# The 12 Best Free Dictation Apps for Mac and Windows in 2026 > Infina is free voice typing with a key, tidied up on your computer (on Windows, the tidy-up needs 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores). The 12 best free dictation apps for Mac and Windows, with each one's real free limit. Source: https://www.infina.so/best-free-dictation-apps Published: 2026-11-02. Last updated: 2026-11-04. Category: Buying guide. Published by Infina (https://www.infina.so). **About Infina.** Infina runs the whole prompt loop on three spoken words. Say "type" and your sentence and it types. Say "send it", or just "enter", and it presses Enter. Say "open Cursor" and it switches apps. In hands-free mode nothing needs to be held and you never touch the keyboard, even from across the room. Hands-free: no key to hold to start talking and no Enter to press to send, so prompting an AI tool costs zero keypresses. Holding a key and talking instead is free, with no word limit. It runs on macOS (Apple Silicon) and Windows 10 and 11, transcribes on your own computer, and push-to-talk is free and unlimited, forever, on Mac and Windows: hold one key and it types what you say, with AI cleanup. Hands-free, with no key at all, comes with 2,000 free hands-free words to try, and hands-free commands are free. No card required. Unlimited hands-free is $8.25 a month, billed annually at $99. --- **TL;DR:** If you want free dictation that tidies up your words by default, start with Infina. Infina is hands-free voice for Mac and Windows: you talk, and it types, sends and opens apps. Holding a key and talking instead is free and unlimited, with your words tidied up on your computer, and needs no card. On Windows, tidying up your words needs 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. Hands-free typing is the paid part: 2,000 free hands-free words, then $8.25/month billed yearly ($99); unlimited voice commands are free. Other free apps clean up your words too, but with a catch: Spokenly's tidy-up is off until you turn it on, FluidVoice's is an optional download, Handy's is experimental, Granola does not say where its cleanup runs, and Wispr Flow's free plan shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words and blocks new dictations above 5,000. Below, all 12, with the real free limit of each. Every fact about another app below comes from that app's own pricing page, help center or code, checked November 2, 2026. ## The best free dictation apps at a glance | App | Free word limit | AI tidy-up free? | Tidy-up on your computer, on by default? | Mac / Windows | Works offline | Card needed | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | **Infina** | **None with a key** | **Yes, on Mac and on Windows PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores** | **Yes on Mac; on Windows, on PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores** | Mac, Windows | Yes, once set up | No | | **Apple Dictation** | None | Light, on newer Macs | Light cleanup on newer Macs | Mac | Yes, for languages it handles on your Mac | No, built in | | **Windows key + H** | None | On Copilot+ PCs, in English | No, needs a Copilot+ PC | Windows | No, needs internet | No, built in | | **Granola** | None (20 minutes per dictation) | Yes | Not stated | Mac (beta) | No, needs internet | Not stated | | **Spokenly** | None on your computer | Yes, on your computer | No, off until you turn it on | Mac, Windows | Yes | No, no account | | **FluidVoice** | None | Yes | No, an optional download (600 MB to under 1.5 GB) | Mac (Windows in beta) | Yes | No, open source | | **Handy** | None | Experimental | No, experimental and off by default | Mac, Windows | Yes | No, open source | | **OpenWhispr** | None on your computer; 2,000 words a week on its servers | Yes | Cleanup is on by default, and you pick a local or online provider | Mac, Windows | Yes, with its speech engines on your computer | No, open source | | **Amical** | None on your computer; 2,000 words a week on its servers | Needs Ollama | No, needs Ollama | Mac, Windows | Yes | No, open source | | **Wispr Flow Free** | Weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words, blocks new dictations above 5,000 | Not stated | No, it runs on its servers | Mac, Windows | No, needs internet | No | | **Superwhisper Free** | None | No, AI is Pro | No, AI is Pro ($8.49 a month) | Mac, Windows | Yes | Not stated | | **Aqua Voice Free** | 1,000 free words | Not stated / unclear | No, it runs on its servers | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android | No, needs internet | No | The short version: plenty of apps give you free words. Far