Speechnotes is a dictation notepad that runs in a browser tab. There's nothing to install, no account needed to start, and the free tier is genuinely free — supported by ads rather than a trial clock. It runs on Google and Microsoft's speech engines, so accuracy is decent without anyone having trained a model. Alongside the notepad there's a separate pay-as-you-go transcription service for audio and video files.
At a glance
Platforms
Web notepad, Chrome extension, Android app (5M+ downloads, 4.3+ stars). TextHear is the iOS sister app
Pricing
Free with ads; Dictation Premium $1.90/month; Transcription $0.10/minute pay-as-you-go
Free tier
Full notepad and voice typing extension, ad-supported
Processing
Cloud, via Google and Microsoft speech engines
Accuracy
Around 95% claimed on clean audio
Offline
No
Retention
Recordings deleted from the servers once transcription completes, no human review
$1.90 a month is nearly free. The cheapest paid tier in this entire directory by a wide margin, and it only removes ads.
Zero friction. Open a tab and talk. For someone who needs to dictate once a week, installing and configuring a desktop app is disproportionate.
Pay-as-you-go transcription. $0.10/minute with no subscription, which for occasional files beats a monthly plan and undercuts most dedicated transcription services.
Proven on Android. Five million-plus downloads at 4.3 stars is real usage, not a landing page.
Sensible privacy posture. No human in the loop, recordings deleted after processing.
Where it falls short
It's a notepad, not system-wide dictation. You dictate into Speechnotes and then copy the text out. The Chrome extension widens that, but nothing here types into your desktop apps. Voice In does that job better on the web.
The free tier has ads. Fine for the price, but distracting while you're trying to compose.
No AI cleanup. You get a raw transcript with punctuation commands. The filler-word removal and formatting that define the modern category are absent.
Cloud only, third-party engines. Your audio goes to Google or Microsoft. Nothing runs locally.
Fragmented product family. Speechnotes, the Chrome extension, the Android app, and TextHear on iOS with separate pricing. Which thing you're buying isn't always obvious.
Pricing
Dictation is free with ads. Dictation Premium is $1.90/month, ad-free with team support. Transcription of audio and video files is $0.10 per minute pay-as-you-go with timestamps, captions, and API access, no subscription required.
Who it's for
Occasional dictators who want to open a tab, talk, and paste the result somewhere — and anyone who needs a handful of files transcribed and doesn't want a subscription. It is not a replacement for a desktop dictation app, and it doesn't try to be. For free web dictation with fewer moving parts, Dictation.io is simpler; for typing into web apps rather than a notepad, Voice In is the right tool.
Last verified: 9 August 2026.
Similar to Speechnotes
Speechnotes: A free browser notepad you can dictate into, ads and all – Dictation Database
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.
