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How Riff compares

Riff does two jobs on a Mac. It dictates into any app, as Wispr Flow and Superwhisper do, and it writes meeting notes around yours, as Granola does.

Comparison table

Facts as of September 28, 2026, each linked to the company’s own page. Prices are in US dollars.

RiffGranolaWispr FlowSuperwhisper
PricePlus One Pro, $19.99/mo or $199/yrBusiness $14 per user a monthPro $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearlyPro $8.49 a month or $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once
Free tierNoneBasic, which shows the last 30 days of notes2,000 words a week on desktopLocal Whisper models and up to two modes
Where transcription runsOn your MacIn the cloud, through Deepgram and AssemblyAIIn the cloudOn your Mac or in the cloud, by model
Where writing runsApple’s Private Cloud Compute, or the model on your MacModels primarily from OpenAI and AnthropicCloud services, with OpenAI and Baseten among its subprocessorsSuperwhisper’s cloud by default, or S1-mini on your device
Account requiredNoYes, Google, Microsoft, or SSOYesNo, for offline use
Trains models on your dataNoAnonymized data by default on Basic and Business, with an opt-outOn by default for Free and Pro, with an opt-outNo
Dictation into any appYes, hold fnNo, dictation is for questions in Granola ChatYes, hold fnYes, Option-Space by default
Meeting notes without a botYesYesYes, Notetaker on Mac and WindowsMeeting mode, with system audio on Pro
Notes written around yoursYesYes, your notes stay in blackNo, your notes and the summary are separateNo, Meeting mode summarizes the recording
Citations to the transcriptEvery line Riff writesYes, beside each enhanced lineAsk answers name their sourcesNo
Custom vocabularyWords, replacements, and snippetsUp to 30 personal terms, for recognition onlyDictionary with correctionsVocabulary hints and replacements
App technologyNative Swift app in the App SandboxElectronElectron, with a separate helper processNative Mac app
PlatformsMac with Apple silicon and macOS 27Mac with macOS 14, Windows, iOS, and AndroidMac with macOS 12 on Apple silicon or Intel, Windows, iPhone, and AndroidMac with macOS 14, Windows, iPhone, and Android

Each company has a page of its own.

Which to pick

Pick Riff when you want dictation and meeting notes in one Mac app, with speech transcribed on your Mac and no account. Riff fits people who type sparse notes during a call and want the rest written around them, with each line tied to the transcript and the audio kept on their Mac.

Pick something else in these situations.

  • You need the app on Windows, iPhone, or Android. Granola, Wispr Flow, and Superwhisper all run there, and Riff runs only on a Mac.
  • Your Mac has an Intel processor or runs a macOS version before 27. Wispr Flow supports macOS 12 and later on Apple silicon or Intel, and Granola and Superwhisper support macOS 14 and later.
  • Your team shares notes and sends them to other tools. Granola shares notes by link and in team spaces, and integrates with Slack, Notion, Zapier, HubSpot, Attio, and Affinity.
  • You want each participant’s name in the transcript. Granola reads the names from Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Riff labels the two sides Me and Them, and you can name Them.
  • You dictate in many languages. Wispr Flow dictates in more than 100 languages and detects the language on Mac.
  • You want a free plan. Granola’s Basic plan keeps the last 30 days of notes, Wispr Flow’s free plan dictates 2,000 words a week on desktop, and Superwhisper’s free plan runs local Whisper models. Riff comes only with Plus One Pro.
  • You want a one-time purchase, your own choice of local and cloud models, or voice control of coding agents. Superwhisper sells a lifetime license for $249.99, offers local and cloud voice models, and works with Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor.