Does Wispr Flow work offline?

No, Wispr Flow does not work offline. Wispr's help center says an internet connection is required for transcription ¹, and its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud ². There is no local mode on the free plan or any paid plan, and the same is true on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. This answer was checked on Wispr's own pages on October 27, 2026.

For the rest of the app, see our guide to Wispr Flow: price, privacy and what users say.

Wispr Flow does not run locally, because the work is done on its servers

Wispr Flow is a cloud dictation app. When you hold the shortcut, audio is captured on your device and sent to Wispr over an encrypted connection (TLS 1.2 or later) ³. A speech model and an AI editing step then run in the cloud, and the finished text comes back. On the desktop, the text is inserted after you stop speaking, not word by word ⁴. The cleanup that removes filler words and adds punctuation ⁵ runs in the same cloud pipeline. Wispr's providers also process content outside Wispr's own servers ⁶.

So the question "does it run locally" has the same answer: no. Your computer records the audio and pastes the result, nothing more. That also explains why it asks for little of your hardware (8 GB of memory is recommended on desktop ⁷) compared with local models, which need real processing power.

Without a connection, dictation simply does not happen

If your connection drops, Flow cannot transcribe. We found no documented offline queue or local fallback, so assume none. The practical effects:

• On a plane or train with no Wi-Fi, you cannot dictate.
• On locked-down networks such as some hospitals, firms or government sites, a firewall that blocks Wispr's servers has the same effect as no internet.
• On a weak connection, expect delay, because audio has to travel before text can return.

The last-transcript shortcut (Ctrl + Cmd + V on Mac, Alt + Shift + Z on Windows) recovers text Flow already heard, but it does not transcribe anything new ⁸.

The offline need is mostly about privacy, speed and reliability

People ask about offline mode for three reasons: no signal, privacy, and latency. Only the first is solved by a local app being "offline". The second is a bigger difference: with on-device recognition, audio never leaves your machine. Our question on whether offline speech recognition is more private than cloud walks through it. Wispr's data settings, covered in whether Wispr Flow is safe, let you reduce what it keeps, but they cannot stop the audio being sent.

Local alternatives exist on every major platform

Several apps transcribe on your own device. Details change, so check each maker's page before you buy.

Two notes. First, local models usually skip the AI rewriting that Wispr Flow is known for, so you may get raw transcription with fewer cleanups; the free Superwhisper plan above is an example. Second, Windows' built-in voice typing is online, so it is not an offline substitute. For Windows, see our guide to offline speech to text on Windows and the question on whether Windows voice typing works offline. Mac and iPhone readers can check whether Apple Dictation works offline.

Yap, which we make, is an on-device dictation app for Mac and Windows, covered on our offline dictation for Mac page and in the Wispr Flow alternative comparison. A fair summary: if you are always online and want the best cleanup, Wispr Flow is a reasonable choice. If you are not, or you cannot send audio out, pick a local app.

It depends on your reason for wanting offline

• Occasional travel. Dictate into a local tool or the phone's built-in dictation on the plane, then use Wispr Flow online.
• Privacy or compliance. Choose on-device speech recognition. See which dictation apps work offline for a longer list.
• Windows or Android. Check the platform first, because several local tools are Mac-only. See whether Wispr Flow works on Windows, Android and Linux.
• Cost. Local apps can be free, while Wispr's Pro tier is paid; see whether Wispr Flow is free.

What to do

1. Decide if you really need offline. If you only need privacy, review the settings in the safety answer first.
2. Test any local app by turning on airplane mode and dictating a sentence. If it works, it is local.
3. Keep Wispr Flow for connected work if you like its cleanup, and use a local app as a backup.