Best Free Dictation Software for Windows (2026)

For most people, the best free dictation software on Windows is already installed. Click into any text field and press Windows key + H (Win+H) to start Windows Voice Typing. If you want AI cleanup of your sentences, or transcription that runs on your own computer, Wispr Flow and Superwhisper both have free plans. Each has a limit you should know about before you rely on it.

Quick picks:

• Windows Voice Typing: best for dictating into any app at no cost, with nothing to install.
• Wispr Flow (free plan): best for AI-polished dictation if you stay under its weekly word cap.
• Superwhisper (free plan): best for local, offline-capable dictation in any app, using smaller models.
• Gubb (paid, one-time): best if you mostly dictate short English notes and also want clipboard history, timers and checklists in one app.
• Dragon Professional (paid, one-time): best if dictation is your job and you need its professional editions.

We make Gubb, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be fair to every app here. Gubb isn't free, so it sits with the paid options rather than at the top.

How we chose

These are the things that decide whether a free dictation tool works for you:

• Actually free: a free plan you can keep using, not a trial that runs out. Paid options are listed separately and labelled.
• Where the text goes: some tools type into any app (Word, email, your browser). Others only put text into their own window.
• Where your voice is processed: on your PC or on a company's servers. This matters for private or work material.
• Limits on the free plan: word caps, model size, languages.
• Cost if you outgrow it: subscription or one-time payment.

All prices below are as of November 2026. Several come from third-party pricing pages rather than the vendor's own page, and we say so where that applies.

Best free dictation software for Windows compared

Windows Voice Typing: the best free option for most people

Voice Typing is speech-to-text built into Windows. It types wherever your cursor is, including Word, Notepad, an email or a text box in your browser.

To use it:

1. Click into the text field where you want the words.
2. Press Win+H.
3. Start speaking.
4. When you're done, say "Stop listening" or "Pause voice typing", or click the mic button.

You can also press Win+Alt+H to move through the voice typing menu with the keyboard. Microsoft says it uses echo cancellation so it listens only to your voice. You can install extra voice typing languages: open Settings and search for "Language" to add one. Our guide to Windows Voice Typing covers setup in more detail, and the list of voice typing commands shows how to add punctuation and edit by voice.

What it lacks: it only enters text. There's no place to keep notes, no lists and no history of what you dictated. The Microsoft sources we checked don't say whether it works offline. If that matters, test it with your internet connection turned off, and open Settings and search for "speech" to review the speech privacy options.

If Win+H does nothing or just types the letter "h", you're hitting a problem some users report on Microsoft's Q&A forums. Our Voice Typing troubleshooting guide walks through the fixes.

Who should use it: anyone who dictates in short bursts into other apps. Start here, and only look further if it falls short.

Dictating in a browser

You don't need a browser extension for basic dictation into web pages. Voice Typing works in browser text fields like any other, so Win+H covers web email, chat and forms.

Wispr Flow free plan: best for AI-polished dictation

Wispr Flow is an AI dictation app that turns speech into cleaned-up writing in any app. It runs on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, and it syncs your personal dictionary, style and settings across them. It also has a meeting tool, Wispr Flow Notetaker, on Windows and Mac.

Free plan (as of November 2026): 2,000 dictated words a week on Windows or Mac, according to third-party pages that cite Wispr's pricing. Over a five-day week that's about 400 words a day: enough for messages and short emails, not for drafting long documents by voice.

Paid plan: Pro is $15 per user per month, or $144 a year ($12 a month), according to the same third-party pages. There's no lifetime option. One review mentions a 14-day trial without a credit card. Wispr also has student and educator offers, so check its students page if that applies to you. Our Wispr Flow pricing breakdown goes through the plans.

What it lacks: the free plan has a weekly cap, and the paid tier is subscription only. We couldn't confirm whether Wispr Flow works offline.

Who should pick it: people who want their dictation tidied up automatically and dictate under about 2,000 words a week, or who are happy to subscribe once they go over.

Superwhisper free plan: best for local, offline-capable dictation

Superwhisper is AI voice-to-text that works in any app, with both offline and cloud transcription. Its Windows app needs Windows 10 or later. The current Windows version (1.6.11) is on a different version line from the Mac app (3.3.0), and some features differ: Meetings, for example, is Mac-only. Check that a feature you want is on Windows before relying on it.

Free plan: one review describes it as small local Whisper models, 100+ languages, up to 3 custom modes and a 15-minute Pro trial. The review doesn't break this down by platform, so confirm it in the Windows app. Local models mean your audio can be transcribed on your own computer.

Paid plan (as of November 2026): Pro is $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 once for a lifetime license, per several third-party pages. See our Superwhisper pricing page for detail.

What it lacks: the free plan sticks to small models, which are generally less accurate than larger ones. The lifetime license is a large one-time cost.

