Superwhisper has earned its devoted user base, especially among Mac power users. Hovor is built for people who want voice typing that works out of the box: simple defaults, a native system-wide iOS keyboard, on-device dictation included on the free tier, and formatting prompts tuned for Ukrainian.
Superwhisper is a voice-dictation app for macOS, Windows, and iOS, priced at $8.49/month, $84.99/year, or $249.99 one-time (lifetime). Its on-device speech models are a Pro-only feature — the free tier is cloud-only. Hovor structures this differently: on-device Parakeet v3/Whisper dictation ships on the free tier, Pro is $11.99/month or $89.99/year, and a $49.99 one-time Local Unlock replaces a lifetime-tier purchase.
Both apps run a similar record → transcribe → clean-up pipeline. The differences below are about what's gated behind which tier and what ships on which platform today, not about relative transcription accuracy — that isn't something either fact sheet below can verify.
Every Superwhisper figure below comes from its own pricing and docs page (checked 19 July 2026); every Hovor figure comes from its StoreKit configuration and server code. Platform availability and free-tier gating are the two rows that matter most: Superwhisper already ships on Windows, and Hovor's on-device dictation is available on its free tier where Superwhisper's is Pro-only.
| Feature | Superwhisper | Hovor |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms shipped today | macOS, Windows, iOS | iOS, macOS (Windows client in development, not yet shipped) |
| Free tier | Cloud models, usage limited (vendor's own description) | 2,000 words/week cloud, plus a separate on-device weekly quota |
| On-device dictation on Free | No — Pro-tier only, free tier is cloud-only | Yes — included; unlimited with $49.99 one-time Local Unlock |
| Voice models offered | Whisper Large cited among options; both local and cloud models offered | Parakeet v3 (on-device) + Whisper (on-device) + cloud gpt-4o-mini-transcribe |
| Pricing | $8.49/mo · $84.99/yr · $249.99 one-time lifetime | $11.99/mo · $89.99/yr · Local Unlock $49.99 one-time |
| Languages | 100+ languages and dialects claimed, incl. translation to English (vendor's own claim) | Not vendor-quantified; UI ships in 2 languages (English, Ukrainian), App Store listing spans 8 locales |
| BYOK access | Not independently verified here — check superwhisper.com directly | Included with an active Pro subscription, or a standalone $24.99 one-time BYOK Unlock (works without any subscription) |
Superwhisper's genuine, verifiable advantages today: it already ships on Windows, where Hovor's client is still in development; its $249.99 one-time lifetime tier suits users who never want a subscription; and it cites broad language coverage — 100+ languages and dialects, including translation to English, per its own docs page.
If Windows support or a single lifetime purchase matters most to you, Superwhisper is the better fit today. The rest of this page covers where Hovor differs.
Hovor's differences from Superwhisper are mostly about gating and platform, not raw accuracy: on-device dictation ships on the free tier instead of behind Pro, BYOK is available via Pro or a standalone one-time unlock instead of subscription-only, the iOS keyboard is a native system-wide extension, and formatting prompts are tuned for Ukrainian and other Slavic languages. Windows is the one area where Superwhisper is currently ahead.
Out of the box, Hovor picks a speech model based on your iPhone's RAM (Parakeet v3 at 4 GB+, Whisper at 6 GB+, otherwise cloud gpt-4o-mini-transcribe), the right cleanup model based on your platform (Apple Foundation Models on iOS/macOS 26+, or cloud gpt-4o-mini), and a tone preset based on context. All of it is customizable, but none of it requires setup before your first dictation.
Hovor's "Workflows" system lets you create per-context configurations (cleanup model, tone style, translate target, BYOK key) but it's hidden behind one tap. Most users never open it.
Hovor includes BYOK (bring your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or custom-endpoint API key) with an active Pro subscription. If you don't want a subscription, a standalone one-time BYOK Unlock ($24.99 / 999 UAH) grants it permanently instead. Hovor's BYOK supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM). Superwhisper's own BYOK terms aren't covered by the fact sheet this page is checked against — verify them directly on superwhisper.com before comparing.
Hovor's keyboard extension is system-wide: it works in Messages, Notes, Mail, Slack, Telegram, banking apps, anywhere the system keyboard works. The dictation flow is the same on iPhone as on Mac: hit the mic, talk, the formatted text lands in the field, with no mode-switching or copy-paste from a separate app.
