15 Best Voice-to-Text Apps for Every Need (Free & Paid)

From quick messages to long writing sessions, I've used voice-to-text apps across a wide range of situations. One thing has become clear over time: accuracy alone doesn't determine whether a tool is good or not. What really matters is whether an app is designed for the specific way you’re using it.

With that in mind, this guide lists the best voice-to-text apps by category, helping you find the right tool for your needs. Whether you are looking for a free app for everyday notes, a real-time transcription tool for meetings, or high-accuracy software for professional dictation, the focus is on what each tool actually does best.

TL;DR

Here's a quick overview of the best voice-to-text apps by use case:

• Everyday use :Gboard Voice Typing, Apple Dictation, Speechnotes
• Meetings, events, and lectures :Maestra (Live Transcription), Otter, ScreenApp
• Long-form writing and dictation :Google Docs Voice Typing, Dragon Professional, Braina Pro
• Professional, industry-specific accuracy :Verbit, Amazon Transcribe, Dragon Legal
• Audio and video recordings :Maestra (Audio/Video to Text), Descript, Sonix

Let's start with the everyday voice-to-text tools.

Best Voice-to Text-Apps for Everyday Use

These voice-to text-apps are designed for speed and convenience rather than advanced features. They're great for sending messages, jotting down notes, or dictating short text without setting up a dedicated tool.

Gboard Voice Typing

What makes it special: Gboard Voice Typing stands out because it’s built directly into the keyboard of many Android devices, making voice-to-text effortless and instantly available.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Android (native via Gboard); iOS (available but not default dictation engine)	Dozens (exact number varies by device and OS)

Gboard Voice Typing turns your smartphone keyboard into a dictation tool. Just tap the microphone icon, and spoken words will be converted into text in real time. It’s ideal for quick notes, short messages, or drafting emails on the go without installing a separate app.

Key features:

• Real-time voice-to-text in any text field (messages, email, notes)
• Supports multiple languages and easy switching via keyboard settings
• No separate installation required if Gboard is already your default keyboard

Pros

• Handles punctuation and casual speech well
• Performs well in noisy environments thanks to Google’s noise-handling optimization
• Supports emoji by voice (e.g., “smiling face with heart eyes”), which is surprisingly useful for messaging

Cons

• Struggles during long dictation sessions with occasional pauses or misfires
• Inconsistent formatting control (capitalization and line breaks often need manual correction)

Pricing: Free.

Apple Dictation

What makes it special: Apple Dictation is built directly into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, offering fast voice-to-text with strong on-device processing.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
iOS, iPadOS, macOS (native system feature)	30+ (varies by OS version and device)

Apple Dictation lets you convert speech into text anywhere your Apple keyboard appears. With newer Apple chips, much of the dictation processing runs on-device, improving privacy and responsiveness. I particularly rely on Apple Dictation when I need quick, interruption-free note taking on my iPhone, especially when I’m walking or commuting, and don’t want to stop to type.

Key features:

• On-device dictation with fast processing on supported devices
• System-wide availability in any app that uses the Apple keyboard
• Automatic punctuation in supported languages and regions

Pros

• Handles mixed-language input well, especially for bilingual users
• Recognizes contacts and proper nouns more accurately due to system integration
• Offers offline dictation for supported languages

Cons

• Struggles with technical or highly specialized vocabulary (medical, engineering, etc.)
• Struggles with background noise, particularly compared to Google’s engine

Pricing: Free.

Speechnotes

What makes it special: Speechnotes is a lightweight, continuous voice-to-text app designed for long and uninterrupted voice input. Its minimalist interface allows users to start dictating immediately without navigating complex menus or settings.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Android, Web	Dozens (dependent on Google speech engine availability)

As one of the best voice-to-text apps, Speechnotes provides a distraction-free dictation experience optimized for extended speech. Unlike mobile dictation tools that time out quickly, Speechnotes maintains long-running sessions, making it suitable for drafting multi-paragraph content. It uses Google's speech recognition engine to deliver high accuracy.

