Pepys Dictate and Voibe
A Voibe alternative for Mac: $9.99, paid once
Voibe covers Mac and Windows, adds meeting notes in its Work plan, and lets you choose on-device or zero-retention cloud. Pepys Dictate is a narrower Mac app at a lower one-time price.
Is Pepys Dictate a good Voibe alternative?
Choose Voibe if you need Windows, meeting notes, or a choice between on-device and zero-retention cloud processing. Choose Pepys Dictate if you use only a Mac with Apple silicon, want recognition and formatting kept on it by default, and prefer a one-time $9.99 price.
Voibe sells Voibe Dictation and Voibe Work. Dictation is a per-seat subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Work adds bot-free meeting notes. On an Apple silicon Mac you pick on-device transcription or zero-retention cloud, while Intel Macs and Windows use cloud mode only. Its optional AI formatting step uses the cloud even when transcription is on-device.
Pepys Dictate does one job: dictation on a Mac. It needs Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later, and speech recognition and formatting both run on the Mac. Pro is $9.99 once for up to 3 Macs. Voibe's prices change, so check its pricing page before you buy.
Pepys Dictate and Voibe, side by side
Voibe facts come from its own pages, read on October 5, 2026. Where something is not publicly stated, the cell is a dash.
| Feature | Pepys Dictate | Voibe |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start | Free plan: 2,000 words a week, then one free dictation a day until Monday. Every install starts with a 7-day trial of everything. | No permanent free tier stated. A 7-day free trial on Mac or Windows, no credit card, with unlimited dictation during the trial. |
| Paid price | Pro: $9.99 once, plus tax where applicable, unlimited words, up to 3 Macs. | Per its pricing page, Dictation is $7.50 per seat/month, $75 per seat/year or $149 per seat once. Work is $14, $140 or $349. The monthly prices are shown discounted from $9.90 and $18.50, with no end date given. Prices change. |
| Where speech recognition runs | On the Mac. No cloud transcription, and by default audio and text are not uploaded, unless you turn on the optional AI-provider setting. | On Apple silicon Macs you choose on-device or zero-retention cloud. Intel Macs and Windows are cloud only. |
| AI text formatting | Formatting runs on the Mac too, with our own small model, so no text leaves the Mac by default. | An optional AI formatting step sends the finished text, not audio, to a cloud model even when transcription is on-device. Turn it off for fully local dictation. Its pages differ on whether it is on by default. |
| Works offline | Yes. It goes online only to download its models once, activate a licence key and check for updates. | Yes on Apple silicon Macs in on-device mode with AI formatting off. Cloud mode, Windows and Intel Macs need internet. |
| Platforms | Mac only. No Windows, iPhone, iPad or Android. | Mac and Windows (64-bit Windows 10/11). No iPhone or Android app. |
| System requirements | Apple silicon Mac, macOS 13 or later. | Per its system requirements page: macOS 14.4 Sonoma or later on Intel or Apple silicon, and Windows 10 or 11. |
| Languages | 25 (English and 24 other European languages). Smart formatting in English, German, French and Spanish. | Count not stated. Named: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Polish and Russian. Windows has no manual language selection yet. |
| Text cleanup | Spoken corrections, lists, numbers and filler removal, done by our own small formatting model on the Mac. | Automatic punctuation and capitalisation, filler-word removal, number, date and URL formatting, smart lists and spoken commands. Stated not to paraphrase. |
| Customization | Personal dictionary (10 words free, unlimited on Pro), per-app styles, polished mode and tones, searchable history. | Memory (spoken shortcuts that expand into saved text), a custom vocabulary dictionary, spoken punctuation and Developer Mode. Per-app behavior: not covered on the pages we read. |
| Meeting notes | None. No meeting recording and no file transcription. | Voibe Work adds bot-free meeting notes with transcripts, AI summaries, chat with meetings and PDF export. Mac today, Windows coming soon. |
| Team and compliance | No team, admin, SSO or compliance features. | Per-seat plans, self-serve up to 10 seats. Enterprise adds team admin, central billing and a BAA on request. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001, per its security page. |
Where Pepys Dictate is different
Processing on the Mac by default
Voibe lets you pick between on-device and zero-retention remote processing on Apple silicon, and its optional AI formatting step uses a remote model when enabled, though its pages differ on the default. By default, Dictate runs recognition and formatting on the Mac with no cloud transcription, and an optional setting can send a transcript to an AI provider you configure.
One paid tier
Dictate has a single paid tier: Pro, $9.99 once, for up to 3 Macs. Voibe splits Dictation and Work, each priced per seat by month, year or one-time purchase, so the price depends on the plan and seat count you pick.
Older Macs
Voibe's system requirements page lists Sonoma 14.4 as its minimum. Dictate runs on Ventura (macOS 13) and later, so a Mac stuck on Ventura or an early Sonoma release can still run it, as long as it has Apple silicon.
