Two Mac dictation apps that keep your voice on the machine by default. VoiceInk is open source with a one-time price and a lot of modes. Rambleproof has a permanent free plan and puts its effort into cleanup that does not change what you meant.

By Moe Lueker, founder of Rambleproof. Facts checked 7 October 2026. We make Rambleproof, so read this as an editorial comparison with a stake in the outcome, not a neutral review.

The short version

Choose VoiceInk if you want to read the source code, pay once and never think about a plan again, or if you like setting up different behavior for different apps. Choose Rambleproof if you want to start free, hold one key and talk, and have the cleaned text checked against your words before it lands at the cursor.

Both are native Mac apps that transcribe on the device with local models, and both work in whatever app you are typing in. The differences are in the license, the price and what happens to your sentence after it is transcribed.

What VoiceInk publishes

VoiceInk's source code is on GitHub under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Its README lists local transcription through whisper.cpp and Parakeet models, modes that switch settings by the app or URL you are in, a context-aware option that reads your screen content, a personal dictionary with text replacements, configurable keyboard or mouse shortcuts, and a built-in voice assistant. Its site also shows an enhancement step that removes filler words, formats lists and emails, and rewrites selected text on a spoken instruction.

VoiceInk's site lists one-time prices of $25 for one Mac, $39 for two and $49 for three, with a 14-day money-back guarantee, and the app comes with a free trial. The site says it works only on Apple Silicon Macs. Its installation guide and README ask for macOS 15 or later, while the home page still says macOS 14.4, so check before you buy for an older system. You can also build it yourself from source; the README says the paid build adds automatic updates and priority support.

What Rambleproof does

Rambleproof is push-to-talk dictation and nothing else. Hold the shortcut, speak, release, and the text is pasted where your cursor is. Transcription runs on the Mac with Parakeet on the Neural Engine, and cleanup runs on the Mac too. Cleanup removes fillers, false starts and the corrections you made out loud. It then checks that numbers and negations from your speech are still in the result, and falls back to a simpler cleanup when they are not. Cloud models are optional, a Pro feature, and use your own API key.

Unlimited raw local dictation forever, with 15,000 AI-cleaned words each week at Light or Medium, then basic cleanup (fillers and punctuation, no AI rewrite) until Monday. Pro is $8 a month billed yearly or $12 monthly, and Lifetime is $200. A new install is activated once with an account or license key and works offline after that. It needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later. Rambleproof is not open source.

Side by side

	VoiceInk	Rambleproof (ours)
Price	$25, $39 or $49 once, by number of Macs; free trial	Free plan; Pro $8 a month billed yearly; Lifetime $200
Source code	Open, GPL v3	Closed
Where speech is transcribed	On the Mac; optional cloud	On the Mac; optional cloud with your own key on Pro
Cleanup	AI enhancement and per-app modes	Local cleanup, checked against what you said
Requirements	Apple Silicon; macOS 15 per its guide	Apple silicon; macOS 15 or later

Where VoiceInk is the better choice

You want code you can read and build. No privacy page is as strong as source you can inspect.
You want to pay once and little. $25 for one Mac is far below Rambleproof Lifetime.
You want modes: different prompts and settings per app, rewriting selected text by voice, or an assistant you can talk to.

Where Rambleproof is the better choice

You want to use it for free for as long as you like, with cleanup included, before deciding whether to pay.
You dictate things where a changed number or a dropped “not” matters, and you want the app to refuse a cleanup that altered them.
You want one behavior everywhere and nothing to configure: one shortcut, one dictionary, the same result in every app.

Try both on your own work

VoiceInk has a free trial and Rambleproof has a free plan, so the honest test costs nothing. Use the same five sentences in both, including one with a number, one with a name and one where you correct yourself halfway. Our guide to testing a Mac dictation app has a scorecard for exactly that.

VoiceInk vs Rambleproof