Key features:

• Continuous dictation with no automatic cutoff during long sessions
• Custom voice commands for punctuation and formatting
• Easy export to email, cloud drives, and text editors

Pros

• Starts dictation instantly, reducing downtime between ideas
• Offers customizable shorthand commands for faster text insertion
• Saves drafts automatically, preventing accidental loss of long recordings

Cons

• Limited organizational tools for managing large collections of notes
• No multi-speaker differentiation, making it unsuitable for meetings or interviews

Pricing:

• Free version: Includes online dictation notepad and Voice Typing Chrome extension
• Premium: $1.9/month
• Pay-As-You-Go: $0.1/minute

Best Voice-to-Text Apps for Meetings, Events & Lectures

Apps in this category focus on multi-speaker environments and real-time accessibility. They’re best suited for meetings, classes, presentations, and events where multiple people need to follow along as someone speaks.

Maestra (Live Transcription App)

What makes it special: Maestra offers one of the most versatile live voice-to-text experiences available today. It allows you to share real-time captions (and translations) with your audience via a simple link or QR code, allowing everyone to follow along on their own devices.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web (browser-based)	125+

In my experience, Maestra is the "Swiss Army Knife" for live events and accessible meetings. I find it incredibly useful for both on-site and remote presentations: you simply open the live transcription app, generate a QR code, and suddenly everyone in the lecture hall (or on the Zoom call) has real-time captions on their own devices. It requires absolutely no installation, making it a lifesaver when you need a voice-to text app that works on any device.

Key features:

• Free real-time captioning directly in the browser (no installation or account required)
• Live translation with options for both caption and voice output
• Integrations with OBS, vMix, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams

Pros

• Offers unlimited real-time captioning for free
• Highly customizable appearance (fonts, colors, etc.) to match your branding
• Pro mode with custom glossary, speaker identification, transcript saving, and AI summaries

Cons

• Requires a stable internet connection (no offline mode available)
• Live translation and Pro features require a paid plan

Pricing:

• 100% free live voice-to-text
• Free trial for live translation available; plans start at $79/month
• Custom enterprise pricing

Otter

What makes it special: Otter is built for meetings and multi-speaker environments, offering real-time transcription, speaker identification, and automated summaries. It captures conversations clearly and turns them into searchable notes.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web, iOS, Android	English, Spanish, French, Japanese

Otter is widely considered the gold standard for meeting transcription. Unlike standard voice-to-text apps that are meant for single-speaker, short dictation, Otter is designed to listen to a room (or a Zoom call) full of people and make sense of it all. It acts as an automated secretary, recording the audio while generating live text so you can focus on the conversation rather than scrambling to scribble down notes.

Key features:

• Searchable transcripts with highlights, keywords, and shared notes
• Integrations with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams
• OtterPilot (an AI assistant that can auto-join your meeting and take notes even if you arrive late)

Pros

• Excellent for searching through past meetings
• Allows for collaborative editing and highlighting within the transcript in real time
• Captures shared screens and slides to add context to the transcript

Cons

• Limited language support compared to other voice-to-text apps like Maestra
• Requires an internet connection for real-time transcription (processing is cloud-based)

Pricing:

• Free version: 300 minutes/month, 30 minutes per conversation
• Pro: Starts from $8.33/month (annual billing)
• Business: Starts from $19.99/month (annual billing)
• Custom enterprise pricing

ScreenApp

What makes it special: ScreenApp is unique because it combines screen recording with live voice-to-text. While other apps just listen to the audio, ScreenApp captures the visual presentation (slides/video) along with the spoken words, making it the ultimate tool for online lectures and webinars.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web, iOS, Android, Mac app	30+

ScreenApp is designed for anyone attending or reviewing lectures, whether in-person or online. Its standout feature is the ability to transcribe audio in real time while you record. Whether you are capturing a Zoom lecture or recording a live presentation via your laptop microphone, ScreenApp generates a running text log as the speaker talks. This allows you to verify that the correct information is being captured instantly, rather than waiting for post-processing.

