Dictation app comparisons
The short answer
These dictation app comparisons help you choose by asking four questions. First, where do you type: on a computer, a phone, or both? Second, which languages do you speak, and does the app's own documentation list them? Microsoft, for example, does not list Arabic for Windows voice typing, and Word lists Arabic only as a Preview language. Third, do you want your words typed live into the app you are using, or do you want to upload a recording and get a transcript? Those are different kinds of tools. Fourth, how much do you dictate each week, and what does that cost? The comparisons below are grouped by the kind of tool. We make DanDin, one of the apps compared, so every fact about another app comes from that company's own pages, with the date we checked it. Where we have not tested an app ourselves, we say so, and every comparison says who should stay with the other app.
DanDin is our product. Facts about other apps come from their own pages, checked on the date shown beside each comparison, no app on this site has been tested hands-on yet, and we take no money from any app we compare. Our method is written out in full on how we test dictation apps.
Which dictation apps do you install on a computer?
These run as a program on your Mac or PC and type into whatever app you are already using. This is the group DanDin belongs to.
- DanDin vs Wispr Flow. Wispr Flow dictates on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, and its help centre says "Flow detects one language per dictation, not per word." Its language page no longer names Arabic. DanDin's default mode writes each sentence in its own language, so Arabic and English can share one dictation. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- Wispr Flow alternatives. Seven options besides Wispr Flow, from free tools you already own to an open source Mac app, each with who it suits and who it does not. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Superwhisper. Superwhisper ships apps for macOS 13.3 or later, Windows 10 and 11, iOS and Android, and says it supports more than 100 languages and dialects. Arabic is not named on any of the three pages we read. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Dragon. Dragon Professional version 16 is a Windows program, optimised for Windows 11 and back compatible to Windows 10. The Nuance pages we read carry no price and no language list. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Whisper. Unknown: we have not read OpenAI's own Whisper pages yet, so nothing in this comparison carries a read date. Treat it as out of date until we do.
- DanDin vs MacWhisper. Unknown: we have not read MacWhisper's own pages yet, so nothing in this comparison carries a read date.
Which newer dictation apps are worth comparing?
These are newer AI dictation apps. Three are built for Arabic first; the rest are general apps with long language lists. Every fact below is from the company's own pages, read on 2026-10-08. None of them is tested yet.
- DanDin vs Sawti. Built for people who speak Arabic and want Arabic or English out. Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone. No free plan, only a free week, then from 5.99 dollars a month.
- DanDin vs Kalam. The closest to DanDin: Arabic and English on Mac and Windows. More free words (3,000 a week) and a cheaper yearly Pro; its help centre asks you to pick the language before you dictate.
- DanDin vs Aktoblak. A free Windows app that types Arabic offline, on your own CPU, with no account. No tidy step and no English named.
- DanDin vs Willow Voice. Mac, Windows and iPhone, over 100 languages. Its home page does not name Arabic; a blog post does.
- DanDin vs Aqua Voice. Names Arabic among 49 languages, Pro from 8 dollars a month, and a one-time 1,000 free words.
- DanDin vs Monologue. Apple devices only, with meeting notes and an Apple Watch app. Its site does not name Arabic.
- DanDin vs VoiceInk. Apple silicon Macs, paid once, open source, runs on your Mac. Arabic only through models you download.
- DanDin vs Spokenly. Free unlimited local models, Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone. Arabic named once, in its docs.
- DanDin vs Genspark Speakly. 4,000 free words a week and phone apps; paid use goes through a Genspark plan.
What does dictation built into Windows, Mac, Word and the browser do?
These cost nothing extra because they come with the system, the subscription or the browser tab, and that is exactly why their language lists matter.
- DanDin vs Windows voice typing. Microsoft lists 46 languages for voice typing in Windows 11, and Arabic is not one of them. Its newer Fluid dictation, which cleans up grammar and filler words as you speak, is a Copilot plus PC feature in English locales only. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Microsoft Word Dictate. Dictate in Word is for Microsoft 365 subscribers only, and Arabic sits under Preview languages for Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which Microsoft says "may have lower accuracy or limited punctuation support". Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Apple Dictation. Apple lists dictation in Arabic for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and lists Arabic for on device dictation, but Arabic is not on its automatic punctuation list. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Google Docs voice typing. Google lists 15 Arabic entries for voice typing in Docs and says it works in the latest Chrome, Edge and Safari, while the spoken commands are available in English only. Facts read 2026-10-08. Not tested yet.
