In some methods, 2025 was when AI dictation apps actually took off. Dictation apps have been round for years, however up to now they’ve proved gradual and inaccurate — except you converse with explicit accents and enunciate clearly.
However advances in giant language fashions (LLMs) and speech-to-text fashions have helped enhance the programs that may decipher speech higher whereas retaining the context to format the textual content. And builders have inbuilt options to robotically format textual content, take away filler phrases, and ignore fumbles to output textual content that would want fewer edits.
However with the hovering reputation of the whole lot AI, there’s dozens of such apps available on the market. So we’ve collated our decide of the perfect and most helpful dictation apps his 12 months.
Wispr Movement
Wispr Movement is a well-funded AI dictation app that permits you to add customized phrases and directions for dictation. It has native apps for macOS, Home windows, and iOS, and an Android model is within the works.
The app permits you to customise how its system transcribes your notes by letting you select from “formal,” “informal,” and “very informal” types for various sorts of writing, similar to private messaging, work, and e mail. And in the event you use it with vibe-coding instruments like Cursor, you possibly can activate a characteristic to robotically acknowledge variables or tag recordsdata within the chat.
The app permits you to observe as much as 2,000 phrases per thirty days totally free on any of the desktop variations, and 1,000 phrases per thirty days on iOS. Its subscription plans provide limitless transcription and begin at $15 per thirty days.
Willow
Willow advertises itself as an enormous time-saver for individuals who don’t prefer to kind. Alongside widespread options like computerized modifying and formatting, the app has a characteristic that faucets giant language fashions to generate a full chunk of textual content from only a few dictated phrases.
Willow additionally takes a extra privacy-focused stab at AI-assisted note-taking by storing all transcripts regionally in your gadget, and allows you to decide out of mannequin coaching as effectively. It additionally permits you to add customized vocabulary to the app to assist it adapt to your business’s parlance, or your native dialect.
Willow permits you to dictate 2,000 phrases per thirty days on its desktop app totally free. Particular person subscription plans begin at $15 per thirty days, providing you with limitless dictation and enabling the app to recollect your writing model.
Monologue
If you’re centered on privateness, Monologue permits you to obtain its mannequin so you possibly can run it in your gadget for transcriptions and keep away from sending knowledge to the cloud. What’s extra, the app permits you to customise its tone of voice in keeping with the apps you utilize it with.
Monologue permits you to jot down 1,000 phrases per thirty days totally free, and its subscription prices $10 per thirty days, or $100 per 12 months. And if you find yourself turning into one of many app’s prime customers, the corporate will even ship you this funky Monokey to make use of with the app.
Superwhisper
Superwhisper is primarily a dictation app, however it may possibly additionally transcribe from audio or video recordsdata. The app offers you the liberty to decide on and obtain AI fashions, together with its personal fashions which have totally different speeds and accuracy, together with Nvidia’s Parakeet speech-recognition fashions.
The app additionally permits you to write customized prompts to steer the output. You possibly can simply see each processed and unprocessed transcripts which can be built-in with the system keyboard.
The fundamental voice-to-text characteristic is free to make use of, and also you get quarter-hour to check out Professional options similar to translation and transcription. The paid tier permits you to use your personal AI API keys and plug in cloud and native fashions with none caps.
The month-to-month plan prices $8.49 per thirty days, the annual plan prices $84.99 per thirty days, or you possibly can pay $249.99 for a lifetime subscription.
VoiceTypr
The VoiceTypr app takes an offline-first, no-subscription method, letting you utilize native fashions for transcription. There’s additionally a GitHub repository for individuals who need to host and run the open supply model themselves. VoiceTypr helps over 99 languages and works on each Mac and Home windows.
The app is on the market to strive for 3 days totally free, and after that it’s going to permit you to purchase a lifetime license. The app prices $35 for one gadget, $56 for 2, and $98 for 4 units.
Aqua
Aqua is one other Y Combinator-backed voice-typing consumer for Home windows and macOS that claims to be one of many quickest instruments within the class by way of latency.
Apart from dealing with grammar and punctuation, Aqua additionally permits you to autofill textual content by saying phrases — you possibly can say “my deal with” and have Aqua kind in your deal with, for instance.
The app additionally affords its personal speech-to-text API for different apps.
The free tier will get you 1,000 phrases per thirty days. The paid plans begin from $8 per thirty days (annual billing) and unlock limitless phrases and 800 customized dictionary values.
Helpful
Helpful is an open supply and free transcription device that may run on Mac, Home windows, and Linux. The applying is fairly fundamental and doesn’t provide lots of customization, however if you’re attempting to get began with utilizing your voice extra and don’t need to pay, it’s a good choice.
The app has a fundamental settings menu that permits you to toggle push-to-talk, and alter the hotkey to activate the transcription.
Typeless
Typeless is one other app on this class with a excessive free phrase rely. The corporate claims that it doesn’t retain any knowledge or use it to coach fashions. Typeless additionally suggests a greater model of the sentence in the event you might need fumbled a line.
The app permits you to dictate as much as 4,000 phrases per week (roughly 16,000 phrases per thirty days) on its free tier. You possibly can pay $12 per thirty days (billed yearly) to unlock limitless phrases and get entry to new options. Typeless is on the market for Home windows and macOS solely.
