When should I choose Glimpse over Willow Voice?

Choose Glimpse if: Every model is free for dictation. Willow Free uses its smaller Frontier Mini model, and Frontier Pro takes a subscription. Transcription runs on your computer by default, so it works offline and your audio isn't uploaded. No subscription. The extras are $25 once, and Willow Pro is $144 a year. Open source under AGPL-3.0, so you can check what happens to your audio yourself. Record meetings with speaker labels and transcribe audio and video files, all on your computer.

When should I choose Willow Voice over Glimpse?

Choose Willow Voice if: You want fillers, punctuation and formatting handled for you, with no setup. You want an iPhone app as well as the desktop one. You switch languages a lot. Willow says it handles over 100 and follows you between them. Your team needs SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, enforced zero data retention or SSO on a business plan.

Glimpse vs Willow Voice

Willow Voice is cloud dictation that formats your words as you speak, on Mac, Windows and iPhone. Glimpse transcribes on your own computer, works offline, and every model is free for dictation with no word limit. AI cleanup is there too, with a model you choose.

Last updated October 5, 2026

The short answer

Pick Willow Voice if

You want fillers, punctuation and formatting handled for you, with no setup.
You want an iPhone app as well as the desktop one.
You switch languages a lot. Willow says it handles over 100 and follows you between them.
Your team needs SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, enforced zero data retention or SSO on a business plan.

Pick Glimpse if

Every model is free for dictation. Willow Free uses its smaller Frontier Mini model, and Frontier Pro takes a subscription.
Transcription runs on your computer by default, so it works offline and your audio isn't uploaded.
No subscription. The extras are $25 once, and Willow Pro is $144 a year.
Open source under AGPL-3.0, so you can check what happens to your audio yourself.
Record meetings with speaker labels and transcribe audio and video files, all on your computer.

Side by side

Feature	Glimpse	Willow Voice
Price	Free dictationFrom $25 one-time	Free + Pro$12/mo billed yearly, $15 monthly
Free plan	Unlimitedevery model	UnlimitedFrontier Mini model, 20 Scribe uses a week
Where transcription runs	On your computercloud optional, your own key	In the cloudaudio not stored after transcription
Works offline	Yes	Offline moderuns on your device
Open source	Yes, AGPL-3.0audit it on GitHub	No
macOS	Yes	Yes
Windows	Yes	Yes
iOS	No	Yes
Android	No	Nocoming soon
AI cleanup	Yes, bring your own LLMlocal or cloud, with a license	Built infillers, punctuation, formatting
Adapts to your style	Personalizationper app, with a license	Yeslearns your writing over time
Custom dictionary	Yesplus Auto Dictionary	Yesauto-learning
Meeting recording	Recording Modeon-device speaker labels, with a license	Nonot documented
Audio / video file import	Yeswith a license	Nonot documented
CLI and Raycast	Yesplus a local API, with a license	Nonot documented
Team plan	Business$48 per seat per year	Business$28/mo billed yearly, SOC 2, HIPAA

In detail

On your computer vs. in their cloud

Willow transcribes on cloud servers in the United States. Its security page says no audio is stored after transcription, Privacy Mode is on by default, and your voice and text aren't used to train models without your consent. It also has an offline mode that runs on your device. Glimpse starts from the other side: transcription runs on your Mac or PC with a local model, and nothing is uploaded unless you add a cloud provider yourself, with your own key.

The best model, free

Willow Free is unlimited, but on Frontier Mini, which Willow's own pricing page calls its weaker model, with 20 Scribe uses a week. Frontier Pro, unlimited Scribe and longer dictations come with Pro, at $12 a month billed yearly or $15 month to month. Business, at $28 to $35 a month, adds enforced zero data retention, SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA. Glimpse dictation is free with no word limit on every model, including the large ones. A license for the extras is $25 once for 1 device or $39 for up to 3, with a 14-day trial.

Where Willow is ahead

Willow removes filler words, fixes punctuation and formats your text without being asked, and it learns how you write over time. Scribe turns a rough spoken draft into polished writing. With Context Awareness turned on, it reads a little of the text around your cursor to get names right. There's an iPhone app too. Glimpse gives you plain, accurate dictation for free. With a license, AI Cleanup and per-app Personalization polish your text with a model you pick: Apple Intelligence, Ollama or LM Studio on your own machine, or a cloud provider with your key.

More than dictation

Glimpse also records meetings with no bot in the call, labels speakers on your computer with NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Diarization, and transcribes audio and video files in the Library. Developers get a local OpenAI-compatible API, a CLI and a Raycast extension. Willow focuses on dictation and writing, on desktop and iPhone.

Sources checked

Comparison copy was checked against these public sources on October 5, 2026.