Dictator
About the app →
Almost every speech-to-text service meters something: minutes, words, files or devices. That is not greed — a server does the work and someone pays for it. Here the work is done by your own machine, so there is nothing to meter.
| Tool | What the free plan gives | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | 300 minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation, 3 imports in total | Cloud |
| Wispr Flow | 2,000 words a week on desktop, 1,000 on iPhone | Cloud |
| Superwhisper | Everyday features, smaller models; Pro $8.49/mo | Local on Apple Silicon |
| Dragon | Nothing free: $699.99 one-time, or $14.99/mo for mobile | Local, Windows only |
| Whisper | Everything, but as a model: Python and a terminal | Local |
| Notta | 120 minutes a month, 3 minutes per file | Cloud |
| Fireflies.ai | Unlimited transcription, but a bot in the call and 400 minutes of storage | Cloud |
| MacWhisper | Free version; Pro €59 one-time, macOS only | Local |
| Speechify | Limited free reading; Premium about $139 a year | Cloud |
| Dictator | Local recognition, live subtitles and speaker separation — unlimited, no sign-up | Your own machine |
Figures come from the vendors' own pricing pages, checked on 11 August 2026.
Meeting transcription without the 300-minute month and the half-hour cap on a single conversation.
Dictation into any window without a weekly word allowance — and with translation on the way out.
The same idea of local recognition, but built around a Windows GPU, with subtitles and an Android keyboard.
The classic $699 licence against a free app that also speaks 100 languages and runs on Mac and Android.
The same class of model, wrapped in an application: shortcuts, files, subtitles, history.
Three minutes per file is a demo. Local transcription has no cap on length at all.
Notes from the call without a bot joining it and without the recording leaving your disk.
The same local model, but on Windows and Android too — and it types for you, not only transcribes.
Reading aloud without the yearly subscription — plus speech-to-text in the same app.
The browser tool needs no installation; the app needs no account.
Open the transcriberPublished · updated