On your device versus the cloud.
Wispr Flow is a polished subscription for people whose writing can go to a server. Zumbo is a one time purchase for people whose writing cannot.
| Feature | Zumbo | Wispr Flow |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | One time purchase | Free weekly allowance, then a subscription |
| One time price | $15 for one Mac, $20 for three, $79 for ten | - |
| Subscription price | None | $15 a month, $23 a month for teams |
| Free tier | 3 day trial, everything unlocked | 2,000 words a week |
| Runs offline | Yes | - |
| Engine on device | Yes, inside the app | - |
| Where your voice goes | Nowhere, it stays on the Mac | - |
| Custom vocabulary | 21 packs, plus your own words | Custom dictionary |
| Learns from corrections | Yes, Teach a word once | - |
| Notes in the app | Yes, searchable, with reminders | Notetaker |
| Meeting mode | Yes, live, on the Mac | Notetaker |
| Speaker labels | Yes | Notetaker, labels not stated |
| Lives in the notch | Yes | No |
| Account required | No, ever | Account required |
| Languages | 25 European languages, English first | - |
| macOS minimum | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon | - |
| Download size | About 570 MB | - |
Read off wisprflow.ai/pricing on 21 September 2026. A dash means the vendor does not state it on its own public pages, not that the answer is no.
Price model
This is the whole argument in one line. Zumbo is bought once and keeps working. Wispr Flow gives you two thousand words a week for nothing and charges monthly above that, which is the right model for a service that does the work on its own servers and the wrong one for software that runs on your machine.
One time price
There is no one time price for Wispr Flow on the pages checked. If you write every day, the first month of a subscription costs about what Zumbo costs forever.
Subscription price
Pro is fifteen dollars per user per month, twelve on the annual plan, and Growth is twenty three. Those are their published figures. Zumbo has no monthly option at all.
Free tier
Two thousand words a week is roughly four decent emails a day. When you reach it you wait for the week to turn or you pay. Zumbo's trial is the opposite shape: everything for three days with no card, then one payment.
Runs offline
Wispr Flow does not state offline use on its own pages, which is what you would expect from a service that transcribes on a server. Zumbo works with the router unplugged, because there is no network in the path.
Engine on device
Zumbo ships the speech engine inside the download, which is why the download is about 570 MB and why the text appears in about a fifth of a second with no round trip. Wispr Flow does not state an on device engine on the pages checked.
Where your voice goes
This is the decision underneath all the others. If the audio is processed on a server, someone other than you is holding it, however briefly and however well meant the policy. Zumbo has no server for your voice, no account and no API key, so there is nothing to retain and nothing to read a retention policy about.
Custom vocabulary
Wispr Flow states a custom dictionary, personal and shared. Zumbo starts you with twenty one packs for fields like developer tools, legal, medical, design and marketing, chosen by what you say you dictate most, and your own words go on top.
Learns from corrections
Select the word that came out wrong, type what you meant, press Teach. It is heard your way from then on and the correction never leaves the Mac. Wispr Flow does not state this on the pages checked.
Notes in the app
Both keep something. Zumbo's notes never get pasted anywhere: press New note and talk, and if you say a time it becomes a reminder, so remind me to call Dana tomorrow at ten sets one for tomorrow at ten.
Meeting mode
Zumbo transcribes the room through the microphone while the meeting happens, a timestamp for each paragraph, nothing uploaded. On a call, use the speakers rather than headphones and the other side is in the notes too.
Speaker labels
Zumbo labels each speaker. The labelling model is an optional add on of about 220 MB, downloaded once; everything else is already in the app. Wispr Flow's pages describe a notetaker but do not state speaker labels, so that is a dash.
Lives in the notch
Zumbo's interface is the notch. It expands for history, settings and the Teach form and retracts again, so it is present without taking a window or a Dock slot.
Account required
A subscription needs an account, and an account needs an identity attached to your dictation. Zumbo has neither: a licence key activates the app and that is the end of it.
Languages
You pick your main language during setup and Zumbo then writes only in that alphabet, which stops the mid sentence script switching that makes multilingual dictation unusable.
macOS minimum
Zumbo needs Apple silicon because the engine runs on the Neural Engine. A cloud service has looser hardware requirements, which is a genuine advantage if you are on an older Mac.
Download size
The size is the engine. A small dictation download nearly always means the work is happening somewhere else, which is the trade you are choosing between on this page.
Who should pick which
Pick Wispr Flow if you are on an older Mac that Zumbo will not run on, if you want the free weekly allowance and never expect to pass it, or if you work somewhere that already sends everything to the cloud and you want the most polished writing experience of the two.
- Speech engine inside the app
- 570 MB, downloaded once
- Works with the Wi-Fi off
- No account, no API key
- Unplug the internet and it works exactly the same.
Pick Zumbo if you would rather pay once than monthly, if you need dictation on a plane or on a client network, if the words you dictate are covered by an obligation to somebody else, or if you want the app to learn your field's language instead of you typing a dictionary.
The honest version: this is not a feature fight, it is a decision about where your voice is allowed to go. Everything else on the page follows from that.
Related: all six Mac dictation apps side by side, how Zumbo keeps your voice on your Mac, and dictation with the Wi-Fi off.
Is Wispr Flow free?
There is a free tier capped at two thousand words a week. Above that it is fifteen dollars a month for Pro, twelve on the annual plan, or twenty three for teams, from their pricing page checked on 21 September 2026.
Does Wispr Flow work offline?
Its own pages do not state offline use. Zumbo does work offline, because the speech engine is inside the app rather than on a server.
What happens to my voice with each?
Zumbo never sends it anywhere: there is no account, no API key and no network request needed to transcribe. Where Wispr Flow processes audio is not stated on the pages checked, so this page does not claim either way.
Which is better if I write all day?
If your writing can leave your machine and you want the polish of a mature cloud product, Wispr Flow is genuinely good. If it cannot, or you would rather pay once, Zumbo is the one that keeps working with the network off.
Do I need to learn a shortcut?
You choose your own in Settings and change it whenever you like. One key starts and stops dictation.
Free for 3 days, everything unlocked. Then $15 once. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon.