A curated collection of the best speak and have your words appear as text at the cursor, in any application. The core dictation category, covering everything from free built-in OS tools to AI-powered cross-platform apps.
Free, unlimited, and locked inside one app in one browser
General Dictation
Free unlimited dictation inside Google Docs, with 120+ languages and voice formatting commands. Chrome only, and only in Docs and Slides speaker notes.
The most polished offline dictation on Linux, with a tray icon and everything
General Dictation
Free AGPL Linux dictation running whisper.cpp, Whisper, or VOSK entirely offline, with GPU acceleration and system tray integration across X11 and Wayland.
Bring your own keys and mix any speech and language model you like
General Dictation
MIT-licensed voice typing for Mac, Windows, and Linux that works with Groq, Deepgram, AssemblyAI, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Ollama and more via your own API keys.
Broad platform coverage with an optional offline mode
General Dictation
AI dictation across Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android that strips filler words and matches your tone per app. Free tier is unlimited on the weaker model.
Five platforms and an AppSumo lifetime deal, with the risks that implies
General Dictation
Cloud dictation across Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, and Android with zero-retention processing. Free tier is 1,000 words a month; Pro is $12/month annually.
Native Mac app that transcribes audio and video files locally with Whisper. Free tier included; Pro is a one-time €59 with batch processing and speaker labels.
Free, on-device, already installed — try this before you pay for anything
General Dictation
Apple's built-in dictation runs fully on-device on Apple Silicon with no time limit and no cost. WWDC 2026 added on-device auto-punctuation and formatting.