fewer give you an AI tidy-up that is already on, running on your own computer, with no word limit. ## 1. Infina: tidy-up on by default Infina's voice typing with a key has no word limit and needs no card or API key. The tidy-up is on by default on Mac (on Windows, it needs 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores). Hold **fn** on a Mac or **Right Alt** on Windows, talk, let go, and your words land in whatever app you are in. Infina's tidy-up runs on your computer, built in and on by default on Mac: no switch to find, nothing to pick, no Ollama, no API key. On a Mac, it is [Tami 1](/tami-1), Infina's own tidy-up: it removes filler words and stutters and fixes punctuation and capitals, while keeping your words, names and code casing. What using it looks like: - **One key to start:** hold fn on a Mac, Right Alt on Windows. - **Tidy-up already on:** on Mac, and on Windows PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. - **Nothing to set up:** no API key, no Ollama, no server of your own. - **Works offline once set up, on a flight too.** - **2,000 free hands-free words to try**, no card. Infina keeps getting better: it shipped 33 releases from Aug 4 to Nov 2, 2026, and 8 of them from Oct 3 to Nov 2, 2026. Every one is on the [changelog](/changelog). Hands-free, Infina needs no key at all: say "type" plus your words, then "send it", and "open Claude" to switch apps. Unlimited voice commands are free; hands-free typing is the paid part: 2,000 free hands-free words, then $8.25/month billed yearly ($99) for Infina Unlimited, with a 7-day no-questions refund. [Pricing here](/pricing). Honest limits: transcription on your computer is English (90+ languages are an Infina Unlimited option), there is no phone app, a Mac needs Apple Silicon, and Windows needs 4 processor cores and 8 GB of memory, with the tidy-up on PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. **Pick it if:** you want free dictation that tidies up your words, already on, on a Mac or a Windows PC with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. **Skip it if:** you need a phone app, or dictate in a language other than English without paying. ## 2. Apple Dictation: best if you never want to install anything Every Mac ships with [Apple Dictation](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-dictation-mh40584/mac). It is free, works in any app, has no length limit, and runs on your Mac for the languages it handles there. Its cleanup is light: on macOS 27 with an M3 or newer Mac and 12 GB of memory or more, it fixes spelling, punctuation and capitals, and you press a key to start each time. **Pick it if:** you dictate now and then and want nothing new on your Mac. **Skip it if:** you want a fuller AI tidy-up. ## 3. Windows key + H: best built-in option on Windows [Windows voice typing](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/use-voice-typing-to-talk-instead-of-type-on-your-pc-fec94565-c4bd-329d-e59a-af033fa5689f) is free in any text box: press Windows key + H and talk. It covers 46 languages and understands "press Enter". It needs an internet connection, and its AI tidy-up (fluid dictation) runs on Copilot+ PCs, in English. On most PCs you get the words without the cleanup. **Pick it if:** you want free dictation in many languages on any Windows PC with internet. **Skip it if:** you work offline, or your PC is not a Copilot+ PC and you want cleanup. ## 4. Granola: best if you already use Granola on a Mac [Granola's voice typing](https://www.granola.ai/voice-typing) launched on October 29, 2026: "Unlimited words, for free", with cleanup, on Mac. It is in beta, each dictation runs up to 20 minutes, and Windows is "coming soon". It needs internet. **Pick it if:** you already live in Granola for meeting notes and are always online. **Skip it if:** you need Windows, or dictation that works with no internet. ## 5. Spokenly: best for free local dictation on many platforms [Spokenly](https://spokenly.app/pricing) is free on your own computer, on Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone, with no account. It can paste and press Enter for you, and on a Mac it can open apps. Its tidy-up, which runs on your computer, is off until you turn it on. Pro is $12 a month, billed yearly. **Pick it if:** you want free local dictation on Linux or iPhone too, and do not mind turning cleanup on. **Skip it if:** you want cleanup already on, with nothing to change. ## 6. FluidVoice: best open-source pick for Mac tinkerers [FluidVoice](https://fluidvoice.com/) is free and open source, runs on your Mac, and lets you choose from lots of speech engines. Its Windows app is