Wavenote as a Voice Type alternative
An on-device dictation app from carelesswhisper.app, sold on the Mac App Store as Voice Type. Whisper-derived models from 27 MB up to 550 MB, and one of the few product pages ranking in the top 5 for the head Mac dictation terms.
What Voice Type does better
Voice Type runs on Intel Macs as well as Apple Silicon, and Wavenote never will: Wavenote is arm64 only. It also ships fully sandboxed through the Mac App Store, lets you pick a model size against how long you are willing to wait, and handles over 100 languages against Wavenote's 22. On a 2019 MacBook Pro the comparison ends right here.
Where Wavenote is different
- AI rewriting goes through a proxy that stores nothing, so there is no API key to supply for it.
- File transcription with SRT and VTT export is in the $4.90 app.
- The app bundle is 10.9 MB, with no bundled helper, no login item you did not ask for and nothing in the Dock.
Side by side
| Wavenote | Voice Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Macs | No | Yes |
| Choose model size | No | Yes, 27 MB to 550 MB |
| Languages | 22 | 100+ |
| AI rewriting | Included, no API key | Bring your own key |
Voice Type pricing: $19.99 once on the Mac App Store, after a 7-day trial. Checked against carelesswhisper.app on 7 August 2026.
Want more detail? The full Voice Type review works through it feature by feature.