“Packed with various features and extensive customization capabilities, Dragon is the gold standard of speech recognition programs.” Best for Windows 11: Built-In Dictation “For a reliable Windows talk-to-text solution, you don’t even need to look elsewhere, as Microsoft’s newest OS already comes with one” Best for MacOS: Built-In Dictation “The built-in program for macOS makes converting your spoken words to text a walk in the park.” Best for Enterprises: Dragon Professional Group “The best speech to text software for enterprises allows employees to create documentation 3x faster and 99% recognition accuracy.” Best with Virtual Assistant Features: Braina “Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Braina is a unique speech to text software that boasts extensive virtual assistant features.” Best Online: Google Voice Typing “All you need is a Google account, Chrome Web browser, and a reliable Internet connection.” Best for iOS: Built-In Dictation Functionality “If you want a dependable speech to text solution for your iPhone and iPad, you’ve got one integrated right into iOS.” Best for Android: Gboard Voice Typing “With Gboard, you can use your voice for everything from writing e-mails to responding to text messages.” Thanks to the “Smart Format Rules” feature, users can easily configure how they want specific items (e.g. dates, phone numbers) to appear. Dragon Professional Individual’s advanced personalization features allow it to be tailored for maximum efficiency and productivity. You can import or export custom word lists for acronyms and unique business-specific terms. Plus you can configure custom voice commands for quickly inserting frequently used content (e.g. text, graphics) in documents and even create time-saving macros to automate multi-step tasks with simple voice commands. You can easily dictate most letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols by just saying their names (e.g. to insert $, say “dollar sign”). Dictation also supports numerous voice commands that allow you to select/edit text, move the cursor to a specified location, and more. Windows 11 supports a variety of different languages for dictation, and your computer needs to be connected to the Internet and have a working microphone to use it. To set up Dictation, navigate to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Accessibility > Voice Control and then select “Enable Voice Control.” Here, you can select the dictation language and configure other options. Being a native component of the operating system, Dictation works well with any text field in macOS. To use it, place the cursor in any text field (e.g. Apple Pages document, E-mail compose window), press the “Fn” key twice to activate, and start speaking. Since this feature learns your voice’s characteristics and adapts to your accent, it gets better with continued use. Dictation supports multiple voice commands for all standard operations (e.g. selecting/formatting text, moving the cursor to a specific position, entering punctuation marks/symbols), and allows you to create your own as well. For more Mac programs, check out our guide to the best video editing software for Macs and the best Mac desktop publishing software. Dragon Professional Group also makes it simple to automate repetitive tasks and streamline multi-step processes. You can configure custom voice commands which is helpful when quickly adding frequently used items (e.g. signatures) into documents. The system also allows you to create time-saving macros, or add industry-specific terms to the software’s vocabulary to share with other employees. The program also comes with “Nuance Management Center,” a centralized user administration console that allows for easy management of everything from user profiles to custom command databases. The multi-functional program lets you use natural language commands to control your computer and perform different tasks, all from a convenient single-window environment. Braina can be helpful when searching for information online, performing complex mathematical calculations, playing your favorite songs, taking down notes, opening specific files/programs/websites, and getting weather information. It also supports custom voice commands and macros, which make it easy to automate repetitive tasks. As far as the speech-to-text functionality is concerned, the program supports voice dictation in over 90 different languages and accents (e.g. English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese), with up to 99% accuracy. To get started with speech to text, open a document in Google Docs, and select “Voice typing…” from the “Tools” menu. After allowing the browser to access your computer’s microphone, click the microphone box to start speaking, and Voice Typing will convert your words to text in real-time. For best results, you must speak clearly, and at an average pace. Google Voice Typing allows dictation in many languages (e.g. English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, or Thai), and you can select one via the microphone box before you start speaking. All standard operations such as selecting or editing text, applying formats, or moving the cursor to a specified point in the document, can be done using voice commands. To dictate text in any app, tap the microphone icon on the iOS keyboard, and start speaking. When you’re dictating, an animated waveform is displayed to indicate that your speech is being processed. If there are any errors such as spelling mistakes while dictating, they can be fixed manually. Dictation in iOS works offline (for selected languages), and there’s voice command support for the majority of operations (e.g. formatting text, adding punctuations). You can also use Gboard’s Voice Typing functionality to replace words in any document or message. For this, select the target word, and tap the microphone icon. Once “Speak now” is displayed, say the new word to replace the existing term. Gboard supports voice dictation in multiple languages and can be used offline, as well. Our writers spent 7 hours researching the most popular speech-to-text software on the market. Before making their final recommendations, they considered 15 different software overall, screened options from 8 different brands and manufacturers, read over 100 user reviews (both positive and negative), and tested 4 of the software themselves. All of this research adds up to recommendations you can trust.
