text to speech software dragon

Dragon Professional v15 speech-to-text software review

Dragon professional is a highly accurate speech-to-text software that suffers from a few key weaknesses.

TechRadar Verdict

This powerful speech-to-text software boasts excellent accuracy rates and a deep vocabulary, but is let down by a weak recording transcription mode.

Excellent accuracy

Deep vocabulary

Strong range of use cases

Outdated UI

Weak recording transcription

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Note that Nuance are currently offering 12-months' access to Dragon Anywhere at no extra cost with any purchase of Dragon Home or Dragon Professional Individual.

Dragon Professional v15 from Nuance Communications is a leading speech recognition software, released in 2016, that caters to the needs of both individuals and businesses.

Like all the best speech-to-text apps , Dragon allows you to compose and edit documents by voice, but you can also use the software to transcribe pre-recorded audio and browse the web.

Compatible with a wide range of programs - including Google Docs , Microsoft Office 365 and Chrome - this speech recognition software boasts an impressive accuracy rate and also becomes more “intelligent” as you use it. Dragon is trained on your voice and it’s also easy to add to its large base vocabulary to suit your specific needs.

In this review (part of which was dictated by voice), we break down the various features on offer with Dragon Professional, take a look at the pricing plans and also weigh up the competition.

Plans and pricing

Dragon speech recognition software is available in a few different forms. We reviewed Dragon Professional Individual, which is available for $300 (£349.99) or $450 (£429.00) with a compatible wireless headset.

The publisher offers an upgrade option that allows owners of Dragon Professional v14 to shift to the most up-to-date version at a discount ($150/£169.99).

A subscription-based service called Dragon Anywhere is also available for iOS and Android for either $15/mo (£10.99/mo) or $150 billed annually (£109.99). This might be the better option for non-business users that don't want to commit to the significant cost attached to a permanent license.

Finally, businesses that want to roll out the speech recognition software across an entire team or workforce will want to consider Dragon Professional Group or Dragon Anywhere Group. Pricing will vary with each specific implementation, so quotes are only available via the sales team.

Dictate and edit documents

Dragon is at its best in live dictation mode, which allows you to draft documents and emails hands-free via an extensive range of navigation, correction, formatting and punctuation commands.

It’s a little tricky to get used to composing a document or email with your voice and we often struggled to remember the correct command for each specific situation. However, you get the swing of it after a while - and if you’re stuck, all you need to do is ask “What can I say?”.

The trick is to think through the full sentence in your head first before delivering into the microphone, which will still be quicker than typing for some people, especially those that suffer with poor mobility in the hands.

Transcribe existing audio recordings

You can also use Dragon to transcribe existing audio recordings, which is (in theory) an excellent feature for anyone tasked with writing up meeting actions or transcribing interviews.

However, we ran into some quite significant issues when running recordings through the software. Instead of producing a neatly transcribed document, the software churned out a thick block of text, without paragraph breaks or any indication of a change in speaker. This made the transcription almost useless, because we had to listen back through to the recording in order to clear up the document.

Activating the transcription feature will also freeze all other facilities, meaning you can’t dictate an email while an existing recording is being processed.

Browse the web

You can also use Dragon Professional to surf the web (via Internet Explorer , Chrome and Firefox) and operate web-based services such as Gmail . 

Switching between web pages is a little finicky, and not all that much faster than using the mouse and keyboard (for most people), but certainly becomes easier with practice. The way Dragon handles intra-page navigation is also impressive.

Drafting and firing off an email via a web browser is simple and intuitive, and can be performed without even touching the mouse. 

Expand the vocabulary

If you work in an industry that relies on a lot of jargon, Dragon Professional might struggle to understand you at first.

However, the software encourages you to expand its vocabulary, by either entering and training terms manually or running documents through the system.

Interface and in use

The Dragon Professional interface looks like something you might expect from a piece of software published in the 2000s - that’s to say, rather outdated. Ironically, there’s also an option to switch from “Modern” to “Classic” mode, which ramps up the nostalgia factor even further.

Once the software has been booted up, an auto-collapsing menu hovers at the top of the screen, awaiting instruction. Clicking on the microphone icon in the center of the bar will activate listening mode, allowing you to deliver commands.

When composing documents, the microphone is always active and ready to receive dictation. If you want to temporarily deactivate the microphone, you can put it into rest mode by saying “Go to sleep” and reactivate by saying “Wake up”.

You can also use Dragon for multiple tasks at once. For example, you could switch from drafting a letter in Word to working in Google Docs via your browser, and Dragon will operate with the active application tab.

If you want to use the software to navigate the web, it’s best to install the relevant plugin for Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

Nuance offers a business hours telephone hotline between 9am to 5pm from Monday-Friday, which means professional users will be covered, but individuals using the kit after hours or on the weekend might come unstuck.

Users that have created an account and registered their product on the Nuance website can also submit questions to the support team via an online form, which is simple enough.

Administrator guides, datasheets and whitepapers are all readily available on the website, if diving into the documentation is likely to yield the solution you’re after.

The competition

There are a number of different speech recognition tools on the market, but few with quite the same breadth of options.

Otter.ai , for instance, excels at transcribing live and pre-recorded audio and is very user-friendly, but you wouldn’t use it to draft an email - it’s more for helping with note-taking or transcribing interviews.

Braina Pro , meanwhile, offers some of the same virtual assistant functionality as Dragon, but suffers from a clunky and outdated UI.

We were also seriously impressed with Speechmatics , but there's no option to purchase the software outright. You have to pay by transcription volume instead, which won't suit everyone.

From a purely business perspective, Amazon , Microsoft and IBM all offer their own cloud-based speech recognition platforms, which are more likely to compete directly with Dragon Professional.

Final verdict

Dragon Professional is a powerful speech-to-text tool that will prove ideal for anyone that might want or need to compose documents and emails by voice.

Its high accuracy rate, deep vocabulary and range of commands make Dragon a great choice for any businesses that might benefit from live dictation.

Browsing the web and using compatible web-based applications is also simple enough, with a little practice, and could prove a life saver if you suffer from conditions such as carpal tunnel.

The software is let down, however, by an outdated aesthetic and poor recording transcription mode, which leaves a lot to be desired. Anyone interested first and foremost in transcribing pre-recorded meetings or interviews will do well to look elsewhere.

Given the software was released four years ago now, we'd also expect a new version to arrive in the not so distant future, although the firm was unable to provide any further information on this front.

Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He's responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.

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Voice to Text Solutions

Dragon professional v16, enhance productivity and document creation.

Dragon Professional v16 - Licensed Product

Put next-generation speech technology to work. Nuance® Dragon® Professional expands the boundaries of speech recognition technology for documentation productivity on the PC. With dictation and transcription capabilities that are faster and more accurate than ever before, you’ll spend less time on paperwork and more time on activities that boost the bottom line. 

Install and training includes assistance from our team to completely install and configure Dragon on up to two computers and up to one hour of basic training.

Benefits of Dragon Professional v16

OLP - Open License Program

The open license program allows for easy management of multiple users into one license. You also get the benefits of discounted prices at certain tiers.

Administration Tools

The Nuance Management Center makes it easy to track employee usage of Dragon, redistribute licenses based on usage, and manage or share customizations, including custom words, commands and auto-texts, across multiple users. Subscription Required.

Citrix and RDP Support

Do you use Citrix or Remote Desktop environments and require the ability to use Dragon to dictate into or from them? Only Dragon Professional Group includes the ability and drivers needed to support these environments. 

MSI Installation

Installing software to 10, 50, or 100's of computers can be a daunting task. Only Dragon Professional Group provides the ability to install using MSI and includes a help guide to assist you along the way.

Dragon Professional in Action

Click the YouTube logo in the bottom right corner to expand view

• Create Documents and Emails Quickly
• Use Voice Commands to Edit Text and Control Your Computer
• Create Text and Template Macros for Repetitive Text
• Auto Transcribe Pre-Recorded Dictation 

Dragon Professional 16 Features

Dragon Professional 16, expands the possibilities of speech recognition innovation with a next-generation speech engine. Dragon uniquely brings consistent, optimal accuracy to the PC with Deep Learning technology and adaptation techniques that continuously adjust to your voice or environmental variations even while you’re dictating.

• Delivers up to 99% speech recognition accuracy - With its new engine, you get optimal accuracy for speakers with accents or in slightly noisy environments such as in a cubicle environment. Get highly accurate speech recognition results right out of the box with no training required!
• Provides a personalised voice-driven experience - Enjoy personalised accuracy; Dragon learns the words and phrases you use the most. Further enhance accuracy with optional advanced training or analysis of existing documents and emails.
•  Performs with fast response times and minimal latency - Talk at normal speeds and see words appear on the screen almost instantly. Receive immediate feedback on what you say so you can check it right away Never lose a beat in your train of thought; Dragon captures your ideas as fast as you can speak them

Dragon eliminates barriers to productivity and creativity by letting you interact with your computer by voice. It turns your spoken thoughts into text and your voice commands into action so you don’t have to worry about the mechanics of typing and spelling. You can easily switch between keyboard, mouse and voice so you can use the mode of input you prefer for any given task. Dragon not only lets you dictate up to three times faster than typing, but it also allows you to make edits and apply formatting using your voice. You can select text and apply formatting such as bold, underline, capitals and more, or just speak to make needed changes. Smart Format Rules automatically adapt to how you want abbreviations, dates, phone numbers and more to appear, so you don’t have to correct them every time. Dragon gives you robust voice command and control as well as Enhanced Dictation (or Full Text Control), for fully voice-driven editing and command capabilities within many popular business applications that you use every day. Create documents such as reports, emails, forms and notes and zip through computer tasks in record time.

Dragon Professional easily learns acronyms, proper names and other unique or business-specific phrases that you frequently use so it captures your unique words the way you want. In addition, you can import and export your custom word lists.

With Dragon Professional, it’s quick and easy to create custom voice commands. This feature lets you insert a standard reply, a signature block, a logo, a form template or other boilerplate content by speaking a simple command for significant time savings.

Create macros to automate multi-step workflows or business processes via simple voice commands. For example, send an email to your sales distribution list, copy the senior management team, and print a hard copy for your files by saying something like, “Send standard sales distribution email.”

Dragon Professional supports Nuance-approved digital voice recorders and smart phones for advanced recording functionality and can automatically transcribe the audio files to text back at your PC. It leverages all the accuracy improvements gained from the state-of-the-art speech recognition engine for fewer post-corrections. The transcription process features a fully streamlined setup for your own voice. Because acoustic and language model adaptation are automatically leveraged for the current user, no special training is required. You can also accurately transcribe another single speaker’s voice from pre-recorded audio ?les or from podcasts. No additional training is needed to transcribe third-party speakers*, so you can complete transcription quickly and accurately. Depending on your preference, you may take notes by recording your voice into an audio device for later transcription, or you can work with the Dragon Anywhere mobile app for immediate, professional-grade dictation. Dragon Professional lets you work the way you want to optimize your productivity while on the road. *Transcription of third-party speakers may require an additional license for each unique speaker.

Dragon Anywhere is a separate, cloud-based solution that provides continuous dictation capabilities, letting you create and edit documents of any length by voice directly on your iOS or Android device. It adapts to your voice and terminology so you can dictate, edit, navigate and format quickly and accurately within your document - using your own customized words, shortcuts and commands - from anywhere, at any time. You can share documents and sync custom words and commands with Dragon Professional for seamless productivity wherever your job takes you. Gain immediate access to your dictation so can spend less time behind a desk completing administrative tasks and more time contributing to your bottom line.

Dragon is optimized for popular form factors such as portable touchscreen PCs so you can experience new levels of documentation productivity on the go. It’s great for today’s new PCs including highly mobile devices with hybrid touch and keyboard interaction modes.

Launch applications, select menu items, press keys, switch between windows, search the Web, create and send emails and more all by voice, if you wish. Dragon Professional gives you the flexibility to:

• Work Hands-free
• Experience more ergonomic comfort when working on your computer
• Feel less stress and strain on your body
• Multitask by using your voice to dictate and execute commands

Dragon’s text-to-speech capability is a natural-sounding synthesised voice that reads designated text to you, thereby simplifying proofreading and supporting new levels of multi-tasking. With Dragon Professional, you can also listen to audio playback of your own dictation with the associated text highlighted on the screen.

