Kana as a MacWhisper alternative
A well-liked, file-first transcription app for Mac, running Whisper and now Parakeet. It is the tool people reach for when they have a recording and want a transcript out of it.
What MacWhisper does better
MacWhisper is better at the job it was built for, and the gap is not small. It does speaker diarization, batch work, a real transcript editor with playback sync, and subtitle timing you can correct by hand. Kana exports SRT and VTT and stops there. It also records meetings bot-free from system audio, runs Parakeet or Whisper as you prefer, and its free tier already covers file transcription and system-wide dictation. For editing an interview, MacWhisper is the right tool and Kana is not.
Where Kana is different
- Kana is push-to-talk first and does nothing else, so the whole app is one shortcut rather than a window you open.
- One payment covers rewriting on three Macs rather than a per-machine licence.
- File transcription is unlimited, with no Pro gate on export formats or batch size.
Side by side
| Kana | MacWhisper | |
|---|---|---|
| Transcript editor | No | Yes |
| Speaker labels | No | Yes |
| Records meetings | No | Yes, Pro |
| Cost to transcribe files | Included, unlimited | Free basic, Pro to edit |
MacWhisper pricing: Free tier, then €64 once for Pro, or a Mac App Store subscription.