# Whisper Notes vs basalt

The clearest difference is price: basalt at Free against Whisper Notes's $7.99. Whisper Notes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#8 vs unranked). On update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

basalt is free to download; Whisper Notes costs $7.99 up front. basalt sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whisper Notes asks for nothing beyond the download.

Whisper Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, basalt every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and December 2, 2025 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Whisper Notes | basalt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $7.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.7 (618 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/whisper-notes-speech-to-text/id6447090616/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **618** | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.3% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | **#8** | — |
| Size | 508 MB | 20 MB |
| Requires iOS | **18.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [SmashMelon LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1895995887) | [Igor Diachuk](https://appshunter.io/developer/1846996492) |

## What reviewers say

### Whisper Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/whisper-notes-speech-to-text/id6447090616)

**Currently charting:** #8 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

This app provides accurate, on-device transcription of audio and video files in over 100 languages. It offers a secure, offline experience with no subscriptions or cloud uploads. Easily record or import files and export transcripts with timestamps.

**Highlights:** 100% offline transcription, Record voice or import audio/video, Supports 100+ languages, Export transcripts with timestamps, Lock screen widget for quick capture, Secure, on-device data storage

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and accurate transcription
- 🔒 Offline, private processing
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 💡 Affordable one-time purchase
- 🚀 Impressive speech recognition accuracy

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes or freezes with longer recordings
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance on older devices
- 🐛 Transcription errors or missing punctuation
- 🐛 Inability to edit transcribed text
- 🐛 Lack of batch export/import functionality

**Reported bugs**

- Recordings disappearing after transcription
- Transcription process getting stuck at 1%
- Crashes on certain iOS/iPadOS versions
- Inability to import audio files consistently

**Requested features**

- Add support for speaker diarization
- Implement real-time transcription mode
- Allow customization of hotkey/shortcut
- Improve integration with Apple Shortcuts
- Provide option to choose transcription model size


### basalt

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/basalt/id6754186830)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Basalt Weekly | $0.99 | per 7 days |
| Basalt Yearly | $12.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Whisper Notes free?

Whisper Notes costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is basalt free?

basalt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Whisper Notes or basalt have ads?

Neither Whisper Notes nor basalt shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Whisper Notes or basalt?

Whisper Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, and basalt every 10 days. Most recently, Whisper Notes was updated on September 22, 2026 and basalt on December 2, 2025.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*