With automatic microphone detection, Dragon Professional will conveniently show you which microphones are available for you to use. Because Dragon lets you use multiple audio device types within the same profile, you can easily switch to another microphone while keeping all your personalised preferences for accuracy and formatting. This feature is useful if, for example, you use a USB microphone at home, a wireless microphone at work and your laptop’s built-in microphone when you’re on the go. With Dragon Professional, you have the option to use:

• Microphones built into many of the latest laptops: You’re free to dictate documents and speak commands directly into your laptop without using a headset
• Wireless Bluetooth microphone: Use a Nuance-certified Bluetooth headset microphone for outstanding wireless performance and the freedom to move while working on your computer
• Nuance PowerMic 4: Use a Nuance PowerMic 4 with full-function, Microsoft® compatible, PC mouse capabilities incorporated into the microphone to reduce the need to move between microphone, mouse, and keyboard

Dragon Professional eliminates barriers for individual workers with disabilities that limit their ability to use a keyboard and mouse. In addition, it helps prevent fatigue and repetitive strain injuries by offering a comfortable, ergonomic alternative to the keyboard and mouse.

Dragon Professional makes it easy to get started with speech recognition and to become proficient quickly with regular use. It’s also simple to explore more advanced features that can boost your productivity even further. Dragon offers multiple ways to accelerate mastery and get the most out of your speech recognition investment - even offering productivity tips and helping you discover advanced Dragon features. You can take advantage of:

• Helpful tutorials make it easy to become productive right away
• An intuitive design provides easy access to a rich and powerful feature set for ever-increasing productivity gains
• Contextual guidance tailored to your usage will help you maximise the power of Dragon and complete documentation more efficiently than ever before

Technical Specifications

• Windows 10 (32- and 64-bit) Windows 11 (64bit)
• Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022 (64-bit)
• RAM: Min 4GB; Recommended: 8GB+ 
• 2.2 GHz Intel® dual core or equivalent AMD processor
• Disk Space: 12GB for install and download
• Approved sound card or USB microphone
• Ask for current Citrix specs
• Internet for download and activation

The VoiceToTextSolutions.com Advantage

Digital delivery.

Your Dragon Professional will be delivered fast via digital delivery. No need to wait on long shipping times, and no disc drive required!

Expert Support

We have your back with expert technical support from US based technicians with years of experience!

License Recovery

We will track your license for you. If your computer crashes, we will send you the license and download free of charge.

Expert Training

Don't struggle with your new software, we can help! Schedule some time to learn the basics of Dragon Professional with one of our technicians.

Free Trial Available

• Free 7 day trial of Dragon Professional v16
• Qualifying businesses
• Must have a quality microphone

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• Professional Writers
• Newspaper Writing
• Making Money Writing
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• Literary Agents
• Getting Published
• Fiction Writing
• Self-Publishing
• Marketing & Selling Books
• Building a Blog
• Making Money Blogging
• Boosting Blog Traffic
• Online Writing
• eZine Writing
• Making Money Online
• Non-Fiction Writing
• Midlife Blossoms

10 Ways to Write Faster and Better With Dragon Naturally Speaking

• September 4, 2023

I quickly learned how to be a faster and better writer with Dragon Naturally Speaking; my only regret is I waited so long to use speech recognition software in my work. I was introduced to Dragon Naturally Speaking more than five years ago but I hesitated to invest in it because I didn’t think it would work for me. Boy, was I wrong!

Not only had I heard about Dragon Naturally Speaking way back in 2011, I actually published a guest post here on Blossom (then called Quips and Tips for Successful Writers) about Dragon. Sharon Hurley Hall was the writer who shared her tips on using speech recognition software for writing blog posts and magazine articles.

Here’s one reader’s comment about Dragon for writers:

“Thanks for this interesting article on Dragon Naturally Speaking,” says Marv on How to Use Speech Recognition Software – 5 Tips for Writers (Shirley’s article). “I’ve been thinking about writing with speech recognition software for a couple of years now. But I hesitate because I think it won’t help my writing skills. In fact, I think it could be detrimental because I’m writing less and talking more. What do you think of that? Could Dragon Naturally Speaking actually ‘dumb down’ your writing skills?”

On the contrary! Dragon Naturally Speaking doesn’t decrease your skills as a writer. Dictating into speech recognition software can actually improve your writing and editing skills, help you write faster and better, and make you a more productive writer. Dictating your thoughts will help you write more words, sentences, paragraphs, articles, blog posts, chapters, and books than you could ever do by typing alone.

A quick list of the 10 ways Dragon has helped me write fast and better:

• Allows me to write a 2,500 word article in less than 2 hours
• Reveals my writing quirks and weaknesses in a fresh new way
• Helps me find flow, which improves my writing speed
• Encourages me to be more expressive and heartfelt in my writing
• Gives me time to respond to readers’ comments on my blogs
• Lets me use hand and arm gestures
• Trains my brain to solve new and different problems
• Reduces the strain on my fingers, wrists, and forearms
• Increases my sense of emotional and mental well-being
• Will soon improve my physical fitness levels

My only regret with Dragon Naturally Speaking is that I waited so long to buy it.

Even though I’d heard writers talk about speech recognition software on various productivity and writing podcasts, I didn’t think it would work for me. Why? Because I thought that as a “professional writer” I’d actually need to type words. Dictating did not seem like writing to me.

Here’s why I am so glad I invested in Dragon, and how it is making me a better writer. If you’re on the fence about whether or not you should buy Dragon, I encourage you to try it. What have you got to lose? You can always return it and get your money back if it doesn’t work for you!

10 Ways Dragon Helps Me Write Faster and Better

Yes, I am “writing” this blog post with Dragon’s speech recognition software 🙂

Here’s the number one reason I decided to buy speech recognition software: speaking speed versus typing speed. I can talk 110-150 words per minute – but I can only type about 50 words per minute. Which leads me to my first tip for writing faster with Dragon Naturally Speaking…

1. Dragon allows me to “write” a 2,500 word article in less than 2 hours

I’m a full-time blogger; my sole source of income is my Blossom blogs. I hired writers in the past to contribute blog posts but I found that not only did I not like editing their writing, I also spent too much time doing administrative tasks (eg, paying invoices, chasing writers to submit their invoices so I could pay them, teaching writers how to create invoices, etc).

It’s extremely important that I produce at least one blog post per day. I need to “feed the machine” so I can continue making money as a blogger . Plus, I love writing! That’s one of the reasons I didn’t think Dragon Naturally Speaking would work for me as a writer. I didn’t think I’d be comfortable dictating my blog posts and articles. After all, isn’t the mark of a “real writer” someone who actually uses their hands and fingers to write words? Possibly.

Dragon allows me to write and edit a 2,500 word article in less than two hours. I can have it posted on my blog – along with images and resources for readers – within 30 minutes. This saves me one hour every morning. Huge! A miracle! That translates to at least five hours a week. Since I earn about $40 per hour, I can potentially use that time to make an extra $200 every week. Shazam!

2. Speech recognition software reveals my writing peccadillos in new ways

Dragon is not only teaching me how to write faster, it’s also revealing my weaknesses as a writer. For example, I’m learning through speech recognition software how often I use commas and exclamation marks! I actually already knew that I overuse exclamation marks, so Dragon merely reinforced this insight into my own writing. But still, it was good to learn that I still tend to lean too much on those exclamation marks when I write.

As a writer, you want to learn as much as you can about your own writing habits, quirks, and weaknesses. Speech recognition software helps you by revealing how you write – if you pay attention. Also – directly related to the first way that Dragon Naturally Speaking can help you learn how to write faster and better – it gives you more time to study and improve your writing peccadillos.

3. Dragon helps me find flow, which increases my writing speed

This, I’m still working on. As a writer I always always always struggle to stop editing as I write.

I can’t just leave a sentence and keep writing if there’s something wrong with that last sentence! I’d hoped that using speech recognition software would help me separate my writing from my editing, but it hasn’t yet. And it’s been five whole days since I bought Dragon and started dictating my writing.

I do find flow when I “write” with Dragon Naturally Speaking – but only if I keep my eyes locked on the view outside my office window. If I watch Dragon type my dictation on the computer screen in front of me, I tend to keep going back and editing what I just wrote. This is not a good tip for writing faster and and better. It’s much more productive and efficient to find flow and write that first draft, and then edit later.

4. Speaking encourages me to write from the heart

I didn’t expect to write differently with speech recognition software, and I really didn’t expect Dragon Naturally Speaking to change my writing voice. But it has! I’ve found that my writing is more creative and expressive when I dictate my articles than when I’m simply typing.

I’m not sure why this is. It’s possibly because when I’m typing my fingers can’t keep up with my brain so I can’t get everything on the screen. But when I’m talking and using speech recognition software I can express more thoughts, feelings, and opinions than I could possibly type. So this is helping me write better by making me more expressive. This is particularly helpful in the next tip on how to write faster and better with Dragon Naturally Speaking

5. Dragon gives me time to respond to readers’ comments on my blogs

Responding to readers’ comments on my Blossom blogs has been a thorn in my side since 2008 (when I first started blogging).

I write blog posts that deal with painful problems in love and life. Readers respond by sharing their own personal problems and asking for advice. I don’t give advice. I’m a writer, I love blogging about personal problems, but I just can’t tell people how to solve their problems.

I’m grateful to Dragon speech software for helping me respond to readers’ comments in a fresh new way! I can actually give readers my thoughts from my heart and spirit, and it takes less than five minutes per comment. It amazes me because I always felt bad about not being able to respond to my readers…yet I just didn’t have the time to comment in any way, much less try to reach out in love and compassion. Now, I can respond to readers quickly and painlessly.

6. Speech recognition software lets me use hand and arms

Do you sometimes get excited or passionate when you write? Do you find that you need your hands and arms to help you express your feelings? I didn’t realize how important my hand and arm gestures are in my thought processes and communication abilities. So now that I’m using speech recognition software to write my articles, my hands and arms are free to gesticulate or wave madly in the air or nervously twirl the string on my bunny hug.

Moving my arms and hands as I speak my articles helps me find the right words because it frees my body to be part of what I’m trying to say. This goes back to being a more expressive and heartfelt writer. I never thought that speech recognition software would help me find my writer’s voice, but it really has.

7. Dragon trains my brain to solve new and different problems

True confessions time: I use a Mac, and this article “How to Write Faster and Better – Dragon Naturally Speaking” just crashed for the first time. And with any type of software – speech recognition or not – there will be glitches, problems, and frustrations. So while I love using Dragon speech software to write my blog posts and respond to readers comments, I’m not saying it’s a perfect system.

Pause for a problem writing with Dragon Naturally Speaking: just now I realized that I often have problems when I’m dictating at the page break area in documents in my MacBook Pro. There must be something about the page break that Dragon Naturally Speaking isn’t able to maneuver well. I guess dragons just can’t leap over the moats of page breaks in Macs. Good to know!

Learning new things, such as what Dragon does and does not do well for writers, is very good for our writing brains. It teaches problem-solving skills and new methods of communication. The more active your brain, the more agile it will be now…and when you are in your 80s.

8. Speech recognition software reduces the strain on my wrists and forearms

Back to the 10 ways Dragon Naturally Speaking is helping me learn how to write faster and better: the beast of carpal tunnel syndrome.

I’ve been working on the keyboard and mouse all day every day since 2008, and have been noticing a tightening in my forearm and thumb area on my right hand. My mother-in-law had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome a couple years ago. Her right hand and arm was out of commission for a full month after her surgery. I don’t want that!

Dragon speech recognition software is a perfect way to avoid repetitive strain. Why? Because instead of writing a blog post for two hours straight – and responding to readers comments for an hour a day – I am now talking instead of typing for those three hours every day. That gives my arms, hands, and forearms time to rest. This is crucial for writers who want to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome.

If you deal with repetitive strain injury, read How to Avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for Writers .

9. Dragon increases my sense of emotional and mental well-being

I feel incredibly good about myself as a blogger ever since I’ve been writing articles faster and responding to readers comments in heartfelt ways. I just feel better about my work habits since I started using speech recognition software. I really do like dictating my articles – and that does surprise me.

And of course the better I feel about myself, the more productive I’ll be as a writer. My self-esteem has a direct relationship to my ability to write better and faster. It’s a direct correlation: the better I feel about myself, the more I’ll write. And the more I write with Dragon, the better I feel about myself. Upward spiral.