Who should pick it: people who want dictation in any app without sending audio to a server, or who dictate in languages other than English, and can live with small models on the free plan.

Gubb: a one-time option for dictated notes (not free)

Gubb is our app, and it's available on Windows from the Microsoft Store. It isn't a free dictation tool, and it isn't a replacement for Voice Typing. It records from your microphone and puts the transcript into the open Gubb note, at the cursor. It doesn't type into Word, your browser or any other app, and there's no hotkey to start recording. System-wide dictation is listed on our roadmap as future work; it isn't in the app today.

What it's good at:

• On-device transcription. Gubb runs OpenAI's Whisper speech models locally once you download one inside the app: Whisper Small (480 MB), Whisper Medium (1500 MB) or Whisper Large (3000 MB). The download comes from Hugging Face. After that, transcription happens on your computer. Our explainer on Whisper covers what the model is.
• No account. Notes are stored locally on your device, and there's no sync.
• Other tools in the same window: notes with checklists and Kanban boards, clipboard history, a countdown timer and stopwatch, break reminders, and inline math, currency and unit conversion.

What it lacks:

• English only with local models.
• Only the first 30 seconds of each recording are transcribed. Dictate in short chunks.
• Larger models need more memory: the app recommends 8 GB+ RAM for Medium and 16 GB+ for Large.
• Settings also lists an OpenAI API option, but in the current version it doesn't work even after you save a key. Use a local model.

Price (as of November 2026): $59 one-time for a lifetime license on gubb.net, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. On Windows, check the Microsoft Store listing for the price shown there. The 7-day free trial applies to the Mac download from gubb.net.

To dictate into a note:

1. Hover over the right edge of the Gubb window and click Settings (the gear).
2. Open Voice to Text and set Transcription Provider to Local Models.
3. Under Available Models, click Download next to Whisper Small. The progress bar may not move; wait for the "Download Complete" message.
4. Under Active Model, select the model you just downloaded. If you skip this, transcription fails until you restart Gubb.
5. Close Settings, click into a note, hover over the right edge and click Speech to Text.
6. Click the mic, speak for under 30 seconds, then click Stop. The text appears at your cursor.

Who should pick it: people who mostly dictate quick English notes and ideas, want them kept on their own computer, and would rather pay once for one app than run a separate notes app, clipboard manager and timer. If you also need to dictate into other apps, use Voice Typing alongside it.

Dragon Professional: one-time and professional, but far from free

Dragon is long-running desktop speech-recognition software from Nuance. Third-party sources describe it as Windows-only. The current version is Dragon Professional v16, and there are industry editions such as Dragon Legal.

Price (as of November 2026): a third-party check in October 2026 found that Nuance's own Dragon Professional v16 page ends in a "Contact us" button rather than a price. Resellers list it as a one-time license at $699.99 (dictationstore.com) or $699.00 (americandictation.com). Dragon Legal v16 is about $800 at resellers. We found no free tier or trial.

What it lacks: a low entry price and a public list price from Nuance. One third-party source reports no major release since 2023.

Who should pick it: people who dictate for hours a day as part of their work and want a perpetual license with no subscription. Our Dragon overview covers its current status.

Privacy: where your voice is processed

If you dictate confidential material, pick a tool with local models (Superwhisper or Gubb). You can confirm it works by turning off your internet connection and dictating.

How to choose

• Pick Windows Voice Typing if you dictate into other apps in short bursts and want nothing to install or pay for.
• Pick Wispr Flow's free plan if you want AI cleanup and dictate under about 2,000 words a week.
• Pick Superwhisper's free plan if you want local processing in any app or need languages other than English, and small models are accurate enough for you.
• Pick Gubb if you mainly dictate short English notes and also want clipboard history, timers and checklists for a one-time price.
• Pick Dragon if dictation is a daily professional task and the upfront cost is justified.

For paid options on both Mac and Windows, see our roundup of the best dictation software.

FAQ

Is Windows Voice Typing really free?
Yes. It's part of Windows, with no plan to buy. Press Win+H in any text field to start it.

Which free dictation option works offline?
Superwhisper's free plan uses small local Whisper models, which run on your computer. The Microsoft sources we checked don't say whether Voice Typing works offline, so test it with your connection off.

What's the cheapest one-time dictation option on Windows?
Of the options here, Gubb is $59 one-time on gubb.net (check the Microsoft Store for its Windows price), but it only dictates into its own notes. Superwhisper's lifetime license is $249.99, and Dragon Professional v16 is about $699 at resellers (prices as of November 2026).

Can Gubb type into Word or my browser?
No. Gubb's voice-to-text only inserts text into a Gubb note. You can copy the text out of the note afterwards, or use Voice Typing for other apps.