Best free speech-to-text apps 2026
Most usable without paying — real free tier, no trial wall.
Wispr Flow ranks #1 for free speech to text (2,000 words/week (Mac & Windows), 1,000/week on iPhone). 3 apps tested on identical audio; the full ranking and what each is best for is below.
The ranking
# App free speech to text Overall
1
Wispr Flow Free tier with privacy mode
2,000 words/week (Mac & Windows), 1,000/week on iPhone
5.9 / 10
2
Willow Voice Generous weekly free tier
2,000 words per week
7.2 / 10
3
TypeLess Most generous weekly free tier
8,000 words per week — renews every 7 days
6.4 / 10
—
Aqua Voice Cloud-comfortable Mac or Windows users who want highly accurate dictation with punctuation and filler-removal handled automatically
1,000 words total (one-off, not recurring) — not a real free tier
7.6 / 10
—
Superwhisper Power users willing to dig past default settings and switch to Whisper Standard
No free tier
6.3 / 10
Why these rank where they do
- 2,000 words/week on desktop, same model as paid.
- A privacy mode with zero data retention is available.
- Account required even to download.
- 2,000 words a week on the free plan, no credit card.
- Full formatting and custom vocabulary included for free.
- Free tier is cloud-only; tracking can’t be disabled.
- 8,000 words per week on the free plan — the highest weekly allowance we tested.
- Translate and Ask Anything modes included in the free tier.
- Account required; no local or privacy mode at any tier.
- Free tier shares the same cloud upload model — no privacy controls.
How we ranked this
Ranked by free-tier quality — whether there is a real free tier (not just a trial) and how usable it is. Apps with no free tier are listed at the bottom.
Full methodology →