10. Dragon will soon help improve my physical fitness levels

Can you guess what my next investment is in myself as a writer who wants to learn how to write faster and better?

No, not a Speech Recognition Headset for Dragon Naturally Speaking  – but that would be awesome. I just use the built-in microphone on my Mac.

My next investment – which is actually waiting for me downstairs – is a treadmill desk! Yes, I finally did it! I bought a treadmill that I can walk on while I write. I’ve been wanting a treadmill desk for three or four years. Since I made over $41,000 in December as an Amazon affiliate, I decided to finally buy myself a treadmill desk. I will start using it this afternoon, and will let you know next week how I fare on it. Will a treadmill desk help me write faster and better? I don’t know. But Dragon speech software will definitely help me right while walking on a treadmill.

Do you need tips on how to write faster and better, but don’t think speech recognition software is for you? Read 6 Ways to be a More Productive Writer or Blogger .

Resources for Dragon Naturally Speaking software

You can buy  Dragon Naturally Speaking  through Amazon or Nuance.com. I purchased the digital copy, which still comes with a money-back guarantee. I’m not sending it back, though!

Dragon Naturally Speaking is:

• The fastest and most accurate way to interact with your computer; Dragon dramatically boosts your personal productivity and helps you realize your full potential
• A personalized, voice-driven experience; Dragon gets even more accurate as it learns the words and phrases you use the most, spelling even difficult words and proper names correctly
• The best way to create, format and edit documents because voice allows you to think out loud and break through barriers to creativity

Speech software really has increased my productivity as a writer – but  I do need help with a few little things, such as how to train Dragon spell Laurie instead of Lori when I say my name.

And so….

The Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon: Using Speech Recognition Software to Dictate Your Book and Supercharge Your Writing Workflow  by Scott Baker is an excellent resource for the nitty-gritty details of how to use speech recognition software.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is easy to use, but there are a few things I still need to learn. I haven’t taken the time to explore the actual software itself to learn its features and benefits; a book like  The Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon is perfect.

Scott Baker first began using Dragon voice recognition software in the late 1990s (when it was terrible!). NaturallySpeaking has improved dramatically since then, and Scott now uses dictation on a daily basis. In his book, he shares the tricks and techniques used by professionals within the speech recognition industry to write thousands of words per hour.

Okay, fellow scribes, how many typos and errors did you spot in this blog post about writing faster and better with speech recognition software? I did not go back to edit this article. I edited as I wrote even though I promised myself I would stop doing that.

Luckily, I’m not writing for the New York Times. 🙂

Need encouragement? Get my weekly update!

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4 thoughts on “10 Ways to Write Faster and Better With Dragon Naturally Speaking”

I’m still learning how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but it has definitely sped up my writing and blogging productivity.

I had never heard about Dragon speaking software, but will look into it. I want to increase my productivity as a writer!

Hey Sharon, glad to hear from you 🙂

I’m still learning how to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but it has definitely sped up my writing and blogging productivity. I’m actually walking on my treadmill and using Dragon right now! Soon, I will write a blog post about walking and writing at the same time.

Take good care of yourself, for you are worth taking good care of.

– Laurie

So glad you’ve decided to give Dragon a try, Laurie. The latest versions really ARE excellent. I can’t imagine writing without it, now. I totally agree with the benefits. For bloggers, especially, Dragon lets us write like we speak, and of course, time saving and saving the wrists are huge benefits.

Dragon Speech Recognition Software

Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software enables users to command their computer using voice commands, seamlessly converting spoken words into written text. Whether you’re documenting family anecdotes, browsing the internet, sharing updates on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, assisting your kids with their schoolwork, managing tasks at work, or on-the-go, Dragon significantly enhances efficiency and enjoyment. Discover firsthand what the buzz is all about. Explore our video to uncover the plethora of incredible features packed into Dragon.

What is Dragon Speech Recognition Software

Across various sectors, from individual practitioners to multinational corporations, professionals immersed in industries requiring extensive documentation have consistently turned to Dragon speech recognition. This trusted tool facilitates the creation of top-tier documents swiftly and effectively, alleviating administrative burdens and allowing professionals to devote more attention to serving their clientele. Explore the advancements of Dragon Professional v16, which sets a new standard by providing a unified solution catering to both individual users and collaborative teams across all sectors of the business world.

Fluency Across Business Scale

Fluent in catering to businesses of all sizes, Dragon stands out as the go-to professional speech recognition solution across various sectors, including financial services, education, and health and human services, now adeptly serving the needs of both individual users and group deployments.

Exceptional Velocity and Precision

Positioned to propel you forward, Dragon Professional v16 capitalizes on over a quarter-century of expertise, optimized for Windows 11 while maintaining backward compatibility with Windows 10. It reigns as the premier choice for speech recognition, excelling in both front-end (live speech-to-text) and back-end (transcribing pre-existing audio files) applications.

Effortlessly Simplify Repetitive or Manual Tasks

Fueled by its unparalleled speed and accuracy, Dragon empowers users to dictate documents three times faster than typing, achieving up to 99% recognition accuracy from the very first use. This swift capture of information enables professionals to articulate details with precision and immediacy, freeing up valuable time to devote to client service.

Prepared for Your Future Trajectory

Harnessing the cutting-edge Nuance Deep Learning technology, Dragon boasts a next-generation speech engine that delivers remarkable recognition accuracy, even amidst accents or within dynamic work environments like open offices or mobile settings. This adaptability renders it ideal for diverse workgroups and settings.

Cutting-Edge Nuance Deep Learning Advancements

Dragon further enhances productivity by streamlining repetitive or manual processes. Users can effortlessly automate tasks or create custom voice commands to insert standard text or signatures into documents, streamlining workflows with time-saving macros activated by voice commands. These customizable features can be shared across the Dragon user community, fostering efficiency gains collectively.

Reduced Transcription Time and Expenses

Moreover, Dragon significantly reduces transcription time and costs, diminishing reliance on outsourced transcription services or eliminating transcription bottlenecks within businesses. Whether transcribing audio files or using the Auto Transcribe Folder Agent (ATFA) to process batch files of audio recordings, Dragon ensures swift and accurate conversion of spoken words into text, facilitating seamless document creation and management.

Dragon Speech Recognition Software Price

Dragon speech recognition software has three different packages.

Package 1: Home Edition + Password Genie

Experience the unparalleled Dragon Thursday deal, where you can seize a remarkable 50% discount on the renowned Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Home speech recognition software, priced at only $49.99, a significant drop from its original retail value of $99.99. This exclusive offer is coupled with Password Genie, an additional value of $15.

Empower yourself with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Home, enhancing your computer productivity to new heights. With this software, you can effortlessly craft documents, reports, social media posts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, send emails, and browse the internet at an impressive three times the speed of typing, boasting an accuracy rate of up to 99.9%.

Meanwhile, Password Genie adds an extra layer of security and convenience by securely storing your passwords, logins, and other sensitive personal data, mitigating the risks associated with identity theft. This comprehensive package ensures both efficient computer interaction and safeguarding of your digital identity through state-of-the-art password protection and cutting-edge speech recognition technology.

Package 2: Dragon 12 Premium Wireless

Step into the realm of ultimate convenience and efficiency with Dragon 12 Premium Wireless, previously priced at $299.99, now available at a discounted rate, enabling you to save a substantial $130!

This advanced speech recognition software revolutionizes your computing experience by seamlessly integrating voice commands with the included 16 kHz Bluetooth wireless headset. Transform spoken words into written text at a remarkable pace, achieving speeds three times faster than traditional typing, with an astounding accuracy rate of up to 99%.

Leveraging the power of modern multi-core processors, Dragon 12 Premium Wireless ensures unparalleled speed and precision, facilitating seamless correction and editing processes. Embrace wireless freedom with the Dragon Remote Mic App for iOS and Android devices, eliminating the need for physical connections and enhancing mobility.

Moreover, enjoy enhanced functionality with popular webmail services like Gmail™ and Hotmail®, featuring Full Text Control and intuitive commands for streamlined navigation. With wideband Bluetooth support, experience the highest-ever wireless accuracy rates, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.

Bid farewell to repetitive stress injuries as you embrace ergonomic computing with the included 16 kHz Bluetooth wireless headset, liberating yourself from the constraints of traditional input devices. Revolutionize your workflow and enhance your computing experience with Dragon 12 Premium Wireless, the epitome of efficiency and innovation.

Package 3: Dictate for Mac, v4 Bundle

Unlock unparalleled efficiency with the Dictate for Mac, v4 Bundle, previously priced at $215.99, now available at a discounted rate, enabling you to save a substantial $85!

Dragon Dictate for Mac, v4 stands as the pinnacle of productivity tools, revolutionizing your workflow and maximizing your productivity. Seamlessly dictate, edit, transcribe, and control your computer solely through the power of your voice.

Experience unparalleled flexibility with customizable voice commands, empowering you to create and edit documents effortlessly in Apple® Pages® 4.3, manage emails in Gmail™, navigate the web, and update your social media statuses on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

With Smart Format Rules at your disposal, enjoy the convenience of automatic adaptation to your preferred formatting preferences, eliminating the need for constant manual corrections. Whether it’s abbreviations, numbers, or other formatting nuances, Dragon Dictate ensures accuracy without the hassle.

Transcribe your thoughts at a remarkable pace of up to 160 words per minute, as your spoken words seamlessly manifest on the computer screen in real-time, eliminating tedious transcription processes and enhancing efficiency.

Embrace a relaxed, hands-free working environment, alleviating strain on your eyes, wrists, hands, neck, back, and overall posture. With Dragon Dictate, experience the perfect blend of accuracy, speed, and versatility, revolutionizing your productivity whether at home, school, or in the workplace.

How to Install Dragon Speech Recognition Software

Congratulations on your purchase of Dragon speech recognition software by Nuance Communications! You’re about to unlock the full potential of your VoicePower.

However, you might be wondering: How do you go about installing it?

Fear not, as our technical team is here to guide you through every step of the process, whether you have a physical disk or a download link.

Please note that we’ll be using Dragon Professional Individual as an example for this guide. Installation steps may vary depending on the version you have.

If you still find yourself stuck after following this guide, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.

Installing Dragon via Download Link

If you received a download link from your supplier, simply click on the link to initiate the download process. Once the download is complete, run the downloaded file, and proceed to step 2.

Installing Dragon from Disk

For those using a disk, locate the serial number on the disk packaging and keep it safe. You’ll need this for logging in later.

Step 1 : Insert the disk into your computer and wait for the installation window to appear. If it doesn’t, navigate to File Explorer, select ‘This PC,’ and click on the Dragon disk to run it.

Step 2 : Read and accept the user license agreement when prompted.

Step 3 : Enter the serial number noted earlier along with the username provided by your supplier, then click ‘Next.’

Step 4 : Choose the installation setting that suits your needs. For most users, the ‘Typical’ setting is recommended unless you require specific customization.

Step 5: Select the location to save the files and click ‘Install.’

Step 6 : Dragon will begin the installation process.

Step 7: Follow the prompts until you see the next window.

Step 8 : Once installation is complete, click ‘Finish,’ and you’re all set!

That’s it! You’ve successfully installed Dragon and are now ready to set up your User Profile.

For further assistance or guidance on any aspect of installing or setting up your Dragon profile, feel free to contact our technical support team. We’re here to help you every step of the way.

And don’t forget to watch the instructional video linked below to learn how to select the correct language for your Dragon profile.

Dragon Medical Speech Recognition Software

Dragon Medical Practice Edition 4 is on its way out, making room for the groundbreaking Dragon Medical One, a true technological breakthrough. As an authorized Nuance Premier Var Partner, we boast a rich history of delivering top-tier speech recognition solutions and providing unwavering support to countless individuals and organizations in their dictation endeavors. Rest assured, our advice, products, and services are of the highest caliber, backed by expert-level knowledge and certification in all the technologies we offer.

We understand you, your work, and, most importantly, everything about Dragon. Whether you’re grappling with server configurations or seeking seamless integration with Windows, Citrix, and Vmware environments, we’ve got you covered. Even if you’re an avid Apple Mac or iPad user, fret not – we have solutions to bring Dragon to your devices. From troubleshooting for novice users to unveiling advanced automation techniques for the tech-savvy, we tailor our support to meet your unique needs.

