Wren
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Wren vs Wispr Flow

A cloud-based AI dictation app for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android that cleans up speech and adapts its tone to whatever app you're typing into.

At a glance

Platforms
macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Open source
No
Free tier
2,000 words/week on Mac and Windows, 1,000/week on iPhone, unlimited on Android.
Paid plans
Pro: $15/month billed monthly, or $12/month billed annually. Growth/Enterprise tiers start at $23/month (or $18/month annual) and add SSO, HIPAA controls, and admin tooling.

What Wispr Flow is good at

Wispr Flow is one of the better-known AI dictation apps right now, and it earns that reputation. It strips filler words, catches and fixes self-corrections as you talk, and shifts tone depending on where you're typing: more casual in Slack, more buttoned-up in an email. It covers 100+ languages and runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android, with dedicated mobile apps that go further than most desktop-first dictation tools. If you want a polished, cloud-backed dictation assistant that works across your devices, it's a reasonable pick.

How Wren is different

  • Wren transcribes offline by default with a local embedded engine, so audio never leaves the device unless you turn on a cloud provider yourself. Wispr Flow always streams audio to its own servers; its own privacy documentation confirms transcription happens in the cloud, with no on-device mode.
  • Wren is open source under the MIT license, so anyone can read the code, audit it, or fork it. Wispr Flow's client and backend are both closed source.
  • Wren's offline path costs nothing and doesn't need an account. Wispr Flow's free tier runs out at 2,000 words a week on desktop, after which Pro is $15/month ($12/month if you pay annually).
  • Wren's settings UI ships with real localization (English and Portuguese today, via proper i18n), not just multilingual transcription. Wispr Flow transcribes 100+ languages, but the app itself is English-only.
  • Wispr Flow has native iOS and Android apps, which Wren doesn't. Wren is a desktop app: Linux and Windows builds are on the download page today, and an early Apple Silicon macOS build is available from GitHub Releases.

Questions, answered

Is Wispr Flow free?

There's a free tier, but it's capped: 2,000 words a week on Mac and Windows, 1,000 on iPhone, and unlimited on Android. Once you hit the desktop or iPhone cap, you need Pro at $15/month (or $12/month billed annually) to keep dictating without limits.

Does Wispr Flow work offline?

No. Wispr Flow's own documentation states that audio streams to its servers and transcription happens in the cloud, processed in memory and discarded after each request. There's no local transcription mode, so it needs an internet connection to work.

Is Wispr Flow open source?

No, Wispr Flow is closed source. Wren is MIT-licensed and open source, so its full codebase is on GitHub.

What's the real difference between Wren and Wispr Flow?

The core trade-off is where your audio goes and what it costs. Wren processes speech locally by default and is free with no account needed; Wispr Flow processes speech in the cloud and moves you to a paid plan once you're dictating more than a couple thousand words a week. Wispr Flow has the edge on mobile: it has real iOS and Android apps, and Wren doesn't yet.

Does Wispr Flow have a Linux version?

No, Wispr Flow supports Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android only. Wren currently ships on Linux and Windows, with an early macOS build available on GitHub Releases.

Sources

Pricing and features last checked 2026-09-09. Details change — verify against the source before relying on them.

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