, Russian, and Ukrainian are measured end to end: recognition, cleanup, and every mark. The rest are recognised; marks that are calibrated per language stay off rather than guess.
Does it run on Intel Macs?+
No. Witness supports Apple silicon with macOS 14.4 or newer.
What happens after the 13-day trial?+
New dictations pause and the app shows both licence options. Settings and licence activation stay available.
Can I use one licence on two Macs?+
Yes. One licence can be activated on two personal Macs.
Should I choose lifetime or annual?+
If you dictate regularly, lifetime costs less: €99 once instead of €49 every year. Annual is the lower-commitment option.
09 / Get started
Tomorrow morning, write your first email without typing it
Download Witness, press the hotkey, and speak. The first three days after your first successful dictation ask for nothing. After them an email key adds ten more days, with no product account or credit card. The key arrives in the app straight away; the copy in your mail is only for a reinstall. Removing the app leaves no audio or transcript archive behind.
Try free on your MacApple silicon · macOS 14.4+