You’re here because you feel the pain shared by countless clinicians – the bottleneck of clinical reporting. Despite the myriad templates and shortcuts, the cumbersome EHR systems demand countless clicks for a single encounter, falling short of capturing the narrative essence and speed offered by Dragon Medical technology. Join forces with us as we navigate the changing landscape of technology, propelled forward by the advent of AI. We’re already at the forefront, strategizing, developing, and gearing up for the future.

Just as clinicians are driven by passion for their work, so are we. Let us introduce you to the world of AI, Speech Recognition, automation, and the transformative capabilities of Dragon Medical One Technology. Together, we’ll revolutionize the way you approach clinical documentation and elevate your practice to new heights.

Is Dragon Speech Recognition Free?

Unlock the pinnacle of precision with the most advanced professional-grade dictation service currently on the market. With Dragon Anywhere, you have the power to craft templates, incorporate custom vocabulary, and effortlessly dictate your documents with unparalleled accuracy. Experience the seamless adaptation of Dragon Anywhere to your unique speech patterns and preferences. Start your one-week FREE TRIAL today and witness the transformative capabilities firsthand! Upon completion of the trial period, seamlessly transition to a monthly subscription at $14.99 or an annual subscription at $149.99.

Is Dragon Speech Worth it?

Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition stands as a versatile tool renowned across diverse industries and professions for its remarkable capabilities. From data entry to report writing, editing, and email correspondence, users have harnessed the software’s power to streamline various tasks with precision and efficiency. Among professionals, such as lawyers, the software’s utility shines, offering a swift and accurate means to dictate thoughts and notes without the constraints of transcription services. This feature not only ensures privacy but also enhances productivity by enabling dictation within the confines of one’s office space.

Similarly, physicians in office settings have seamlessly integrated Nuance Dragon Speech Recognition into their electronic medical records systems, revolutionizing documentation processes. By dictating progress and procedure notes post-patient visits, they’ve not only bid farewell to cumbersome paper charts but also significantly reduced reliance on traditional office supplies. This seamless integration underscores the software’s adaptability and its pivotal role in enhancing efficiency across various professional domains.

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home 12.0, English (Old Version)

About this item.

• Improved Accuracy: Dragon 12 delivers up to a 20 percent improvement in out of box accuracy compared to Dragon 11
• If you use Dragon on a computer with multi core processors and more than 4 GB of RAM, Dragon 12 automatically selects the BestMatch V speech model for you when you create your user profile in order to deliver faster performance
• Better performance: Dragon 12 boosts performance by delivering easier correction and editing options, and giving you more control over your command preferences, letting you get things done faster than ever before
• Smart Format Rules: Dragon now reaches out to you to adapt upon detecting your format corrections abbreviations, numbers, and more so your dictated text looks the way you want it to every time
• More Natural Text to Speech Voice: Dragon 12's natural sounding Text To Speech reads editable text with fast forward, rewind and speed and volume control for easy proofing and multi tasking

Additional Details

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Product details

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.5 x 7.5 inches; 7.52 ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ K409A-G00-12.0
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ July 19, 2012
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Nuance Communications
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008MR36FE
• #4 in Voice Recognition

Product Description

Turn Talk into Text-Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Home speech recognition software ignites new levels of creativity and convenience by letting you interact with your PC using your voice. Dragon recognizes what you say and how you say it so you can turn talk into text and enjoy using your voice to command your PC and applications. Say words and they appear on your screen - three times faster than typing. Use your favorite applications to dictate documents, send email, search the Web, or network with friends and family. Speak simple voice commands to launch applications, select menu items, “press” keys, save files, or switch from one window to another. Dragon 12 Home makes working on your PC for home or school easier and more enjoyable than ever before

From the Manufacturer

Dragon Home turns talk into text with greater recognition and formatting accuracy than ever before. Capture your ideas at the speed of thought without letting typing, spelling, or fear of the blank page slow you down. Say words and they appear on your computer screen - three times faster than typing - with no spelling mistakes. Correcting your dictated text is fast and easy, too.

Use your favorite applications to dictate documents, send e-mail, search the web, or network with friends and family. Speak simple voice commands to launch applications, select menu items, "press" keys, save files, or switch from one window to another. Dragon 12 Home makes working on your PC for home or school easier and more enjoyable than ever before.

Key New Features

• Smart Format Rules allow Dragon to adapt by detecting your format corrections - abbreviations, numbers, and more - so your dictated text looks the way you want it every time.
• Use Dragon with two of the most popular web-based e-mail applications - Gmail and Hotmail - with Full Text Control and commands for the most frequent actions.
• An interactive tutorial provides simulations to enable you to learn and practice good dictation, correction, and editing habits so you can become more proficient with Dragon in record time.
• Use an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (4th gen) or now a compatible Android device as a remote microphone for flexibility and convenience.
• Dragon 12 delivers up to a 20% improvement in out-of-box accuracy compared to Dragon 11.
• If you use Dragon on a computer with multi-core processors and more than 4 GB of RAM, Dragon 12 automatically selects the BestMatch V speech model for you when you create your user profile in order to deliver faster performance.

Ignite More Fun at Your PC

Dragon 12 Home lets you say words and watch them appear on your computer screen. It’s easy to install and fun to use, making even mundane PC tasks more enjoyable. It changes the way you interact with your PC for the better so you can get through your "to-do" list faster than ever before.

Ignite Creativity by Capturing Your Spoken Thoughts

Simply speak and Dragon captures your thoughts so you’ll never lose track of another great idea. Capture your thoughts quickly and completely, without having to keep your eyes fixed on the screen or keyboard. When it’s time to edit and revise your documents, use Dragon’s commands to breeze through the process. Dragon can even adapt its format rules by detecting your format corrections – abbreviations, numbers, and more — so your dictated text looks the way you want it to every time.

Ignite Productivity by Turning Talk into Text

Turn talk into text three times faster than typing with up to 99% recognition accuracy right out of the box. Dragon 12 Home adapts to your voice and the words you use to deliver better recognition results over time. You can even personalize Dragon with acronyms, proper names and other unique phrases that you frequently use.

Ignite Convenience by Using Your Favorite Applications

In addition to DragonPad, the built-in text editor, you can use Dragon 12 Home with many of your favorite Windows applications.

• Dictate documents in Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, or OpenOffice Writer.
• Send e-mail in Microsoft Outlook or Windows LiveMail.
• Search the web using Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.
• Post to Facebook or Twitter.

Dragon 12 Home even enhances the experience of using your voice with two of the most popular web-based email applications — Gmail and Hotmail — offering Full Text Control and commands for the most frequent actions in Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox 10 or higher, and Google Chrome 16 or higher.

Ignite Speed with Powerful Intuitive Voice Commands

Dragon Voice Shortcuts collapse common multi-step tasks into direct voice commands you can use at any time, no matter which applications are currently active. For example, say: "Search the web for licensed electricians in Brooklyn, New York" or "search Google for 87 divided by 12" and Dragon makes it happen. You can also say "open top site for Girl Scouts" and Dragon automatically opens the top-ranked page for these keywords. You can even use voice commands to schedule tasks and appointments and search your computer faster than ever before.

Ignite Comfort and Freedom

With Dragon 12 Home, you can use your PC in a comfortable, ergonomic way without being tied to your keyboard and mouse. You can even use your compatible iOS or Android device as a wireless microphone for optimal convenience.

Ignite Ease of Use, Right Out of the Box

Thanks to the new interactive tutorial’s simulations, you can learn and practice good dictation, correction and editing habits so that you can create text efficiently within just a few minutes. The Dragon Help system contains a "Tip of the Day" window and other easy ways for you to quickly learn what interests you. The Dragon Sidebar puts important voice commands and tips in one convenient desktop location. And on-screen help means information is always available when you need it.

System Requirements

• Recommended: 2.2 GHz Intel dual core or equivalent AMD processor
• Minimum: 1 GHz Intel Pentium or equivalent AMD processor or 1.66 GHz Intel Atom processor

NOTE: Faster processors yield faster performance. SSE2 instruction set is required.

Processor Cache

• Recommended: 2 MB L2 cache
• Minimum: 512 KB L2 cache

Free Hard Disk Space

• 4 GB for localized non-English versions

Supported Operating Systems

• Microsoft Windows 7 and higher, 32-bit and 64-bit
• Microsoft Windows XP SP3, 32-bit only
• Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2, 32-bit and 64-bit
• Recommended: 2 GB for Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 32-bit; 4 GB for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 64-bit
• Minimum:1 GB for Windows XP; 2 GB for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher for online help
• Sound card supporting 16-bit recording
• DVD-ROM drive for installation
• Nuance-approved noise-canceling headset microphone (included in purchase)

NOTE: An Internet connection is required for automatic product activation (a quick, anonymous process). This edition of Dragon does not support dictation directly into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. For EMR support, please use Dragon Medical Edition.

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Customer reviews.

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 59% 17% 10% 3% 11% 59%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 59% 17% 10% 3% 11% 17%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 59% 17% 10% 3% 11% 10%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 59% 17% 10% 3% 11% 3%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 59% 17% 10% 3% 11% 11%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers are happy with the productivity of the software. They say it's able to read and understand the word you want to say next. They are also happy with accuracy, and headset. However, some customers have reported issues with the speech recognition. They mention that it has problems identifying some words and that it just doesn't translate her verbal words to the correct written words. They also disagree on quality, and ease of use.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the software able to read and understand the word they want to say next. They say it types what they say almost flawlessly, and it knows how to spell. Customers also say it's a great program for dictating letters, e-mail, and manuscripts. They mention that it seems to understand what they saying well.

"...I think using Dragon helps to make my writing flow better and sound more natural." Read more

"...So it's well worth getting.Naturally speaking helps me to organize my thoughts on the fly...." Read more

"...Is also much quicker to speak , for me, then to type.Dragon allows me to speak while it types...." Read more

"...It will definitely learn your voice, pronunciation and word usage and improves with every use...." Read more

Customers like the cost of the software. They say it's absolutely worth it for the price, and a wonderful asset.

"...didn't feel like I had anything to lose by buying this… It seemed very inexpensive to me and it didn't bother me that this newer version might not..." Read more

"This product, is definitely worth buying ...." Read more

"...lack of (but growing) skill with the tool, this software was worth the purchase price ...." Read more

"...So much better.This was the best product for the cheapest amount , and I still don't know why I'd pay more for those newer additions with..." Read more

Customers like the accuracy of the software. They say that it is very accurate, with dictation accuracy of 95% or better. They also say that the recognition accuracy is excellent, and that it's far more accurate than the speech app that comes with Windows 7.

"...The product has gotten more refined and the accuracy is about 99 percent ...." Read more

"...After 4-minute training I would say that dictation accuracy was 95+%. Very nice . I worked flawlessly in MS WORD...." Read more

"...By doing this I find that Dragon is about 100% correct . What a joy to use...." Read more

"...I opened this one doc and it was full of gibberish . Crazy talk. It scared me. I thought, have I lost my mind?..." Read more

Customers like the headset that is included with the software. They say it works well and is adequate. Some customers are surprised that a headset is included.

"...And yes... it does come with a microphone/headset , although it is of cheap design. I'd recommend purchasing a quality set...." Read more

"...Also, it comes packaged with a headset/microphone ...." Read more

"...I did not know that the Dragon comes with a very good headset and there is no need to buy another one. Amazon should be ashamed of themselves." Read more

"...Oh, and, sure, the pre-packaged mic is crap , but it does its job, too. And a more efficient mic can be had for, what, twelve bucks or so?" Read more

Customers are mixed about the quality of the software. Some mention that it works well for their needs and improves with every use. Others say that it's not very good at it, buggy, and unstable. They also say that the headset is not the best quality and that they get several mistakes when dictating.

"...The product has gotten more refined and the accuracy is about 99 percent...." Read more

"...Wish Dragon had just worked in Notepad+ but.... Dragon acquitted itself very nicely . No inconvenience. Speed of dictation was good...." Read more

"...As a result they are not very good at it althouth there is substantial progress for the last 10 years..." Read more

"...That works very well . I'm using Windows 7 home edition premium only 64 bit machine...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the ease of use. Some mention it's very simple to learn, set up, and use, with fairly simple commands. They also say the tutorials are very helpful. However, others say it'd be better off with a different product. They say the installation process is not smooth and cumbersome.