Spoken corrections
Dictate's formatting model is trained for dictation habits. “Friday, no wait, Monday” becomes “Monday”, “delete that” removes the last thing, and spoken numbers become digits.
Where Voibe is the better choice
Meeting notes
Voibe Work records meetings with no bot in the call and produces transcripts, AI summaries with templates, chat with meetings and PDF export. Its 7-day trial includes every Work feature. Dictate has no meeting features.
Windows and a choice of processing
Voibe runs on Windows 10 and 11, and its FAQ says one seat covers one active Mac plus a Windows PC. On Apple silicon you can choose fully on-device, offline dictation or zero-retention cloud, and Voibe documents the trade-offs. Intel Macs work in cloud mode. Dictate is Mac only.
Detailed cleanup and developer tools
Voibe's cleanup covers filler removal, automatic punctuation, numbers, dates and URLs, smart lists and spoken commands, and it is stated not to paraphrase. Developer Mode resolves file and folder names in Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf, and a separate MCP server is listed on its help pages.
Team plans, paperwork and refunds
Enterprise plans add team admin, central billing and a BAA on request. Every Voibe plan has a 30-day refund guarantee by emailing support.
Choose Pepys Dictate if
- You use only a Mac with Apple silicon and want recognition and formatting kept on it by default.
- You'd like a $9.99 one-time Pro that covers up to 3 Macs, not a per-seat price.
- Your Mac runs Ventura (macOS 13) or an early Sonoma release, below the Sonoma 14.4 minimum on Voibe's system requirements page.
- You want to try spoken corrections and per-app styles free for 7 days, with 2,000 free words a week after.
Choose Voibe if
- You need bot-free meeting notes with AI summaries, which Voibe Work adds on top of dictation.
- Windows is in the mix, and you want one seat to cover a Mac plus a Windows PC.
- On Apple silicon you want to pick between on-device and zero-retention cloud processing.
- A team of up to 10 seats, a BAA on request or a 30-day refund guarantee matters to you.
Common questions about Voibe and Pepys Dictate
Is Pepys Dictate a good Voibe alternative?
Choose Voibe if you need Windows, meeting notes, or a choice between on-device and zero-retention cloud processing. Choose Pepys Dictate if you use only a Mac with Apple silicon, want recognition and formatting kept on it by default, and prefer a one-time $9.99 price.
How much does Voibe cost?
Per its pricing page, Voibe Dictation is $7.50 per seat/month, $75 per seat/year or $149 per seat once. Voibe Work, which adds meeting notes, is $14 per seat/month, $140 per seat/year or $349 per seat once. The monthly prices are shown discounted from $9.90 and $18.50, with no end date given. Voibe's prices have changed over time, so check the pricing page before you buy.
Is there a free Voibe plan?
No permanent free tier is stated. Voibe offers a 7-day free trial on Mac or Windows, with no credit card and unlimited dictation, and the trial includes every Voibe Work feature. Pepys Dictate has a free plan of 2,000 words a week and a separate 7-day trial of its paid features.
Does Voibe work offline, and where does my audio go?
On Apple silicon Macs, fully on-device dictation works offline. Intel Macs and Windows run in zero-retention cloud mode. Its optional AI formatting step sends finished text, not audio, to a cloud model even when transcription is on-device, and its pages differ on whether that step is on by default. Voibe's homepage says audio is never stored, sold or used to train AI.
Does Voibe work on Windows and Intel Macs?
Yes. Per its system requirements page, Voibe supports Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) and macOS 14.4 or later on Intel or Apple silicon. Windows and Intel Macs use cloud mode only, and Windows has no manual language selection yet. Pepys Dictate is Mac only and needs Apple silicon.
Does Voibe offer refunds?
Per its pricing page, Voibe has a no-questions-asked 30-day refund guarantee on every plan. You request it by emailing support.
Is Pepys Dictate cheaper than Voibe?
One-time against one-time, yes: Dictate Pro is $9.99 once, plus tax where applicable, for up to 3 Macs, and Voibe's one-time Dictation price on its pricing page is $149 per seat. Voibe's subscriptions start at $7.50 per seat/month. They are not the same product: Voibe adds Windows, Live Dictation and a Work plan with meeting notes, which Dictate does not list.
Where these facts came from
- Voibe pricing (read October 5, 2026)
- Voibe system requirements (read October 5, 2026)
- Voibe smart formatting (read October 5, 2026)
- Voibe free trial (read October 5, 2026)
- Voibe FAQ (read October 5, 2026)
- Voibe security (read October 5, 2026)
- Voibe help center (read October 5, 2026)
Products change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
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Try Pepys Dictate on your Mac
Free for 2,000 words a week, or $9.99 once, plus tax where applicable, for unlimited use on up to 3 Macs. Speech recognition and formatting run on your Mac.
Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later. More about Pepys Dictate