Dragon Professional v16 is a one-time $699.99 and runs on Windows only.
Dictator does the same core job — you talk, the text appears in the window —
for free, in 100 languages, on three platforms.
Free, no sign-upRuns locallyWindows · macOS · Android
Side by side
Dragon
Dictator
Price
Professional v16 — $699.99 one-time; Dragon Anywhere — $14.99/mo; Medical One — $79–99 per user a month
Free; cloud extras from about $6/mo
Platforms
Windows (mobile app separately)
Windows, macOS, Android
Where speech is recognised
Locally (v16)
Locally, on your GPU
Languages
A short list, sold per language
100 for recognition, 198 for translation
Voice profile that learns you
Yes, this is Dragon's strong side
Personal dictionary and templates, no long-term profile
Voice commands and macros
Extensive
Six global shortcuts, no command scripting
Live subtitles, photo and screen translation
No
Yes
Sign-up
Licence and activation
None on the free tier
Dragon prices are the publicly listed ones as of 11 August 2026.
Who moves from Dragon and why
Writers and students
Dictating a book or a thesis does not need a medical-grade licence — it needs accurate text in the window and no monthly bill.
People who work in several languages
Dragon sells languages separately. Here recognition covers 100 and the language switches without buying anything.
Mac and phone users
Dragon left the Mac years ago. Dictator runs on macOS and has an Android keyboard that dictates into any app.
Anyone tired of subscriptions
The local part costs nothing, permanently. Money is only involved when a server does the work.
When Dragon is still the right tool
For dictation-heavy professions — medicine, law, radiology — Dragon remains the
standard: a voice profile that adapts over months, deep command macros,
specialist vocabularies and integration with dictation workflows. If you dictate
six hours a day into a clinical system, that licence pays for itself and this
app is not a replacement.
Frequent questions
Is accuracy comparable?
On clean speech with one speaker, modern local models are on par with cloud services — it is the same class of model, just running on your machine. Dragon still wins where a personal voice profile matters.
Can I dictate into Word or Outlook?
Yes — the text is inserted wherever the cursor is, in any Windows application.
Is there an offline mode?
Yes. Recognition and 45 translation languages work with the connection off.
Dictator
About the app →