"... No inconvenience . Speed of dictation was good. That's why I bought version 12(12.5) and not the newer version First Impressions...Great...." Read more

"...9/10/2013 - still having the application hang which requires un-install/install , training, etc...." Read more

"...I find dictating to Dragon to be a very natural process when it comes to writing...." Read more

"...It arrived within a few days, and installation was very easy . Like most people I am not very computer savvy, but had no problem installing this...." Read more

Customers find the speech recognition function of the software extremely weak, having problems identifying some words. They also say it's a very complex task for machines to do, and it'll skip entire words for her. Customers also say the software won't take dictation and that spelling and grammar errors are very time-consuming. They say the product randomly doesn't heed their voice, intended corrections, or enunciation.

"...You can see in the video that it is unable to work at all and never captures even one word of my dictation...." Read more

"...can slightly interface with the latest OpenOffice, but it will NOT take dictation if you use any version of OpenOffice AFTER 3.4.1..." Read more

"...It occasionally does have problems identifying some words , but the performance does seem to improve as time goes on and Dragon learns how I like to..." Read more

"... Speech recognition is a very complex task for machines to do...." Read more

Customers have issues with compatibility. They mention that it doesn't work with their system, it has compatibility issues with Microsoft office pro, and it's slow to load. They also say that it'll not recognize most of what they say. Customers also say it'd not work with Mozilla or Internet Explorer past version 10.

"...Cons: Dictating email into webmail interfaces or AOL requires using the Dragon notepad app, then copy-pasting into your email message...." Read more

"...It freezes up constantly . It's slow and inaccurate...." Read more

"...I imagine it will get better over time. It does pause a lot ; not sure if that will improve...." Read more

"...It kept saying wasn't compatible . Then I tried a second laptop with Windows 7 it started to download but when it got to end...." Read more

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The Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for Windows

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Looking for the best free speech to text software on Windows?

The best speech-to-text software is Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) but it comes at a price. But how does it compare to the best of the free programs, like Google Docs Voice Typing (GDVT) and Windows Speech Recognition (WSR)?

This article compares Dragon against Google Docs Voice Typing and Windows Speech Recognition for three typical uses:

• Writing novels.
•  Academic transcription.
• Writing business documents like memos.

Comparing Speech Recognition Software: Dragon Vs. Google Vs Microsoft

We will look at the nuances between the three below, but here's an overview on their pros and cons which will help you quickly make a decision.

1. Dragon Speech Recognition

Dragon Naturally Speaking beats Microsoft's and Google's software in voice recognition.

DNS scores 10% better on average compared to both programs. But is Dragon Naturally Speaking worth the money?

It depends on what you're using it for. For seamless, high-accuracy writing that will require little proof-reading, DNS is the best speech-to-text software around.

2. Windows Speech Recognition

If you don't mind proofreading your documents, WSR is a great free speech-recognition software.

On the downside, it requires that you use a Windows computer. It's also only about 90% accurate, making it the least accurate out of all the voice recognition software tested in this article.

However, it's integrated into the Windows operating system, which means it can also control the computer itself, such as shutdown and sleep.

3. Google Docs Voice Typing

Google Docs Voice Typing is highly limited in how and where you use it. It only works in Google Docs, in the Chrome Browser, and with an internet connection.

But it offers several options on mobile devices. Android smartphones have the ability to transcribe your voice to text using the same speech-to-text engine that also works with Google Keep or Live Transcribe.

And while Dragon Naturally Speaking offers a mobile app, it's treated as a separate purchase from the desktop client.

Dragon and Microsoft work in any place you can enter text. However, WSR can execute control functions whereas Dragon is mostly limited to text input.

Download : Live Transcribe for Android (Free)

Speech-to-Text Testing Methods

In order to test the accuracy of the dictation with the tools, I read aloud three texts:

• Charles Darwin's "On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties"
• H.P. Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu"
• California Governor Jerry Brown's 2017 State of the State speech

When a speech-to-text software miscapitalized a word, I marked the text as blue in the right-column (see graphic below). When one of the software got a word wrong, the misspelled word was marked in red. I did not consider wrong capitalizations to be errors.

I used a Blue Yeti microphone which is the best microphone for podcasting  and a relatively fast computer. However, you don't need any special hardware. Any laptop or smartphone transcribes speech as well as a more expensive machine.

Test 1: Dragon Naturally Speaking Speech-to-Text Accuracy

Dragon scored 100% on accuracy on all three sample texts. While it failed to capitalize the first letter on every text, it otherwise performed beyond my expectations.

While all three transcription suites do a great job of accurately turning spoken words into written text, DNS comes out way ahead of its competitors. It even successfully understood complicated words such as "hitherto" and "therein".

Test 2: Google Docs Voice Typing Speech-to-Text Accuracy

Google Docs Voice Typing had many errors compared to Dragon. GDVT got 93.5% right on Lovecraft, 96.5% correc t for Brown, and 96.5% for Darwin. Its average accuracy came out to around 95.2% for all three texts.

On the downside, it automatically capitalized a lot of words that didn't need capitalization. It seems the engine also hasn't improved in accuracy since I last tested GDVT three years ago.

Test 3: Microsoft Windows Speech Recognition Text-to-Speech Accuracy

Microsoft's Windows Speech Recognition came in last. Its accuracy on Lovecraft was 84.3% , although it did not miscapitalize any words like GDVT. For Brown's speech, it got its highest accuracy rating of around 94.8% , making it equivalent to GDVT.

For Darwin's book, it managed to get a similarly high score of 93.1% . Its average accuracy across all texts came out to 89% .

Related: The Best Free Text-to-Speech Tools for Educators

Are Free Transcription Services Worth Using?

• Dragon Naturally Speaking got a perfect 100% accuracy for voice transcription.
• Microsoft's free voice-to-text service, Windows Speech Recognition scored an 89% accuracy.
• Google Docs Voice Typing got a total score of 95.2% accuracy.

However, there are some major limitations to free text-to-speech options you should always keep in mind.

GDVT only works in the Chrome browser. On top of that, it only works for Google Docs. If you need to enter something in a spreadsheet or in a word processor other than Google Docs, you are out of luck.

Our test results indicate it is more accurate than WSR, but you have to keep in mind that it only works in Chrome for Google Docs. And you will always need an internet connection.

WSR can make you more productive with its hands-off computer automation features. Plus, it can enter text. Its accuracy is the weakest out of the services that I tested.

That said, you can live with its misses if you are not a heavy transcriber. It's on par with Google Docs Voice Typing but limited to Windows.

For most users, the free options should be good enough. However, for all those who need high levels of transcription accuracy, Dragon Naturally Speaking is the best option around. As an occasional user, if you need a free service, Google Docs Voice Typing is a viable alternative.

These tools prove that your voice can make you more productive. Now, try out Google Voice Assistant  which is the best voice-control assistant you can use right now to manage everyday tasks.

Plus, be sure to check out these free online services to download text to speech as MP3 .

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• Speech Recognition

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Dragon NaturallySpeaking Software

Product description.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Home is the world’s best-selling speech recognition software that lets you use your voice to get more done every day on your computer — quickly and accurately — at home, school or for hobbies. You simply talk and text appears on the screen up to three time faster than typing. You speak commands and Dragon understands and executes them.

#CommissionsEarned: As an Amazon Associate, ADDitude earns a commission from qualifying purchases made by ADDitude readers on the affiliate links we share. However, all products linked in the ADDitude Store have been independently selected by our editors and/or recommended by our readers. Prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

Full Product Description

Dragon Naturally Speaking 13 Home is perfect if you’re new to speech recognition and want an easy and enjoyable way to connect with your computer by talking instead of typing. It lets you dictate documents naturally with up to 99% accuracy and control applications using simple voice commands so you can accomplish more on your computer in less time for home, school or fun.

• The fastest and most accurate way to interact with your computer; Dragon dramatically boosts your personal productivity and helps you realize your full potential
• A personalized, voice-driven experience; Dragon gets even more accurate as it learns the words and phrases you use the most, spelling even difficult words and proper names correctly
• An intuitive design and helpful tutorials make it easy to get started and easy to master
• The ability to create, format and edit documents by voice allows you to think out loud and break through barriers to creativity
• Dictation of text anywhere where you normally type within popular applications enables greater productivity and efficient multi-tasking
• Supports Microsoft Office 2010 & 2013. Does not support dictation into Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. For EMR support, use Dragon Medical Practice Edition

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The Best Dictation Software

By Kaitlyn Wells

Dictation software makes it easy to navigate your computer and communicate without typing a single phrase.

This flexibility is great if you simply need a break from your keyboard, but it’s especially important for people with language-processing disorders or physical disabilities. Firing off a quick text or typing a memo can be difficult—or even totally infeasible—if you have limited hand dexterity or chronic pain, but this kind of software can make such tasks a relative breeze.

After considering 18 options, we’ve found that Apple Voice Control and Nuance Dragon Professional v16  are more accurate, efficient, and usable than any other dictation tools we’ve tested.

Everything we recommend

Apple Voice Control

The best dictation tool for apple devices.

Apple’s Voice Control is easier to use and produces accurate transcriptions more frequently than the competition. It also offers a robust command hub that makes corrections a breeze.

Buying Options

Upgrade pick.

Nuance Dragon Professional v16

The best dictation tool for windows pcs.

Dragon Professional v16 is the most accurate dictation tool we tested for any operating system—but its hefty price tag is a lot to swallow.

But the technology behind dictation software (also called speech-to-text or voice-recognition software) has some faults. These apps have difficult learning curves, and the inherent bias that humans program into them means that their accuracy can vary, especially for people with various accents, sociolects and dialects like African American Vernacular English, or speech impediments. Still, for those able to work within the technology’s constraints, our picks are the best options available for many people who need assistance using a word-processing tool.

Apple’s Voice Control comes installed with macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, so it’s free to anyone who owns an Apple device. In our testing, it produced accurate transcriptions most of the time, especially for speakers with standard American accents. Competing tools from Google and Microsoft averaged 15 points lower than Apple’s software in our accuracy tests. Among our panel of testers, those with limited hand dexterity loved Voice Control’s assistive-technology features, which made it easy to navigate the OS and edit messages hands-free.

But while the experience that Voice Control provides was the best we found for Apple devices, it often misunderstood words or entire phrases spoken by testers with regional or other American accents or speech impediments such as stutters. Although such accuracy issues are expected for speech-recognition modeling that has historically relied on homogenous data sources , other tools (specifically, Nuance Dragon Professional v16 , which is available only for Windows) performed slightly better in this regard. Apple’s tool may also lag slightly if you’re running multiple processor-intensive programs at once, which our panelists said slowed their productivity.

At $700, Nuance Dragon Professional v16 is the most expensive speech-recognition tool we’ve found, but it’s the best option for people who own Windows PCs. Professional v16 replaces our previous Windows PC pick, the now-discontinued Nuance Dragon Home 15 . It offers added functionality for those working in finance, healthcare, and human services—and is probably overkill for most people. (If you need a free PC option, consider Windows Voice Recognition , but know it has significant flaws .)

Like its predecessor, Professional v16 involves a learning curve at first, but the Dragon tutorial does a great job of getting you started. Our panelist with language-processing disabilities said Dragon was one of the most accurate dictation options they tried, and the robust command features made it possible for them to quickly navigate their machine. Like our Apple pick, Dragon had trouble with various American dialects and international accents; it performed better for those testers with “neutral” American accents. It also struggled to eliminate all background noise, though you can mitigate such problems by using an external microphone or headset. Although Dragon produced the fastest transcriptions of any tool we tested, this wasn’t an unqualified positive: Half of our panelists said that they preferred slower real-time transcriptions to Dragon’s sentence-by-sentence transcription method because they found its longer pauses between sentences’ appearance on their screen to be distracting.

The research

Why you should trust us, who this is—and isn’t—for, how we picked and tested, the best dictation tool for apple devices: apple voice control, the best dictation tool for windows pcs: nuance dragon professional v16, other good dictation software, how to use dictation software, should you worry about your privacy when using dictation software, the competition.

As a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, I’ve spent five years covering complex topics, writing articles focusing on subjects such as dog DNA tests , blue-light-blocking glasses , email unsubscribe tools , and technology-manipulation tactics used by domestic abusers . I was an early adopter of dictation software back in the early aughts, with a much less polished version of Nuance’s Dragon software. Like other people I interviewed for this guide, I quickly abandoned the software because of its poor performance and difficult learning curve. Since then, I’ve occasionally used dictation and accessibility tools on my devices to send quick messages when my hands are sticky from baking treats or covered in hair product from my morning routine. While writing this guide, I dictated about a third of the text using the tools we recommend.