Key features:

• Real-time transcription while recording your screen or presentation
• Searchable transcripts with timestamps for quick navigation
• Option to record only audio, only screen, or both together

Pros

• Handles multi-hour sessions smoothly
• Lets you review visuals and spoken content together for better retention
• Works entirely in the browser (no installation or device setup required)

Cons

• Live transcription minutes are capped on the free tier
• Limited collaboration tools, especially compared to meeting-focused platforms like Otter

Pricing:

• Free version: 3 recordings (45 minutes each)
• Growth: Starts from $14/month (annual billing)
• Business: Starts from $34/month (annual billing)
• Custom enterprise pricing

Best Voice-to-Text Apps for Writers & Dictation

These apps are built for extended dictation sessions and document creation. They work best for writers, professionals, and anyone who needs to dictate long-form content with consistent accuracy and control.

Google Docs Voice Typing

What makes it special: It is the most accessible, zero-friction entry point for writers. Since it is built directly into Google Docs, there is no software to install and no subscription to pay: you just open a document and start talking.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web (browser-based), mobile (via system keyboard)	100+

In my experience, Google Docs Voice Typing is the best tool for getting ideas out of your head and onto the page as fast as possible. It works instantly and allows you to speak naturally without worrying about setup or training a voice profile. Because your drafts are stored in Google Drive, everything saves automatically as you dictate, which removes the fear of losing long writing sessions.

Key features:

• Integrated browser tool that lives directly inside Google Docs
• Powered by Google's speech engine for fast, accurate recognition
• Voice commands for formatting and editing text (e.g., "select paragraph," "delete that," "highlight")

Pros

• Completely free to use, with no limits on dictation time
• Supports more languages than most voice-to-text apps
• Accessible from any device with a browser

Cons

• Only works in Chrome or other Chromium-based browsers
• Less accurate than Dragon for fast or technical dictation

Pricing: Free.

Dragon Professional

What makes it special: Dragon sets the benchmark for long-form dictation accuracy. Its advanced speech engine, custom vocabulary tools, and voice command system make it one of the fastest ways to create documents, reports, and emails by voice.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Windows, iOS and Android app (Dragon Anywhere)	6 (varies by edition)

If you are a writer, lawyer, or someone who needs to dictate thousands of words a day with near-perfect accuracy, Dragon Professional is the voice dictation tool you need. Unlike cloud-based apps that send your voice to a server, Dragon runs locally on your PC. It "learns" your voice over time, adapting to your accent, speed, and corrections, making it smarter the more you use it.

Key features:

• Highly accurate long-form dictation with advanced speech recognition
• Comprehensive voice commands for editing and formatting (e.g., "bold that", "go back three words")
• Custom vocabulary management for adding specific jargon, names, or acronyms

Pros

• Achieves up to 99% accuracy by learning your specific voice profile and accent over time
• Runs locally on your device, ensuring total privacy and offline capability
• Reduces physical strain (RSI) by enabling completely hands-free control of the mouse and keyboard

Cons

• Windows-only, with no current Mac support
• High upfront cost compared to other speech-to-text software

Pricing:

• Desktop (Dragon Professional v16): $699 (One-time purchase for a perpetual license on Windows)
• Mobile (Dragon Anywhere app): $15/month (billed monthly), $150/year (billed annually), 1-week free trial

Braina Pro

What makes it special: Braina is an intelligent personal assistant for PC that combines accurate speech recognition with powerful AI automation. It acts as a "command center" for your computer, allowing you to dictate text, control apps, and even automate complex tasks using just your voice.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Windows (PC software + mobile companion app)	100+

Unlike Dragon, which is strictly a dictation and document creation tool, Braina (Brain Artificial) is designed to be a digital assistant first. It features a clean, lightweight design that integrates seamlessly with your Windows PC. You can also use the companion app on your phone as a wireless microphone, walking around your room while dictating directly into your computer's word processor.