- DanDin vs Speechnotes. Unknown: we have not read Speechnotes' own pages yet, so nothing in this comparison carries a read date.
The Gboard comparison is not listed here on purpose. Google's Gboard help page says only that talk to text "doesn't work with all languages" and lists none, so we have nothing sourced to say about Arabic on Gboard, and that page is being replaced by a guide to voice keyboards on a computer.
Which tools transcribe a recording you already have?
Upload a file, wait, get a transcript. Useful for meetings and interviews, and a different job from typing while you speak. DanDin does not do this: it types live into the app in front of you and takes no files.
- DanDin vs Otter. Unknown: we have not read Otter's own pages yet.
- DanDin vs Notta. Unknown: we have not read Notta's own pages yet.
- DanDin vs Sonix. Unknown: we have not read Sonix's own pages yet.
- DanDin vs Happy Scribe. Unknown: we have not read Happy Scribe's own pages yet.
What do these apps cost?
The fourth question at the top of this page deserves an answer here rather than on somebody else's page. Every price below was read on the company's own page on 2026-10-08, except DanDin's, which is ours.
| App | Free plan | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| DanDin (ours) | 2,000 words in any rolling 7 days, no card and no time limit | USD 16.99 a month, or 149 a year |
| Wispr Flow | 2,000 words a week on desktop, 1,000 on mobile | USD 15 per user a month, or 12 a month paid yearly |
| Superwhisper | A free tier that does not expire | USD 8 a month |
| Dictate in Microsoft Word | None: it needs a Microsoft 365 subscription | Whatever Microsoft 365 costs you |
| Windows voice typing, Apple Dictation, Google Docs | Free with the system or the browser | Nothing to pay |
| Dragon | Unknown | Unknown: the Nuance pages we read carry no price |
Swipe the table to see every column
Note that the free plans at DanDin and at Wispr Flow are the same size on a computer: 2,000 words a week each. We are not claiming ours is more generous.
How do we write these comparisons?
Documentation first. A fact about another app has to come from that company's own page, be quoted or restated without changing its meaning, and carry the date we read it. When two versions of a page disagree we take the raw one a browser would get. When we have nothing sourced, the entry above says "unknown", because a confident sentence with nothing behind it is worse than an admission.
Nothing on this site is a hands-on test yet, and we are not promising you a date, because a promised date becomes a lie the day it slips. When the test does run, the comparison will carry the test date, the machine and the script, and the older comparisons in the list above will be rewritten one at a time to the same standard rather than quietly relabelled.
Common questions
How do I choose a dictation app?
Start with the computer or phone you actually type on, then check whether the company lists your language on its own pages, then decide whether you want your words typed live into the app you are using or a transcript of a recording you already have. Price comes last, because a cheap app you cannot use in your language is not cheap.
Have you tested these apps?
No. Every comparison on this page is built from facts we read on the company's own pages, with the date we read them, and each one says "not tested yet". Where we have not read a company's pages recently, the entry says so instead of guessing.
Can a company that makes a dictation app compare fairly?
Only if it says so and shows its method. DanDin is ours. We publish the script, the machine and the way we count errors before any result, we use the same method on DanDin, and every comparison names the people who should stay with the other app. We take no money from any app we compare, and there is no paid link anywhere on these pages.
Where is the best dictation app list?
There is not one yet, on purpose. A ranking needs a hands-on test on one script and one machine, and that has not happened, so a best-of list would be an opinion dressed as a result. When the test runs, the list goes up with its date and its script.
Sources
- Wispr Flow: Pricing, read on
- Wispr Flow: Use Flow with multiple languages, read on
- Superwhisper: Windows, read on
- Superwhisper: Download, read on
- Nuance: Dragon Professional, read on
- Microsoft: Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC, read on
- Microsoft: Dictate your documents in Word, read on
- Apple: macOS feature availability, read on
- Google: Type with your voice in Google Docs, read on
Keep reading
- How we test dictation appsOur method, and what we have not done yet: no app on this site has been tested hands-on.
- Wispr Flow alternatives: one built for Arabic and English, plus six moreSeven unranked alternatives, sourced and dated. For mixed Arabic and English, DanDin (ours) writes each sentence in its own language.