But I’m not someone who is dependent on dictation tools to communicate, so I consulted a variety of experts in the AI and disability communities to better understand the role that this kind of software plays in making the world more accessible for people with disabilities. I read articles and peer-reviewed studies, I browsed disability forums that I frequent for advice on my chronic pain, and I solicited input from affinity organizations to learn what makes a great dictation tool. And I brushed up on the latest research in AI technology and voice-recognition bias from Harvard Business Review , the Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute , and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Speech Accessibility Project , among others.

I also chatted with Meenakshi Das , a disability advocate and software engineer at Microsoft, and Diego Mariscal, CEO of the disabled-founders startup accelerator 2Gether-International , about the limitations of dictation tools for people with various disabilities. I discussed the ethics of artificial intelligence with Princeton University PhD candidate Sayash Kapoor . I attended a lecture by Kapoor’s advisor, Arvind Narayanan, PhD , entitled “ The Limits Of The Quantitative Approach To Discrimination .” I spoke with Christopher Manning , co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University, about the evolution of dictation software. And I consulted with Wirecutter’s editor of accessibility coverage, Claire Perlman, to ensure that my approach to this guide remained accessible, nuanced, and reflective of the disability community’s needs.

Lastly, I assembled a testing panel of nine people with varying degrees of experience using dictation software, including several with disabilities ranging from speech impediments to limited hand dexterity to severe brain trauma. Our testers also self-reported accents ranging from “neutral” American to “vague” Louisianan to “noticeable” Indian.

Assistive technology such as speech-to-text tools can help you do everything from sending hands-free texts while driving to typing up a term paper without ever touching your keyboard.

We wrote this guide with two types of users in mind: people with disabilities who rely on dictation software to communicate, and people with free use of their hands who occasionally use these tools when they need to work untethered from their keyboard. However, we put a stronger focus on people with disabilities because dictation software can better serve that population and can ultimately make it easier for them to access the world and communicate.

Users with limited or no hand dexterity, limb differences, or language-processing challenges may find speech-recognition software useful because it gives them the freedom to communicate in their preferred environment. For example, our panelists with learning disabilities said they liked to mentally wander or “brain dump” while using voice-recognition software to complete projects, and they felt less pressure to write down everything perfectly the first time.

Still, our approach had limits: We focused on each tool’s ability to integrate with and edit text documents, rather than to verbally navigate an entire computer screen, which is a feature that some people with cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, quadriplegia, and other neurological disabilities need—especially if they have no speaking issues and limited or no motor control. Our picks offer some accessibility features, such as grid navigation, text editing, and voice commands, that make using devices easier, but not everyone who tested the software for us used those features extensively, and the majority of voice-recognition software we considered lacks these premium options.

Aside from the absence of accessibility features, there are other potential hindrances to these software programs’ usefulness, such as how well they work with a range of accents.

The biases of dictation software

Speech-recognition software first became increasingly available in the 1980s and 1990s, with the introduction of talking typewriters for those with low vision , commercial speech-recognition software, and collect-call processing, according to Christopher Manning , co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence . But “speech recognition used to be really awful,” he said. “If you were an English-Indian speaker, the chances of it [understanding you] used to be about zero; now it’s not that bad.”

As we found in our tests, an individual’s definition of “bad” can vary widely depending on their accent and their speaking ability. And our AI experts agreed that the limitations of the natural language processing (NLP) technology used in dictation software are laid bare when faced with various accents, dialects, and speech patterns from around the world.

Sayash Kapoor , a second-year PhD candidate studying AI ethics at Princeton University, said that NLP tools are often trained on websites like Reddit and Wikipedia, making them biased against marginalized genders and people from Black, indigenous, and other communities of color. The end result is that most dictation software works best with canonical accents, said Manning, such as British and American English. Our experts told us that some speech-to-text tools don’t have fine-grain modeling for different dialects and sociolects, let alone gender identity, race, and geographic location.

In fact, one study found that speech-to-text tools by Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM, and Microsoft exhibited “ substantial racial disparities ,” as the average word-error rate for Black speakers was nearly twice that of white speakers. This limitation affects not only how easily speakers can dictate their work but also how effectively they can correct phrases and give formatting commands—which makes all the difference between a seamless or painful user experience.

Inherent bias in speech-recognition tools extends to speech impediments, as well. Wirecutter approached several people with stutters or other types of speech and language disabilities, such as those resulting from cerebral palsy or Parkinson’s disease, about joining our panel of testers. But most declined, citing a history of poor experiences with dictation tools. Disability advocate Meenakshi Das, who has a stutter, said she doesn’t use any speech-to-text tools because more work needs to be done industry-wide to make the software truly accessible. (Das is a software engineer at Microsoft, which owns Nuance , the company that produces our pick for Windows PCs .)

Both Das and Kapoor have noticed a trend of accelerators working to close the bias gap for people with accents, speech impediments, and language-processing disabilities in order to make it possible for those groups to use dictation tools. In October 2022, for example, the University of Illinois announced a partnership with Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and nonprofits on the Speech Accessibility Project to improve voice recognition for people with disabilities and diverse speech patterns.

But until truly inclusive speech-to-text tools arrive, people in those underserved groups can check out our advice on how to get the most out of the software that’s currently available.

We solicited insights on speech-to-text tools from our experts and read software reviews, peer-reviewed studies, disability forums, and organization websites to learn what makes a great dictation tool.

We identified 18 dictation software packages and compared their features, platform compatibility, privacy policies, price, and third-party reviews. Among the features we looked for were a wide variety of useful voice commands, ease of navigation, the presence of customizable commands and vocabulary, multi-language support, and built-in hint tools or tutorials. Those programs that ranked highest on our criteria, generally offering a mix of robust features and wide platform availability, made our short list for testing:

• Apple Dictation ( macOS , iOS , iPadOS )
• Apple Voice Control ( macOS , iOS , iPadOS )
• Google Assistant on Gboard
• Google Docs Voice Typing
• Microsoft Word Dictate
• Nuance Dragon Home 15 (discontinued)
• Windows Voice Recognition
• Windows Voice Typing

We defaulted these tools to the American English setting and rotated using each tool for a couple of hours on our computers and mobile devices. Afterward, we graded their performance on accuracy, ease of use, speed, noise interference, and app compatibility. We placed an emphasis on accuracy rates, performing a series of control tests to see how well the dictation tools recognized 150- to 200-word samples of casual speech, the lyrics of Alicia Keys’s song “No One,” and scientific jargon from a peer-reviewed vaccine study . From there, we advanced the dictation tools with the highest marks to our panel-testing round.

Nine panelists tested our semifinalists over the course of three weeks. Our diverse group of testers included those with disabilities ranging from speech impediments to limited hand dexterity to severe brain trauma. They self-reported accents ranging from American to Catalan to Indian. All the panelists had varying degrees of prior experience with dictation software.

Meet our testers:

• Aum N., 34, who works in quality assurance and has an Indian accent
• Ben K., 41, an editor with a “moderate” stutter and a “standard” American accent
• Chandana C., 64, an analyst with a “noticeable” Indian accent
• Claire P., 31, an editor with a musculoskeletal disability called arthrogryposis
• Davis L., 27, an audio producer with a “vague” Louisianan accent
• Franc C. F., 38, a software engineer from Spain
• Juan R., 52, who survived a car accident that caused severe brain trauma and now has limited short-term memory and limited reading comprehension
• Polina G., 49, an engineering manager with ADHD
• Vicki C., 33, a software engineer with a shoulder injury and repetitive stress injury

The panelists sent text messages, drafted emails, and coded software using the various speech-to-text tools, after which they provided extensive notes on their experiences and identified which tools they would feel comfortable using regularly or purchasing on their own.

To arrive at our picks, we combined the panelists’ experiences with the results of our control round, as well as recommendations from our experts.

Price: free Operating system: macOS, iOS, iPadOS Supported languages: 21 to 64 languages , depending on the settings, including Hindi, Thai, and several dialects of English and Italian.

Apple Voice Control is easy to use, outperforms major competitors from Google, Microsoft, and Nuance, and offers dozens of command prompts for a smoother experience, an especially helpful feature for people with limited hand dexterity. Because Voice Control is deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, it’s more accessible than many of the other tools we tested. It’s available for free in macOS , iOS, and iPadOS ; you can activate it by going to Settings > Accessibility on your preferred device. Once you activate it, you may notice that it works similarly to the Dictation and Siri functions on your phone. That’s because they use the same speech-recognition algorithms. This means the learning curve inherent to all speech-to-text tools is marginally less difficult with Voice Control, particularly if you’ve used Dictation or Siri before, as they’re already familiar with your speech patterns. (If you’re wondering how Dictation and Voice Control differ, Dictation is a speech-to-text tool that omits the various accessibility and navigation functions of Voice Control.)

In our tests, Voice Control routinely produced more accurate transcriptions than the competition, including Nuance Dragon, Google Docs Voice Typing , and Windows Voice Recognition . In our control tests, it was 87% accurate with casual, non-accented speech. Comparatively, Dragon was 82% accurate, while Windows Voice Recognition was only 64% accurate. Google Docs Voice Typing performed on a par with Voice Control, but it failed at transcribing contractions, slang, and symbols much more frequently. Most of the tools we tested, Voice Control included, were about 10% less accurate during our jargon-rich control tests that included scientific words from an immunology study. (One notable exception in this regard was Dragon, which showed no noticeable drop-off with more technical language.)

Half of our testers agreed that they would regularly use Voice Control, and that they would even pay for it if they relied on dictation software. Specific words they used to describe the software included “accurate,” “good,” and “impressive.” Still, our real-world tests pushed Voice Control to its limits, and the software often misunderstood words or phrases from testers who had diverse accents or stutters. Unfortunately, such accuracy issues are to be expected for speech-recognition modeling that has historically relied on homogenous data sources. But Voice Control’s performance improves the more you use it , so don’t give up immediately if you find inaccuracies frustrating at first.

Apple’s assistive technology was a standout feature for our testers with limited hand dexterity, as it allowed them to navigate their machines and edit their messages hands-free. These command prompts have a challenging learning curve, so you’re unlikely to have a flawless experience out of the gate. But asking “What can I say?” brings up a library that automatically filters contextually relevant commands depending on your actions. For example, selecting a desktop folder produces a short list of prompts related to file access (such as “Open document”), while moving the cursor to a word-processing tool brings up “Type.” The interface allows you to quickly sort through the relevant commands, a feature that some panelists found useful.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Our panelists with accents experienced mixed accuracy results using Apple Voice Control. Testers with nonstandard English accents or speech impediments said that the performance of Apple’s software improved when they spoke slowly. “When using it to type, sometimes it got things quite off,” noted panelist Franc, a native Spanish and Catalan speaker who tested the software in English. Similarly, my own experience dictating this guide proved challenging: I found that I had to overenunciate my words to prevent Voice Control from capitalizing random words and mistyping the occasional phrase.

Our panelists agreed that Apple Voice Control was the slowest tool they tested for transcribing text, though that difference in speed was a matter of seconds, not minutes. Sometimes speech-recognition software processes a complete sentence, rather than single words, before displaying the text on the screen, a tendency that about half of our panelists found frustrating. “It was really distracting to wait to see whether [Voice Control] had picked up what I said,” noted tester Vicki, who has a repetitive stress injury that makes typing difficult.

Wirecutter’s editor of accessibility coverage, Claire Perlman, who also served on our panel, echoed this sentiment. She said the lag time was marginal at the start of her session but became noticeably painful the longer she used the software. Claire also noted that her 2019 MacBook Pro, equipped with a 1.4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, overheated while running Voice Control for extended periods. “The lag that I’m experiencing now is very distracting and makes me feel like I have to slow my thought process in order to have it typed correctly,” she said. We attempted to replicate this issue with a 2019 MacBook Pro equipped with a 2.6 GHz six-core Intel Core i7 processor, and after an hour of use we found that Apple’s Speech Recognition process fluctuated between occupying 54% to 89% of our CPU and that Apple Dictation’s usage ranged from 1% to 35%, confirming that the robust platform requires a lot of processing power. That said, you may find that the lag disappears when you close other CPU-intensive programs, such as Chrome or a game.