Key features:

• Wireless microphone support via Android/iOS app from dictating anywhere in the room
• Dual-mode functionality that handles both dictation and command-and-control tasks
• Connects with large language models to help you research topics, brainstorm ideas, or generate text drafts vocally

Pros

• Lightweight and cloud-based (so it doesn’t slow down your PC)
• Supports over 100 languages, making it ideal for multilingual users
• Automates repetitive workflows with custom voice commands

Cons

• Requires an active internet connection (unlike Dragon’s offline mode)
• Lacks the deep, granular text editing commands found in specialized dictation software

Pricing:

• Free: Basic version with limited features
• Pro (1 Year): $99
• Pro Plus (2 years): $199
• Pro Ultra (3 years): $299

Best Voice-to-Text Apps for Industry-Specific Accuracy

This category includes tools designed for high-stakes environments where accuracy is critical. They excel at handling specialized terminology, compliance requirements, and large-scale transcription workflows in fields like law, healthcare, and enterprise operations.

Verbit

What makes it special: Verbit stands out for its adaptive speech recognition technology: a smart AI engine that can be pre-trained on your specific terminology before a meeting or event even starts. This makes it exceptionally accurate for technical fields like law, education, and finance.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web	50+

Verbit is an enterprise-grade AI platform designed to handle difficult audio at scale. It allows you to upload glossaries and reference materials (like previous case files or textbooks) to "teach" the AI your vocabulary. This customization is a game-changer for professionals in specialized fields such as legal services, higher education, government, and corporate compliance, where accuracy is mandatory.

Key features:

• Adaptive speech engine designed for technical, academic, and legal audio
• Optional human transcription services for critical files
• Real-time captioning integrations with Zoom, Teams, and LMS platforms like Canvas and Blackboard

Pros

• Extremely high accuracy for specialized terminology and industry-specific language
• Meets strict security and accessibility standards (HIPAA, GDPR, ADA)
• Can handle thousands of hours of content for large firms

Cons

• Not ideal for casual users
• Best features are locked behind enterprise contracts, limiting access for smaller organizations

Pricing:

• Self service: Starts at $24/month (billed annually), 5-day free trial
• Full service: Custom plans and solutions for businesses

Amazon Transcribe

What makes it special: Amazon Transcribe delivers highly accurate voice-to-text for professional environments. It supports specialized vocabularies, handles difficult audio, and can be tuned for industry terminology, making it well-suited for legal, medical, and enterprise use cases.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web, API	100+

Unlike other voice-to-text apps, you don’t download Amazon Transcribe to your phone. Instead, it is a cloud service used by companies to handle live audio or large batches of recorded files. Its strength lies in converting long, complex speech into accurate text at scale, especially for organizations that need consistent results across thousands of recordings.

Key features:

• Live voice-to-text with low latency for events or broadcasts
• Batch transcription for long recordings with precise timestamps
• Custom vocabularies to improve accuracy for industry-specific terms, names, and acronyms

Pros

• Strong accuracy for technical or specialized speech
• Can handle large volumes of audio without performance issues
• Highly secure (HIPAA-eligible) environment suitable for sensitive legal or medical data

Cons

• Not designed for everyday users
• Limited formatting control compared to dedicated dictation software

Pricing:

• Free tier: 60 minutes per month (free for the first 12 months)
• Pay-as-you-go pricing billed per second of audio (15-second minimum per request)
• Standard batch and real-time transcription: approx. $0.024 per minute (~$1.44/hour)
• Volume discounts available at higher usage levels

Dragon Legal

What makes it special: Dragon Legal is the industry standard for attorneys and legal professionals. It is built on the Dragon Professional engine but trained specifically on millions of words of legal documents to recognize case law, citations, and legal terminology instantly.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Windows (v16)	English, German

While even the best voice-to-text apps can struggle with legal phrases or complex citation formatting, Dragon Legal gets them right the first time. It is designed to streamline the documentation process for lawyers, allowing them to dictate briefs, contracts, and case notes three times faster than typing. Like Dragon Professional, it runs locally to ensure client confidentiality.

