Does Superwhisper work offline?

Superwhisper works offline with a local model, but not with a cloud model. The home page says the app works offline, so you can transcribe anytime ¹. The catch is the default: Superwhisper uses its cloud models out of the box because they need no download or setup, and you can switch to a local model at any time ². Checked October 27, 2026.

For the whole app, see our guide to Superwhisper: price, models and privacy.

Local models run on your device and need no connection

With an on-device speech recognition model, transcription runs on your computer and audio never leaves it ³. The local Whisper models are free ⁴, and Parakeet and Cohere Transcribe need Pro ⁵. Superwhisper runs Whisper through whisper.cpp ⁶. Unlike the cloud models, a local model must be downloaded before first use, so the first setup needs a connection ².

With a cloud model, the opposite holds: audio goes to the Superwhisper proxy, is transcribed and comes back ⁷. That is cloud dictation, and it fails without internet.

Two steps decide whether a dictation stays local

Superwhisper runs two models in a row: a speech model that turns voice into text, then an optional language model that rewrites it ⁸. Both must be local for a fully offline result.

The third row surprises people. Superwhisper's own models page names an on-device Parakeet model followed by a cloud Claude Sonnet model as a common setup ¹². Your voice stays home, but your text goes to the cloud language model. Voice to Text mode skips the language model entirely and outputs raw text ¹⁰.

Is Superwhisper safe? It depends on the setup

In a local-only setup, Superwhisper says no audio or transcripts leave the device, and no business associate agreement is needed for those models ¹³. Three details apply even then:

• Recordings stay on disk. Superwhisper saves recordings on your own device, forever by default. The Keep recordings for setting can delete them after as little as one day, but saving cannot be turned off completely ¹⁴.
• Cloud promises. For cloud models, Superwhisper says audio and transcripts are not stored on its servers once the request completes ¹⁵. Its terms say it does not use your data to train AI models ¹⁶.
• Third parties. Providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, Deepgram and ElevenLabs process requests under their own terms ¹⁷.

For health data under HIPAA, Superwhisper says a customer must sign its own business associate agreement to use its cloud models ¹⁸. Confirm that agreement in writing before you rely on it. Our glossary explains zero data retention, and the guide to HIPAA-compliant dictation covers health data.

Offline support differs by platform

On Mac and Windows, local models work offline ³. On Windows ARM, Cohere Transcribe and Whisper Large v3 Turbo are not supported yet ¹⁹, so the local option is Parakeet Multilanguage. On Intel Macs, Parakeet and Cohere are unavailable and the maker recommends cloud models ²⁰, though the free Whisper models still run locally. On Android, there are no on-device models yet, so it needs a connection ¹¹. Details are in the question on Superwhisper for Windows or Android.

How to keep Superwhisper offline (macOS, October 2026)

1. In your mode's settings, choose a local voice model.
2. Use Voice to Text mode, or a custom mode with no language model.
3. In the settings, shorten Keep recordings for to one day, the shortest option ¹⁴.
4. Open a recent dictation in History and confirm nothing was sent to the AI ²¹.

Other apps are compared in which dictation apps work offline, and the question on offline versus cloud privacy explains the trade-off. Model advice is in which Superwhisper model is best.