In some methods, 2025 was when AI dictation apps actually took off. Dictation apps have been round for years, however previously they’ve proved sluggish and inaccurate — until you communicate with explicit accents and enunciate clearly.
However advances in giant language fashions (LLMs) and speech-to-text fashions have helped enhance the methods that may decipher speech higher whereas retaining the context to format the textual content. And builders have in-built options to mechanically format textual content, take away filler phrases, and ignore fumbles to output textual content that would wish fewer edits.
However with the hovering reputation of every little thing AI, there’s dozens of such apps available on the market. So we’ve collated our decide of the most effective and most helpful dictation apps his yr.
Wispr Circulation
Wispr Circulation is a well-funded AI dictation app that allows 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 helps you to customise how its system transcribes your notes by letting you select from “formal,” “informal,” and “very informal” kinds for various sorts of writing, reminiscent of private messaging, work, and electronic mail. And should you use it with vibe-coding instruments like Cursor, you may activate a characteristic to mechanically acknowledge variables or tag information within the chat.
The app helps you to observe as much as 2,000 phrases per 30 days without spending a dime on any of the desktop variations, and 1,000 phrases per 30 days on iOS. Its subscription plans supply limitless transcription and begin at $15 per 30 days.
Willow
Willow advertises itself as an enormous time-saver for many who don’t wish to kind. Alongside widespread options like automated 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 domestically in your machine, and allows you to decide out of mannequin coaching as properly. It additionally helps you to add customized vocabulary to the app to assist it adapt to your trade’s parlance, or your native dialect.
Willow helps you to dictate 2,000 phrases per 30 days on its desktop app without spending a dime. Particular person subscription plans begin at $15 per 30 days, providing you with limitless dictation and enabling the app to recollect your writing fashion.
Monologue
In case you are targeted on privateness, Monologue helps you to obtain its mannequin so you may run it in your machine for transcriptions and keep away from sending information to the cloud. What’s extra, the app helps you to customise its tone of voice in keeping with the apps you employ it with.
Monologue helps you to jot down 1,000 phrases per 30 days without spending a dime, and its subscription prices $10 per 30 days, or $100 per yr. And if you find yourself turning into one of many app’s high customers, the corporate can even ship you this funky Monokey to make use of with the app.
Superwhisper
Superwhisper is primarily a dictation app, however it may additionally transcribe from audio or video information. The app provides you the liberty to decide on and obtain AI fashions, together with its personal fashions which have completely different speeds and accuracy, together with Nvidia’s Parakeet speech-recognition fashions.
The app additionally helps you to write customized prompts to steer the output. You’ll be able to simply see each processed and unprocessed transcripts which can be built-in with the system keyboard.
The essential voice-to-text characteristic is free to make use of, and also you get quarter-hour to check out Professional options reminiscent of translation and transcription. The paid tier helps 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 30 days, the annual plan prices $84.99 per 30 days, or you may pay $249.99 for a lifetime subscription.
VoiceTypr
The VoiceTypr app takes an offline-first, no-subscription method, letting you employ native fashions for transcription. There’s additionally a GitHub repository for many who wish 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 out there to attempt for 3 days without spending a dime, and after that it’s going to can help you purchase a lifetime license. The app prices $35 for one machine, $56 for 2, and $98 for 4 units.
Aqua
Aqua is one other Y Combinator-backed voice-typing shopper for Home windows and macOS that claims to be one of many quickest instruments within the class when it comes to latency.
Apart from dealing with grammar and punctuation, Aqua additionally helps you to autofill textual content by saying phrases — you may say “my deal with” and have Aqua kind in your deal with, for instance.
The app additionally provides its personal speech-to-text API for different apps.
The free tier will get you 1,000 phrases per 30 days. The paid plans begin from $8 per 30 days (annual billing) and unlock limitless phrases and 800 customized dictionary values.
Helpful
Helpful is an open supply and free transcription software that may run on Mac, Home windows, and Linux. The applying is fairly fundamental and doesn’t supply plenty of customization, however in case you are making an attempt to get began with utilizing your voice extra and don’t wish to pay, it’s a good choice.
The app has a fundamental settings menu that allows 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 depend. The corporate claims that it doesn’t retain any information or use it to coach fashions. Typeless additionally suggests a greater model of the sentence should you might need fumbled a line.
The app helps you to dictate as much as 4,000 phrases per week (roughly 16,000 phrases per 30 days) on its free tier. You’ll be able to pay $12 per 30 days (billed yearly) to unlock limitless phrases and get entry to new options. Typeless is out there for Home windows and macOS solely.