As we previously mentioned, successfully wielding Voice Control’s command prompts requires experience and finesse. Testers who read through the quick-start guide and watched YouTube tutorials reported the easiest experience. “There is a learning curve,” said tester Chandana, who has an Indian accent. But the software’s “What can I say?” screen was a big help, Chandana said: “I was able to use many functions that I wanted to use before but did not know that I could.”

Lastly, Voice Control works best within Apple’s own apps, and some people may find that inherent limitation challenging or annoying. “I found it to be more accurate in Pages and iMessage than Google Docs and WhatsApp,” Claire noted. In just one example, although Voice Control correctly captured dictated commands such as “Select line” or “Delete ” in Pages , it couldn’t execute them in Google Docs.

Price: $700 per license Operating system: Windows Supported languages: English, French, Spanish (depending on purchase region)

Nuance Dragon Professional v16 is the best option for Windows PC users because it surpasses the Microsoft Word and Windows dictation tools in accuracy, quickly processes and displays transcriptions, and offers a helpful training module and selection of command prompts to get you swiftly up to speed. Unlike most other dictation software in our tests, it worked well with technical, jargon-heavy language, an advantage that could make it useful for people who work in the sciences. (While we only tested the now-discontinued Nuance Dragon Home 15 for this guide, Professional v16 uses the same technology while making it easier to dictate large amounts of data in a corporate setting. Plus, if you’ve used earlier versions of Dragon in the past, you’ll be happy to know that this version of Dragon represents a significant improvement over previous generations.)

Our panelists said that Dragon was one of the most accurate speech-recognition tools they tried, describing it as “extremely accurate,” “reliable,” and in at least one case, “flawless.” Wirecutter’s Claire Perlman, who has arthrogryposis , said, “I was truly blown away by the accuracy of Dragon. It had only two to three errors the whole time I used it.” Our control tests found similar results. Dragon was 82% accurate in transcribing casual speech (slightly behind Apple Voice Control, which produced 87% accuracy), and in transcribing technical language, it didn’t exhibit the steep decline in accuracy that we saw from other software, including Apple’s Voice Control and Dictation tools.

Dragon’s transcriptions appeared with minimal lag time on testers’ screens, whereas tools like Otter and Windows Voice Recognition took twice as long to produce phrases or sentences. But panelists found Dragon’s sentence-by-sentence transcription to be a mixed bag. Some testers preferred to see entire phrases or sentences appear simultaneously on the screen. “The speed combined with the accuracy meant that I did not feel like I had to pay constant attention to what was happening on the screen and could instead focus on my thoughts and writing,” Claire said. Other testers preferred real-time, word-by-word transcriptions: “There were definitely moments where I was sitting there drumming my fingers and waiting,” said Wirecutter editor Ben Keough. Dragon lets you adjust for less lag time or better accuracy by going to Options > Miscellaneous > Speed vs. Accuracy. But we didn’t notice a difference in performance when we changed this setting during our control tests.

Like all the dictation software we tested, Dragon requires a bit of know-how to get the most out of its features and achieve the best performance, but its multitude of accessibility voice commands were a favorite feature among our panelists. Unlike most of the options we tested, Dragon launches with a brief tutorial that walks you through how to use it, from setting up the best microphone position to dictating text to using punctuation prompts.

You can revisit the tutorial at any point if you need a refresher, which panelist Juan found helpful with his traumatic brain injury and short-term memory problems. “The tutorial gives you a good start on its functionality,” he said. Wirecutter’s Claire Perlman noted, “I used to use Dragon years ago, and back then, training the system to recognize your voice was an onerous process. This time, I found the whole setup and training process genuinely helpful and very quick. And I felt like I could really operate it hands-free.”

The biggest drawback to Dragon is that it costs $700 per license. The experts we spoke with said that this barrier to entry may make using this software infeasible for many people who are disabled, including those who are on a limited income because they can’t find remote work that accommodates their disabilities. Additionally, having to download and enable the software can be a hassle that reminds people with disabilities that their situation is an afterthought in the digital age—especially in comparison with Apple Voice Control or even Windows Voice Recognition, which are integrated into device operating systems.

This software is compatible only with the Windows desktop operating system; you can’t install it on Android, Apple’s operating systems, or ChromeOS. (That is, unless you partition your hard drive, but in that case you run the risk of slowing down the operating system, which one panelist with a drive partition experienced.) Users can subscribe to Dragon Anywhere ($150 a year), which works with iOS and Android devices. But because our panelists didn’t test Dragon Anywhere, we can’t comment on its usability or accuracy.

Dragon isn’t a speech-recognition tool that you can use right out of the box—the first time you load the software, it prompts you to complete a series of short tutorials. This means it’s important to set aside some time getting to know the program before rushing to write, say, an overdue memo or term paper. (That said, regardless of the speech-to-text tool you choose, we recommend familiarizing yourself with it before diving into a text-heavy project.)

Although Dragon was the most accessible and accurate Windows-compatible dictation software we tested, it still faltered in its transcriptions at times, especially for testers who didn’t use a dedicated microphone or headset. Nuance recommends buying its Dragon USB headset ($35) or Dragon Bluetooth headset ($150) for the best experience and says that users can improve the program’s accuracy rate by making corrections to text via voice prompt and running its Accuracy Tuning feature to optimize its language models. Judging from our testing, we can say that any high-quality dedicated mic that’s positioned correctly will improve your results. Even so, one panelist who used a wired headset noticed that Dragon could not capture diverse names like “Yeiser” but had no issues with traditionally Anglo names like “Brady.”

Finally, this dictation software is available in only three languages—English, French, and Spanish—a stark reminder that accessibility isn’t always accessible to all. Within those constraints, you can specify a language region to ensure that the spelling matches your preferred region, such as Canadian English versus American English. (The ability to purchase a preferred-language license may vary depending on where you live .)

If you want a free Windows-compatible option: Consider Windows Voice Recognition . In our tests, its accuracy rate was 64% compared to Dragon’s 82%, but like Dragon you can train Windows to better understand your voice the more you use it. Other free tools we tested that had subpar accuracy rates can’t be trained, including Google Docs Voice Typing .

Our panelists agreed that no dictation software is perfect, but for the most part, such programs’ functionality improves the more you use them. Here’s how to get the most out of your speech-to-text tool:

• Take the tutorial. Seriously. Some of these tools have difficult learning curves, with specialized commands for numerals, punctuation, and formatting. Before dictating your memoir, make sure to review the software’s instruction manual and keep a list of its command shortcuts nearby.
• Set your primary language. Less than half of the tools we tested allow you to set your primary language if it’s outside the country of origin. But if your tool has this option, make sure to use it. This can make the difference between the software transcribing theater or theatre , or even recognizing your accent at all.
• For immediate accuracy, enunciate. For long-term success, speak naturally. Many dictation tools offer vocabulary builders or claim to learn your speech patterns over time, so don’t force yourself to sound like a machine—unless you want to use that stiff voice every time you dictate.
• Consider a dedicated microphone. Speech-to-text tools, including our top picks, work better when you keep your mouth close to the microphone and work in a quiet environment. In general, you can cut out the majority of background disturbances and transcription misfires by using a dedicated external USB microphone or a wireless or wired headset that crisply captures your voice.
• Pay attention to the on/off switch. Some of these tools go into sleep mode after a few seconds of silence, or they may pick up side conversations you don’t want to transcribe. If you pause to collect your thoughts or turn around to answer a colleague’s question, make sure the dictation tool is on the right setting before you speak.

You give up some privacy when you speak into a microphone so that a speech-to-text tool can transcribe your words. As is the case when you’re speaking on the phone, anyone nearby may hear what you say. And many dictation tools feed your audio into their learning algorithms to improve their service or to sell you something. In some cases, a company may even turn over all of your speech-to-text recordings and transcriptions to law enforcement. Ultimately, if you’re dealing with sensitive data and have another means to communicate—which we know isn’t possible for many people who need these tools—it’s best not to share your information with a speech-to-text program. Of course, we could say the same thing about sending unsecured texts or uploading documents into the cloud, too.

Here’s what the makers of our picks do with your data:

Apple’s Voice Control processes dictations and commands only locally, on your device , so no personal data is shared or saved with a third party. But some information that you speak into sibling programs Dictation and Siri may transmit to Apple’s servers. (Because many people, including several of our panelists, use Dictation and Siri, we concluded that the differences are worth calling attention to.)

Typically, Apple can’t access Dictation and Siri audio recordings that you compose on your device unless you’re dictating into a search box or the service requires third-party app access. Apple may collect transcripts of Siri requests, dictation transcripts, IP addresses, and contact information to perform app tasks, improve its services, and market its products. And anytime Apple interacts with a third-party app, such as a transcription service for meeting notes, that voice data may be sent to Apple, or you could be subject to that app’s separate terms and conditions and privacy policy. When you opt in to Apple’s “Improve Siri and Dictation,” the audio recordings and transcripts that Apple saves are accessible to its employees , and data is retained for two years, though the company may extend retention beyond that period at its discretion.

Apple also uses your audio and transcripts to market products and services. You can opt out of allowing Apple to review your audio files under System Settings ( Settings on mobile devices) > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements ; you can delete your six-month history by going through System Settings ( Settings on mobile devices) > Siri & Search > Siri & Dictation History . With iOS 14.6, however, according to Gizmodo , Apple may still collect some analytics data even if you opt out.

As for information shared with third parties, certain providers must delete personal information at the end of the transaction or take undisclosed steps to protect your data. And Apple may disclose your information to law enforcement agencies as required by law.

Nuance, which owns Dragon software, routinely collects dictation data. The service can access any sensitive information you dictate, including medical records or proprietary information, and doesn’t always require your direct consent to do so. For example, in its privacy policy , Nuance says, “If we are processing personal data on behalf of a third party that has direct patient access, it will be the third party’s responsibility to obtain the consent.” And “snippets” of audio recordings are reviewed by people who manually transcribe the data in order to improve Nuance’s services. Nuance retains data for three years after you stop using the services, and you can request that the company delete your data record .

Additionally, although Nuance collects electronic data such as your IP address and registration information to market its products, the company says it doesn’t sell customer data to third parties. However, Nuance affiliates and partners may have access to the data through its sales division or customer service division. And like Apple, Nuance may share personal data to comply with the law .

Beyond considering dictation software in particular, be sure to examine the data-retention policies of any software you’re dictating into (whether that’s Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or whatever else), which fall under the maker’s own privacy practices.

Apple Dictation ( macOS , iOS , iPadOS ) performs similarly to our pick, Apple Voice Control, but it lacks the robust features that many people want in a speech-to-text tool, including key command functions.

We can’t recommend Microsoft Word Dictate  or Otter due to their transcription lag times and subpar accuracy rates, which ranged from 54% to 76%, far behind Apple Voice Control’s 87% and Dragon’s 82%. Additionally, Otter’s platform is not a great choice for document dictation, as it doesn’t integrate well with word-processing tools; it’s better suited for live-event closed captioning.

The Braina Pro tool was popular in the mid-aughts, but its website is outdated, and it hasn’t had any user reviews in years.

The Google Assistant on Gboard interface works only with Gboard-compatible mobile devices, which means it’s useless to desktop users and anyone who doesn’t own an Android or iOS smartphone.

In our tests, Google Docs Voice Typing failed to accurately capture sociolects and casual speech. It also doesn’t work well for people with speech impediments, has poor formatting features, and is nearly impossible to use for anyone who can’t access a mouse and keyboard.

IBM’s Watson Speech to Text is a transcription service that charges by the minute after the first 500 minutes. And the free plan deletes your transcription history after a month of inactivity. We think those shortcomings are enough to disqualify it.

Windows Voice Typing isn’t as robust a tool as Windows Voice Recognition, and we found its accessibility commands to be limiting.

We considered several Chrome-specific apps, including Chromebook Dictation , Speechnotes , and SpeechTexter , but we skipped testing them because of their limited features and usage restrictions that made them inaccessible to most people.

