Comparison
SR-7 is a personal recorder for iPhone, iPad, and Mac; MacWhisper is a Mac-only workbench you feed audio and video files into for transcription.
Last updated: 2026-08-28 · MacWhisper facts checked against macwhisper.com on that date.
SR-7 is a personal recorder — a dictaphone in lineage and spirit — for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It records your own voice and thoughts, transcribes and summarizes them entirely on-device, and hands you the result as a markdown file, with a local MCP server for AI tools.
MacWhisper is a Mac-only transcription workbench: you feed it audio or video files you already have, and it turns them into text with speaker labels, subtitles, and batch export options.
| Dimension | SR-7 | MacWhisper |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | One list of recordings, each already carrying a transcript and summary | A transcription queue you feed files into, with batch jobs and export options built around files you bring |
| Job | Recorder-first archive: capture your own voice, then transcribe and summarize | Transcription workbench: turn audio or video files you already have into text |
| Price | $7.99 one-time (introductory; rises later) | Free tier; Pro €64 one-time, lifetime updates (as of August 2026; no USD price shown on the official site) |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, and Mac — requires iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26 | macOS only — no iPhone or iPad app |
| Transcription location | On-device (Apple Speech framework) | On-device (Whisper, Parakeet, and other local models); optional cloud AI if you add your own API keys |
| Recording | Built-in recorder — pause/resume, live level metering, waveform | Can record meetings and microphone audio, but the core job is transcribing files you already have |
| AI summaries | Automatic, on-device title and one-sentence summary for every recording | None — MacWhisper transcribes; AI features only run if you connect your own cloud API keys |
| Output format | Markdown file with YAML front matter, auto-exported to a folder you choose | Exports .srt, .vtt, .txt, .md, .pdf, .html, or .docx per file — no ongoing archive or library |
| AI / agent access | Local MCP server, 20 tools (macOS only) | None |
| Search | Full-text across file names, AI titles, summaries, and transcripts | No library-wide search — search happens inside one file at a time |
| Sync | iCloud/CloudKit, opt-in per device | None — no library, no cross-device sync |
| Speaker labels / subtitles | No | Yes — speaker recognition and subtitle generation, plus meeting recording for Zoom, Teams, Webex, and Discord |
| Batch processing | No — one recording at a time | Yes — watched folders and workflow automations for processing many files unattended |
| Accounts / telemetry | None; App Store privacy label reads "Data Not Collected" | None documented for the core app; optional cloud AI features use your own API keys |
Open SR-7 and there's one thing to do: tap record. The screen you land on afterward is a list of recordings, each carrying its own transcript, title, and summary the moment on-device processing finishes.
Open MacWhisper and there's nothing to record yet — you drag a file in, or point it at a folder, and it queues that file for transcription. That's a deliberate, well-built interface for a different job: MacWhisper exists to process audio that already exists, not to capture new audio in the moment.
SR-7 is a dictaphone at heart — it's built to capture your own voice and thoughts on the device in your hand, then keep the result in an archive you can search later. It's not a meeting tool, and it's not built to process audio you didn't record yourself.
MacWhisper doesn't record much of anything to speak of; its job starts once a file already exists. That's precisely where it excels — best-in-class file and batch transcription, speaker recognition, subtitle generation, meeting recording for Zoom, Teams, Webex, and Discord, and watched-folder automations for processing many files without touching each one by hand. Its developer reported 250,000 downloads by mid-2024, and it's a constant presence in Mac and indie-developer circles for good reason.
SR-7 is $7.99 once, an introductory price that will rise later, covering iPhone, iPad, and Mac. MacWhisper has a free tier for basic transcription, and its Pro license is €64 one-time with lifetime updates — priced in euros only on the official site, with no US dollar figure shown, as of August 2026.
Neither price is a fair stand-in for the other, because the products aren't doing the same job: MacWhisper's Pro price buys a deeper transcription pipeline for files you already have; SR-7's price buys a recorder that lives in your pocket in the first place.
Choose MacWhisper if
Choose SR-7 if
Also see SR-7 vs Just Press Record · SR-7 vs Apple Voice Memos · SR-7 vs Otter.ai
SR-7
A native audio recorder for iPhone, iPad, and Mac with on-device transcription, AI summaries, and a built-in MCP server.
Learn more about SR-7