# Does Wispr Flow work offline? No, and what to use when you have no connection

Canonical page: https://flit.fyi/does-wispr-flow-work-offline

> Wispr Flow does not work offline: it says transcription always happens in the cloud. What happens with no connection, and what works without one.

[Atta 🐬](https://attacomsian.com)

Founder, Flit

October 4, 2026

The short answer

No. Wispr Flow has no offline mode. Its privacy page says "transcription always happens in the cloud", and its help page lists starting a dictation offline as a cause of failure. The audio is kept so you can retry once you are back online, for up to 14 days. To dictate with no connection on a Mac, use Apple’s built-in Dictation, which works without a connection when Keyboard settings says it is processed on your device, or Flit, a local dictation app for Mac that runs its voice models on the Mac and works with Wi-Fi off.

## What to do when you need to dictate offline

1. If a Wispr Flow dictation failed while you were offline, reconnect, open History in the app and retry it. The audio is kept for 14 days.
2. For a quick note with nothing installed, use Apple’s Dictation: System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. The text under the switch says whether it is processed on your device or needs a connection.
3. For dictation that types finished text into any app with no connection, install an app that runs its model on the Mac. Download the model while you are still online.
4. Test before you travel: turn Wi-Fi off and dictate one sentence. An app that works offline does not change when you do this.

Turning Wi-Fi off is the simplest honest test of any app that says it is local. If it still works, the speech model is on your Mac.

Whether a dictation app works offline is decided by where the speech model runs. Wispr Flow runs it on servers, so every dictation is a round trip. An app that runs the model on the Mac has nothing to wait for. The table sets the three options side by side, using each maker's own pages.

## Dictating on a Mac with no connection

| Option          | Works offline?                                                                      | What to know                                                                             |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Wispr Flow      | No. Transcription is always in the cloud                                            | A dictation started offline fails and can be retried from History for 14 days            |
| Apple Dictation | For some languages. Keyboard settings says whether yours is processed on the device | Built in and free. Types what you say, with automatic commas, periods and question marks |
| Flit            | Yes, always, once the voice model is downloaded                                     | Finished text in any app; nothing you say leaves the Mac                                 |

## What Wispr Flow does when the connection drops

Wispr Flow’s [privacy page](https://wisprflow.ai/privacy) states that transcription always happens in the cloud. Its [help page on slow and failed transcription](https://docs.wisprflow.ai/articles/4984532368-fix-taking-longer-than-usual-and-transcription-errors) lists dictating while offline among the causes, and the fix it gives is to reconnect and retry from History.

A weak connection has the same effect in a milder form: the text arrives late. The same help page suggests checking the connection, turning off a VPN or proxy, and restarting the app.

## Why some dictation apps need a server and others do not

Speech recognition is a model, and a model can run in a data centre or on your own machine. Until a few years ago only data centres were fast enough. Apple silicon changed that: a current Mac runs a speech model faster than the round trip to a server takes.

That is what [on-device processing](https://flit.fyi/glossary/on-device-processing) means. The trade is a one-time download of the model, in exchange for dictation that works anywhere and sends nothing.

## Flit works with Wi-Fi off

Flit runs the voice model and the formatting model on your Mac, so being offline changes nothing: hold a key, speak, and finished text lands at your cursor.

- Every dictation is transcribed on the Mac, online or not.
- Text lands in about 0.7 seconds, with no round trip to wait for.
- Voice models you choose, covering more than 30 languages.
- No account and no word limit.
- Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.

Good to know

- Flit uses the network for three things only: downloading a model you choose, activating a license once, and checking for updates if you allow it. [The privacy page](https://flit.fyi/privacy) lists them in full.
- Flit runs on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. There is no Windows, iPhone or Android app today; [Windows is in the works](https://flit.fyi/windows).
- The voice model is a download of about 0.5 to 2.3 GB that you choose once. After that Flit needs no connection.
- Flit holds no SOC 2, ISO 27001 or HIPAA certificate. Nothing you say reaches a server, so there is no server to certify. If your organization requires a certificate, Flit does not have one.

[Download for Mac](https://flit.fyi/download) macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon

## Questions people ask

### Does Wispr Flow have an offline mode?

No. Its privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud, and there is no setting that changes that.

### What happens if I use Wispr Flow without internet?

The dictation fails. The app keeps the audio, and you can retry it from History once you are back online, for up to 14 days.

### Does Apple Dictation work offline?

It depends on the language. Open System Settings → Keyboard and read the text under Dictation: it says whether your dictation is processed on the device or sent to Apple, in which case it needs a connection. [The Mac dictation guide](https://flit.fyi/mac-dictation-not-working) has the details.

### Is there an app like Wispr Flow that works offline?

Yes. Flit is a local dictation app for Mac that does the same job, finished text in any app while you hold a key, with the models running on the Mac. It works with Wi-Fi off. Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.

### How can I check that a dictation app is really offline?

Turn Wi-Fi off and dictate. If the text still appears, the speech model is on your Mac. For a stricter check, watch the app in a network monitor such as Little Snitch while you dictate.

## In the glossary

- [On-device processing](https://flit.fyi/glossary/on-device-processing)
- [Latency](https://flit.fyi/glossary/latency)
- [Dictation](https://flit.fyi/glossary/dictation)

## More guides

- [Wispr Flow not working](https://flit.fyi/wispr-flow-not-working)
- [Is Wispr Flow safe?](https://flit.fyi/is-wispr-flow-safe)
- [Uninstall Wispr Flow](https://flit.fyi/uninstall-wispr-flow-mac)
- [Cancel Wispr Flow](https://flit.fyi/cancel-wispr-flow-subscription)
- [Superwhisper pricing](https://flit.fyi/superwhisper-pricing)
- [Wispr Flow pricing](https://flit.fyi/wispr-flow-pricing)
- [Superwhisper not working](https://flit.fyi/superwhisper-not-working)
- [Cancel Superwhisper](https://flit.fyi/cancel-superwhisper-subscription)