Key features:

• Specialized legal language model trained on millions of case files and court documents
• Automatic citation formatting to handle complex legal references and style guides
• Advanced voice commands for editing, navigating, and formatting legal documents

Pros

• Recognizes specific legal terminology and Latin phrases that generic apps miss
• Understands long, complex sentence structures common in legal writing
• Handles dictation-heavy days reliably, even with multi-hour sessions

Cons

• Significantly more expensive than the standard Dragon Professional version
• Windows-only (no native Mac support)

Pricing:

• Desktop (Dragon Legal v16): Typically priced around $799–$859 for a one-time, perpetual license on Windows
• Custom pricing for law firms and larger teams, including volume discounts and support packages

Best Voice-to-Text Apps for Video and Audio Files

These tools are optimized for transcribing pre-recorded content rather than live speech. They’re ideal for interviews, podcasts, webinars, and video content that needs to be edited, searched, or shared after recording.

Maestra (Audio/Video to Text Converter)

What makes it special: In addition to live transcription, Maestra can also convert audio and video files to text with accuracy and speed. It features an intuitive text editor, making it easy to turn recordings into polished transcripts or subtitles.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web (browser-based)	125+

Maestra is one of the most user-friendly tools for handling audio and video recordings. You upload a file, and within minutes get a timestamped transcript that’s easy to edit and export. The audio to text converter is particularly useful for content where multilingual support and fast turnaround are crucial.

Key features:

• Audio-to-text and video-to-text conversion for uploaded files
• Clean, efficient editor with audio and video playback
• Automatic speaker identification to differentiate between multiple voices

Pros

• Exports text in multiple formats (DOCX, PDF, TXT, JSON) for easy reuse
• One-click AI rewriting for polishing text
• AI tools for summarization, keyword extraction, fact-checking, and more

Cons

• No offline mode available
• Advanced AI tools require a higher plan

Pricing:

• Free trial available
• Pay-As-You-Go: Starts from $12 for 60 credits
• Lite: $23/month (billed annually)
• Basic: $39/month (billed annually)
• Premium: $79/month (billed annually)
• Custom enterprise pricing

Descript

What makes it special: Descript revolutionized the industry by treating voice transcription as an editing interface. Instead of cutting waveforms, you edit the transcript text, and the app automatically cuts the underlying audio or video to match.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web, Windows app, Mac app	30+

Key features:

• Text-based editing lets you cut audio or video simply by deleting words from the transcript
• "Overdub" voice cloning feature lets you type new words and generates audio in your own voice to fix mistakes without re-recording
• "Studio Sound" automatically removes background noise and echo

Pros

• Easy to learn, even for users without audio editing experience
• Filler word removal with a single click
• Allows teams to comment on the transcript and edit projects together in the cloud

Cons

• Transcription accuracy depends on audio quality and speaker clarity
• Advanced features like Overdub require higher-tier plans

Pricing:

• Free version available
• Hobbyist: Starts from $16/month (annual billing)
• Creator: Starts from $24/month (annual billing)
• Business: Starts from $50/month (annual billing)
• Custom enterprise pricing

Sonix

What makes it special: Sonix is a dedicated automated transcription platform known for its high accuracy and powerful sharing features. It is designed for professionals who need to transcribe, organize, and search through massive libraries of audio and video files.

Platform Availability	Supported Languages
Web (browser-based)	53+

Sonix is one of the best speech-to-text programs if accuracy is your top priority for recorded files. Beyond transcription, it excels at collaboration and review. You can upload a file, generate a transcript, and share a secure link that lets others listen to the audio while reading along, ideal for journalists, researchers, and media teams verifying quotes or reviewing interviews.