Hovor's Mac app doesn't request Input Monitoring. Paste-to-active-app uses the Accessibility permission instead — a narrower scope that reveals only the frontmost app's bundle identifier via NSWorkspace.frontmostApplication, not keystrokes or window contents. Recorded audio is discarded the moment transcription completes; there's no setting to toggle, because there's no persistent storage in the first place. These are Hovor's own properties — this page doesn't have a verified fact sheet for Superwhisper's permission model or audio-retention policy, so it makes no claim about them.
Hovor's system prompt explicitly instructs its cleanup model to preserve the source language and reject unsolicited translation, and a custom dictionary feeds proper-noun hints into both the speech and cleanup stages. The UI ships fully localized into Ukrainian. Superwhisper's own docs cite Whisper Large among its voice models and claim support for 100+ languages and dialects; this page does not have verified data on Superwhisper's Ukrainian-specific formatting quality, so it makes no comparative claim there.
Superwhisper ships on three platforms today: macOS, Windows, and iOS. Hovor ships native apps for iOS (App Store) and macOS (signed DMG, Apple Silicon and Intel); a Windows client (Tauri/Rust + React) is in active development but has not shipped. If Windows is a requirement today, Superwhisper is ahead there. Hovor's cross-device dictionary and snippets already sync between iOS and Mac, and Windows will join that sync once it ships.
Superwhisper's headline monthly price ($8.49) undercuts Hovor's Pro plan ($11.99), and its yearly price ($84.99) undercuts Hovor's ($89.99). The gap closes, and can reverse, once you weigh in what each tier includes: Hovor's free tier ships on-device dictation that Superwhisper reserves for Pro, and Hovor's $49.99 Local Unlock is a fifth of Superwhisper's $249.99 lifetime tier for the equivalent one-time purchase.
| Superwhisper | Hovor | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Cloud models, usage limited (vendor's own description) | Permanent: 2,000 words/week cloud + on-device weekly quota |
| Monthly | $8.49 | $11.99 |
| Yearly | $84.99 (~$7.08/mo) | $89.99 (~$7.50/mo) |
| One-time unlock | $249.99 lifetime (bundles everything) | Local Unlock $49.99 · BYOK Unlock $24.99 · Bundle $69.99 |
| On-device dictation on Free | Not included — Pro only | Included, with its own weekly quota; unlimited with Local Unlock |
If you only need cloud dictation, Superwhisper's subscription pricing is cheaper. If on-device dictation without a subscription matters, Hovor's free tier plus a $49.99 one-time Local Unlock is the cheaper path to that outcome.
Not automatically. The configuration formats are different. But the concepts map: modes in Superwhisper become Workflows in Hovor, and the per-workflow model + tone + BYOK setup mirrors what you had.
Yes: global hotkey on Mac (configurable, defaults to Right Option), including modifier-only hotkeys. Four press modes are available: hold, toggle, and two hands-free modes (end-of-utterance and continuous) that require Parakeet as the active model.
Yes: Workflows can be assigned per app on Mac. Hovor uses the standard NSWorkspace.frontmostApplication API, which returns only the bundle identifier, not app contents or keystrokes, and only requires the Accessibility permission (for paste), not Input Monitoring. Hovor's Windows client, still in development, is designed around the same narrow-permission model.
Yes, on iPhone 12 Pro or newer and on Macs with Apple Silicon. On-device Parakeet v3 handles speech, and Apple Foundation Models (iOS/macOS 26+) handle cleanup, so the full pipeline runs without any cloud calls. This is available on Hovor's free tier, not gated to a paid plan.
They're different things. Hovor doesn't sell a single "buy everything forever" license. Instead there are focused one-time unlocks (family-shareable, bought on the App Store or via Monobank on hovor.app): Local Unlock ($49.99 / 1999 UAH) for unlimited offline dictation plus unlimited dictionary entries, snippets and workflows; BYOK Unlock ($24.99 / 999 UAH) to use your own OpenAI/Anthropic/custom keys forever without a subscription; and a Local + BYOK Bundle ($69.99 / 2799 UAH) that's about $5 cheaper than buying both. None of them bundle cloud STT or cloud AI cleanup beyond the free tier — that's a separate Pro plan ($11.99/month or $89.99/year). Payments go through Apple's App Store or Monobank; we don't use any other processor.
Simpler defaults, native iPhone keyboard, on-device dictation on Free. iOS and Mac today, Windows in development.
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