We also considered the following options but quickly learned that they’re designed for specific commercial uses:

• Amazon Transcribe is built for commercial products.
• Speechmatics is designed for commercial products, such as live transcription for video conferences, so it’s too expensive and inaccessible for the average person.
• Suki Assistant is designed for medical dictation.
• Verbit offers transcription services for businesses.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

Meenakshi Das, disability advocate and software engineer, Microsoft , text interview , September 30, 2022

Sayash Kapoor, PhD candidate, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University , phone interview , October 6, 2022

Christopher Manning, co-director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Stanford University , Zoom interview , October 5, 2022

Diego Mariscal, founder, CEO, and chief disabled officer, 2Gether-International , Zoom interview , October 26, 2022

Steve Dent, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and Google to improve speech recognition for people with disabilities , Engadget , October 3, 2022

Su Lin Blodgett, Lisa Green, Brendan O’Connor, Demographic Dialectal Variation in Social Media: A Case Study of African-American English (PDF) , Proceedings of the 2016 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing , November 1, 2016

Prabha Kannan, Is It My Turn Yet? Teaching a Voice Assistant When to Speak , Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Stanford University , October 10, 2022

Allison Koenecke, Andrew Nam, Emily Lake, Sharad Goel, Racial disparities in automated speech recognition , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , March 23, 2020

Speech Recognition for Learning , LD OnLine, “Tech Works” brief from the National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI) , August 1, 2010

Arvind Narayanan, The Limits Of The Quantitative Approach To Discrimination , James Baldwin Lecture Series, Department of African American Studies, Princeton University , October 11, 2022

Meet your guide

Kaitlyn Wells

Kaitlyn Wells is a senior staff writer who advocates for greater work flexibility by showing you how to work smarter remotely without losing yourself. Previously, she covered pets and style for Wirecutter. She's never met a pet she didn’t like, although she can’t say the same thing about productivity apps. Her first picture book, A Family Looks Like Love , follows a pup who learns that love, rather than how you look, is what makes a family.

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The best dictation software in 2024

These speech-to-text apps will save you time without sacrificing accuracy..

The early days of dictation software were like your friend that mishears lyrics: lots of enthusiasm but little accuracy. Now, AI is out of Pandora's box, both in the news and in the apps we use, and dictation apps are getting better and better because of it. It's still not 100% perfect, but you'll definitely feel more in control when using your voice to type.

I took to the internet to find the best speech-to-text software out there right now, and after monologuing at length in front of dozens of dictation apps, these are my picks for the best.

The best dictation software

What is dictation software.

If this isn't what you're looking for, here's what else is out there:

AI assistants, such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana, can help you interact with each of these ecosystems to send texts, buy products, or schedule events on your calendar.

Transcription services that use a combination of dictation software, AI, and human proofreaders can achieve above 99% accuracy.

What makes a great dictation app?

How we evaluate and test apps.

Dictation software comes in different shapes and sizes. Some are integrated in products you already use. Others are separate apps that offer a range of extra features. While each can vary in look and feel, here's what I looked for to find the best:

High accuracy. Staying true to what you're saying is the most important feature here. The lowest score on this list is at 92% accuracy.

Ease of use. This isn't a high hurdle, as most options are basic enough that anyone can figure them out in seconds.

Availability of voice commands. These let you add "instructions" while you're dictating, such as adding punctuation, starting a new paragraph, or more complex commands like capitalizing all the words in a sentence.

Availability of the languages supported. Most of the picks here support a decent (or impressive) number of languages.

Versatility. I paid attention to how well the software could adapt to different circumstances, apps, and systems.

I tested these apps by reading a 200-word script containing numbers, compound words, and a few tricky terms. I read the script three times for each app: the accuracy scores are an average of all attempts. Finally, I used the voice commands to delete and format text and to control the app's features where available.

What about AI?

Also, since this isn't a hot AI software category, these apps may prefer to focus on their core offering and product quality instead, not ride the trendy wave by slapping "AI-powered" on every web page.

Tips for using voice recognition software

Though dictation software is pretty good at recognizing different voices, it's not perfect. Here are some tips to make it work as best as possible.

Speak naturally (with caveats). Dictation apps learn your voice and speech patterns over time. And if you're going to spend any time with them, you want to be comfortable. Speak naturally. If you're not getting 90% accuracy initially, try enunciating more.  

Punctuate. When you dictate, you have to say each period, comma, question mark, and so forth. The software isn't always smart enough to figure it out on its own.

Learn a few commands . Take the time to learn a few simple commands, such as "new line" to enter a line break. There are different commands for composing, editing, and operating your device. Commands may differ from app to app, so learn the ones that apply to the tool you choose.

Know your limits. Especially on mobile devices, some tools have a time limit for how long they can listen—sometimes for as little as 10 seconds. Glance at the screen from time to time to make sure you haven't blown past the mark. 

Practice. It takes time to adjust to voice recognition software, but it gets easier the more you practice. Some of the more sophisticated apps invite you to train by reading passages or doing other short drills. Don't shy away from tutorials, help menus, and on-screen cheat sheets.

The best dictation software at a glance

Best free dictation software for Apple devices

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Look no further than your Mac, iPhone, or iPad for one of the best dictation tools. Apple's built-in dictation feature, powered by Siri (I wouldn't be surprised if the two merged one day), ships as part of Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems. On iOS devices, you use it by pressing the microphone icon on the stock keyboard. On your desktop, you turn it on by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation , and then use a keyboard shortcut to activate it in your app.

Apple Dictation price: Included with macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Apple Watch.

Apple Dictation accuracy: 96%. I tested this on an iPhone SE 3rd Gen using the dictation feature on the keyboard.

Best free dictation software for Windows

Windows 11 speech recognition (windows).

Windows 11 Speech Recognition (also known as Voice Typing) is a strong dictation tool, both for writing documents and controlling your Windows PC. Since it's part of your system, you can use it in any app you have installed.

To start, first, check that online speech recognition is on by going to Settings > Time and Language > Speech . To begin dictating, open an app, and on your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + H. A microphone icon and gray box will appear at the top of your screen. Make sure your cursor is in the space where you want to dictate.

When it's ready for your dictation, it will say Listening . You have about 10 seconds to start talking before the microphone turns off. If that happens, just click it again and wait for Listening to pop up. To stop the dictation, click the microphone icon again or say "stop talking."  

As I dictated into a Word document, the gray box reminded me to hang on, we need a moment to catch up . If you're speaking too fast, you'll also notice your transcribed words aren't keeping up. This never posed an issue with accuracy, but it's a nice reminder to keep it slow and steady. 

While you can use this tool anywhere inside your computer, if you're a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you'll be able to use the dictation features there too. The best app to use it on is, of course, Microsoft Word: it even offers file transcription, so you can upload a WAV or MP3 file and turn it into text. The engine is the same, provided by Microsoft Speech Services.

Windows 11 Speech Recognition price: Included with Windows 11. Also available as part of the Microsoft 365 subscription.

Windows 11 Speech Recognition accuracy: 95%. I tested it in Windows 11 while using Microsoft Word. 

Best customizable dictation software

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In 1990, Dragon Dictate emerged as the first dictation software. Over three decades later, we have Dragon by Nuance, a leader in the industry and a distant cousin of that first iteration. With a variety of software packages and mobile apps for different use cases (e.g., legal, medical, law enforcement), Dragon can handle specialized industry vocabulary, and it comes with excellent features, such as the ability to transcribe text from an audio file you upload. 

For this test, I used Dragon Anywhere, Nuance's mobile app, as it's the only version—among otherwise expensive packages—available with a free trial. It includes lots of features not found in the others, like Words, which lets you add words that would be difficult to recognize and spell out. For example, in the script, the word "Litmus'" (with the possessive) gave every app trouble. To avoid this, I added it to Words, trained it a few times with my voice, and was then able to transcribe it accurately.

It also provides shortcuts. If you want to shorten your entire address to one word, go to Auto-Text , give it a name ("address"), and type in your address: 1000 Eichhorn St., Davenport, IA 52722, and hit Save . The next time you dictate and say "address," you'll get the entire thing. Press the comment bubble icon to see text commands while you're dictating, or say "What can I say?" and the command menu pops up. 

Once you complete a dictation, you can email, share (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox), open in Word, or save to Evernote. You can perform these actions manually or by voice command (e.g., "save to Evernote.") Once you name it, it automatically saves in Documents for later review or sharing. 

Accuracy is good and improves with use, showing that you can definitely train your dragon. It's a great choice if you're serious about dictation and plan to use it every day, but may be a bit too much if you're just using it occasionally.

Dragon by Nuance price: $15/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $200 to $500 for desktop packages

Dragon by Nuance accuracy: 97%. Tested it in the Dragon Anywhere iOS app.

Best free mobile dictation software

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Back to the topic: it has an excellent dictation feature. To start, press the microphone icon on the top-right of the keyboard. An overlay appears on the screen, filling itself with the words you're saying. It's very quick and accurate, which will feel great for fast-talkers but probably intimidating for the more thoughtful among us. If you stop talking for a few seconds, the overlay disappears, and Gboard pastes what it heard into the app you're using. When this happens, tap the microphone icon again to continue talking.

Wherever you can open a keyboard while using your phone, you can have Gboard supporting you there. You can write emails or notes or use any other app with an input field.

The writer who handled the previous update of this list had been using Gboard for seven years, so it had plenty of training data to adapt to his particular enunciation, landing the accuracy at an amazing 98%. I haven't used it much before, so the best I had was 92% overall. It's still a great score. More than that, it's proof of how dictation apps improve the more you use them.

Gboard price : Free

Gboard accuracy: 92%. With training, it can go up to 98%. I tested it using the iOS app while writing a new email.

Best dictation software for typing in Google Docs

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Just like Microsoft offers dictation in their Office products, Google does the same for their Workspace suite. The best place to use the voice typing feature is in Google Docs, but you can also dictate speaker notes in Google Slides as a way to prepare for your presentation.

To get started, make sure you're using Chrome and have a Google Docs file open. Go to Tools > Voice typing , and press the microphone icon to start. As you talk, the text will jitter into existence in the document.

You can change the language in the dropdown on top of the microphone icon. If you need help, hover over that icon, and click the ? on the bottom-right. That will show everything from turning on the mic, the voice commands for dictation, and moving around the document.

It's unclear whether Google's voice typing here is connected to the same engine in Gboard. I wasn't able to confirm whether the training data for the mobile keyboard and this tool are connected in any way. Still, the engines feel very similar and turned out the same accuracy at 92%. If you start using it more often, it may adapt to your particular enunciation and be more accurate in the long run.

Google Docs voice typing price : Free

Google Docs voice typing accuracy: 92%. Tested in a new Google Docs file in Chrome.

Best dictation software for collaboration

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It's not as robust in terms of dictation as others on the list, but it compensates with its versatility. It's a meeting assistant, first and foremost, ready to hop on your meetings and transcribe everything it hears. This is great to keep track of what's happening there, making the text available for sharing by generating a link or in the corresponding team workspace.

The reason why it's the best for collaboration is that others can highlight parts of the transcript and leave their comments. It also separates multiple speakers, in case you're recording a conversation, so that's an extra headache-saver if you use dictation software for interviewing people.

When you open the app and click the Record button on the top-right, you can use it as a traditional dictation app. It doesn't support voice commands, but it has decent intuition as to where the commas and periods should go based on the intonation and rhythm of your voice. Once you're done talking, Otter will start processing what you said, extract keywords, and generate action items and notes from the content of the transcription.

If you're going for long recording stretches where you talk about multiple topics, there's an AI chat option, where you can ask Otter questions about the transcript. This is great to summarize the entire talk, extract insights, and get a different angle on everything you said.

Otter price: Free plan available for 300 minutes / month. Pro plan starts at $16.99, adding more collaboration features and monthly minutes.

Otter accuracy: 93% accuracy. I tested it in the web app on my computer.

Otter supported languages: Only American and British English for now.

Is voice dictation for you?

Dictation software isn't for everyone. It will likely take practice learning to "write" out loud because it will feel unnatural. But once you get comfortable with it, you'll be able to write from anywhere on any device without the need for a keyboard. 

And by using any of the apps I listed here, you can feel confident that most of what you dictate will be accurately captured on the screen. 

Related reading:

This article was originally published in April 2016 and has also had contributions from Emily Esposito, Jill Duffy, and Chris Hawkins. The most recent update was in November 2023.

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Miguel Rebelo

Miguel Rebelo is a freelance writer based in London, UK. He loves technology, video games, and huge forests. Track him down at mirebelo.com.

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