Key features:

• Browser-based editor that syncs text with audio for word-level playback
• Built-in editor for reviewing, correcting, and annotating transcripts
• Automated translation capable of converting your transcript into 30+ other languages quickly

Pros

• Consistently high accuracy for clean, pre-recorded audio
• Deep search capabilities that index every word
• Scales well for large libraries of interviews, podcasts, or research material

Cons

• Not designed for live voice-to-text
• Costs can add up for users with frequent or long uploads

Pricing:

• Free trial: 30 minutes of transcription
• Standard: $10/hour (Pay-As-You-Go)
• Premium: $22.50/user/month + $3/hour for overage costs
• Custom enterprise pricing

Final Verdict

Voice-to-text apps have reached a point where they’re genuinely useful across many workflows, but there’s still no single app that works best for everything. Through real use, the biggest takeaway is that matching the tool to the task matters more than chasing the highest accuracy number. A lightweight dictation app can be perfect for everyday notes, while meetings, long-form writing, or professional transcription require tools built specifically for those scenarios.

To get the best results from any voice-to-text app, a few practical habits make a noticeable difference:

• Choose the tool based on context, not convenience. Using the wrong speech-to-text app is the fastest way to get poor results, even if the technology itself is solid.
• Prioritize audio quality whenever possible. Clear speech and minimal background noise still have a bigger impact on accuracy than most settings or features.
• Speak naturally and at a steady pace. Modern speech recognition software is trained on natural conversation, not slow, overly deliberate dictation.
• Take advantage of built-in optimization tools. Custom vocabularies, glossaries, speaker labels, and summaries can significantly reduce cleanup time.
• Review efficiently, not exhaustively. Use search, timestamps, and highlights instead of replaying entire recordings.

When used intentionally, voice-to-text becomes more than a convenience feature. The right setup and practices remove friction from writing, meetings, and documentation, allowing you to focus on the content rather than the transcription itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which dictation software is best?

The best dictation software depends on your needs. Google Docs Voice Typing is a great free option for quick drafting and everyday writing. For serious writing or technical work, Dragon Professional is widely considered the superior choice.

What is the most accurate voice-to-text app?

Accuracy varies based on how and where you use voice-to-text. For everyday dictation, built-in tools like Google or Apple Dictation are accurate enough, but they fall short with complex vocabulary. For professional or technical content, Dragon is considered one of the most accurate options available.

Can I convert voice to text for free?

Yes, you can convert voice to text for free with Maestra's live transcription app. Just start speaking, and real-time captions will appear instantly on your screen. You can use it for a wide range of use cases such as everyday conversations, meetings, events, lectures, and more.

How can I convert already recorded voice to text?

You can use Maestra's audio to text or video to text converter. Simply upload the audio or video file, select the language, and Maestra will generate a full transcript in a few minutes. From there, you can easily edit the transcript, collaborate with others, and export the text in multiple formats.

What is the best voice-to-text app for iPhone?

For most iPhone users, Apple Dictation delivers the best overall voice-to-text experience. The native voice recognition engine is tightly integrated with the keyboard, allowing you to dictate text in almost any app. While it’s not designed for long transcription, it’s excellent for quick input.

What is the best voice-to-text app for Android?

The best voice-to-text app for Android is usually Gboard Voice Typing. It offers fast, accurate dictation without requiring a separate app or setup. Because it’s integrated into the keyboard, it’s always available when you need it.

Can ChatGPT do voice-to-text?

Yes, but with limitations. ChatGPT has a "Voice Mode" (powered by OpenAI's Whisper model) that can listen to you and transcribe your prompt. However, the large language model is designed to respond to you, not just transcribe. If you try to read a whole document to it, it might try to summarize or answer you rather than writing down every word verbatim. It is not a replacement for dedicated transcription software.