Vimpo vs MacWhisper: a transcript, or a film to watch

Vimpo and MacWhisper both run Whisper on your Mac, so they get compared a lot. Neither uploads anything, both tell speakers apart, both export SRT, and both take a YouTube link.

What you end up with is different. Here is the same interview at the same minute; switch between the two:

In VimpoIn MacWhisper

Same video, same minute

Andrej Karpathy — We’re summoning ghosts, not building animals

¿Qué crees que va a tardar una década en lograrse?

What do you think will take a decade to accomplish?

1:46 / 2:26:08Both

Vimpo gives you a film to watch

It starts from a link. Vimpo downloads the video from YouTube, Bilibili or any of a thousand other sites, keeps it in your library, transcribes it if it has no subtitles, then translates. You watch with your language on top and the original underneath, and click any line in the transcript to jump there.

Translation that has seen the whole video

Every batch goes out with the title and the whole transcript, so misheard names don't get translated as heard and terms stay the same from scene to scene. Same video, same model, with that off and on:

Clips, with the subtitles burned in

Pick lines in Studio (⌘2), press ⌘B, and that's a clip. AI can suggest the parts that stand on their own. Export them all with subtitles in the picture:

1. 01

   Pick lines in the transcript

   Click a line, then Shift-click another.

2. 02

   Press ⌘B to make a clip

   Trim it on the timeline; its edges snap to the lines.

3. 03

   Let AI find highlights

   Your own model reads the subtitles and picks moments that stand on their own.

4. 04

   Style the subtitles

   Outline, box or large type, in one language or two.

5. 05

   Export

   Subtitles burned in, or FCPXML to keep editing in Final Cut or Premiere.

Click a line, then Shift-click another.

Trim it on the timeline; its edges snap to the lines.

Your own model reads the subtitles and picks moments that stand on their own.

Outline, box or large type, in one language or two.

Subtitles burned in, or FCPXML to keep editing in Final Cut or Premiere.

Andrej Karpathy — We’re summoning ghosts, not building animals

CinemaStudio

Export

Transcript

1:21En realidad, es mucho más exacto llamarla la década de los agentes.This is really a lot more accurately described as the decade of agents.

1:46¿Qué crees que va a tardar una década en lograrse?What do you think will take a decade to accomplish?

1:56Piénsalo casi como un empleado o un becario que contratas para trabajar contigo.You should think of it almost like an employee or an intern that you would hire to work with you.

2:13Si hoy no lo haces, es porque todavía no funcionan.The reason you don't do it today is because they just don't work.

2:23No tienen aprendizaje continuo. Les cuentas algo y no lo recuerdan.They don't have continual learning. You can't just tell them something and they'll remember it.

2:28Resolver todos esos problemas llevará más o menos una década.It will take about a decade to work through all of those issues.

2 lines selected

1:46 – 2:13 · 0:27

Make Clip

En realidad, es mucho más exacto llamarla la década de los agentes.

This is really a lot more accurately described as the decade of agents.

¿Qué crees que va a tardar una década en lograrse?

What do you think will take a decade to accomplish?

Si hoy no lo haces, es porque todavía no funcionan.

The reason you don't do it today is because they just don't work.

Si hoy no lo haces, es porque todavía no funcionan.

The reason you don't do it today is because they just don't work.

00:01:46:12

IO

ClipsSubtitle Style

No clips yet

Clips1 · 0:27 total2 · 0:52 total3 · 1:15 total

The decade of agents1:21 – 1:46 · 0:25

What will take a decade?1:46 – 2:13 · 0:27

Why agents don't work yet2:13 – 2:36 · 0:23

AI Highlights

Moments from the subtitles that stand on their own

Find Highlights

AI Picks2 · 0:48 totalAdd All

1The decade of agents1:21 – 1:46 · 0:25

Add to Clips

2Why agents don't work yet2:13 – 2:36 · 0:23

Presets

SubtitlesOutlineSubtitlesBoxSubtitlesLarge

Two Languages

Translation on TopOriginal on Top

TimelineAI Picks 2

PictureSpanishSound

1:301:452:002:152:30

En realidad, es mucho más exacto llamarla la década de los agentes.¿Qué crees que va a tardar una década en lograrse?Piénsalo casi como un empleado o un becario que contratas para trabajar contigo.Si hoy no lo haces, es porque todavía no funcionan.No tienen aprendizaje continuo. Les cuentas algo y no lo recuerdan.Resolver todos esos problemas llevará más o menos una década.

1

2

The decade of agents

What will take a decade?

Why agents don't work yet

Export

The decade of agents0:25

What will take a decade?0:27

Why agents don't work yet0:23

Subtitles

Burn InSRT File

Quality

720p1080p

FCPXML, to keep editing in Final Cut / Premiere

CancelExport 3 Clips…

If all you need is text, MacWhisper does more

Meeting recording, dictation in any app, Word and PDF export, chatting with a transcript: Vimpo has none of these, and no TXT export yet either (you copy the transcript instead). If you mostly work with recordings and want a document at the end, it's the better fit.

Side by side

The MacWhisper column is based on macwhisper.com and its documentation (October 2026). “Pro” means MacWhisper Pro only. In the MacWhisper column, a dash means neither mentions the feature.

Which one to use

• A video in a language you don't speak, that you want to watch: Vimpo.
• Clips from long interviews, with subtitles: Vimpo.
• Meetings, voice memos, lectures, dictation, anything you want as text: MacWhisper.

They overlap less than it looks, and plenty of people will want both. Every Vimpo feature is free during the beta. Download it here.