Speech to text software used to mean Dragon, a licence key and an afternoon of training it to your voice. The large speech models changed that: the best tools now understand most voices out of the box, and the differences are in what they do with the words afterwards. Here’s what’s worth using on a Mac in 2026.
How we judged it
Four things: accuracy on real speech (accents, names, technical terms), what happens after transcription (does it hand you a transcript or finished text), where it works (every app, or its own window), and the deal (free tier, price, and where your words end up).
Speaky Box
Hold a key, talk, let go, finished text lands where your cursor is. Two keys: Dictate for tidy text, Smart for app-aware writing that produces a structured prompt in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, an email in Mail, a message in Slack. Custom vocabulary applied everywhere. Mac only. Free for 2,000 words a week, £8.99 a month unlimited. History stays on your Mac. We make it, so read that with the appropriate scepticism, then try the free tier.
Wispr Flow
The most widely used hold-to-talk app, on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with a meeting notetaker built in. Clean transcripts, good accuracy, team plans. Pro is $12 a month yearly or $15 monthly. The best choice if you need more than a Mac. Full comparison.
Superwhisper
Runs Whisper-family models locally on your Mac. Nothing leaves the machine, works offline, endlessly configurable with custom modes. Setup takes longer and accuracy depends on which model you pick. The best choice if privacy or offline use is the priority. Full comparison.
Lemon
Voice to prompt for AI tools first, dictation second. Mac and Windows. Strong if your main use is Claude and ChatGPT and you also want Windows. Full comparison.
MacWhisper
Primarily a transcription app for audio files and recordings, running Whisper locally, with dictation added. The best choice if you mostly transcribe meetings and recordings rather than type by voice.
Dragon
The old standard. Dragon Professional is Windows only now; the Mac version was discontinued. If you’re on a Mac, don’t go looking for it.
macOS Dictation
Free and built in. Literal transcript, spoken punctuation. Fine for the odd sentence. How to turn it on.
The pick
| Need | Use |
|---|---|
| Finished text in every app, best value on a Mac | Speaky Box |
| Windows or phone too, or meeting notes | Wispr Flow |
| Offline and fully local | Superwhisper |
| Mostly AI prompts, want Windows | Lemon |
| Transcribing recordings | MacWhisper |
| A sentence now and then, free | macOS Dictation |
Every one of these has a free tier or trial. Dictate the same three sentences into two of them, including a name and a technical term, and you’ll know in five minutes.