in beta. Its AI tidy-up runs on your Mac too, but it is an optional download (600 MB to under 1.5 GB). **Pick it if:** you like choosing engines and do not mind a big download. **Skip it if:** you want cleanup that works the moment you install. ## 7. Handy: best minimal open-source app [Handy](https://github.com/cjpais/Handy) is free, open source and offline, on Mac, Windows and Linux. It does one job, speech into a text box, and does it simply. Its tidy-up is experimental and off by default, and depending on your setup it may need your own API key or a local server. **Pick it if:** you want a tiny, open-source app on Linux or Windows. **Skip it if:** you want cleanup on by default, or voice commands. ## 8. OpenWhispr: best open-source app with a voice agent [OpenWhispr](https://openwhispr.com/pricing) is open source on Mac, Windows and Linux, unlimited with its speech engines that run on your computer. It has a voice agent you call by name inside a dictation. Its cleanup is on by default, and you pick a local or online provider. Its own hosted service stops at 2,000 words a week on Free, and Pro is $80 a year. **Pick it if:** you want open source with an agent built in. **Skip it if:** you want cleanup on your computer with nothing to pick. ## 9. Amical: best for app-aware formatting, if you run Ollama [Amical](https://amical.ai/pricing) is open source, free on your own computer, and formats text by the app you are in (email, chat, code editor). Its AI formatting needs Ollama running on your computer, or its hosted service, which stops at 2,000 words a week. **Pick it if:** you already run Ollama. **Skip it if:** you do not want to install and run anything extra. ## 10. Wispr Flow Free: best free plan if you need phones too [Wispr Flow](https://wisprflow.ai/pricing) is a polished app on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, in 100+ languages, and you never need a card to start. The free plan shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words on Mac and Windows and blocks new dictations above 5,000. It runs on its servers, so there is no offline mode, and whether Free includes its AI tidy-up is not stated. Pro is $15 a month, or $144 a year. **Pick it if:** you dictate on your phone as much as your computer, and stay under 2,000 words a week. **Skip it if:** you dictate all day. See [a free Wispr Flow alternative](/free-wispr-flow-alternative). ## 11. Superwhisper Free: best for unlimited local transcription [Superwhisper's free plan](https://superwhisper.com/docs/billing/plans.md) gives you unlimited dictation with Whisper running on your device, and "nothing you dictate leaves your device". It runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Its tidy-up is Pro, at $8.49 a month. **Pick it if:** you want plain local transcription and may pay for its AI later. **Skip it if:** you want an AI tidy-up for free. See [a free Superwhisper alternative](/free-superwhisper-alternative). ## 12. Aqua Voice Free: best for a quick taste of Aqua [Aqua Voice](https://aquavoice.com/pricing) is a fast online dictation app on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Its free plan gives you 1,000 free words, no card. Pro is $10 a month billed annually, or $12 month to month. **Pick it if:** you want to try Aqua before paying. **Skip it if:** you want free dictation you can keep using. ## How we picked We looked at 55 dictation tools and ran three checks on each free plan, on a desktop computer: is it unlimited, does it include an AI tidy-up, and does it work without your own API key, server or Ollama. Then we asked where the cleanup runs and whether it is already on. Most dictation apps cap free words or charge for the tidy-up. The full list is in our [free dictation app that tidies up your words](/free-dictation-app-with-ai-cleanup) guide. ## FAQ **What is the best free dictation app?** If you want free dictation that tidies up your words by default, start with Infina. Its voice typing with a key has no word limit, with the tidy-up on by default on Mac (on Windows, it needs 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores). Apple Dictation and Windows key + H are free and built in, with lighter or narrower cleanup. **Which free dictation apps clean up your words on your own computer?** Infina does it on by default, on Mac and on Windows PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. Spokenly (off until you turn it on), FluidVoice (an optional download), Handy (experimental) and OpenWhispr (on by default, with a local or online provider you pick) can too. Granola does not say where its cleanup runs, and for Wispr Flow's free plan it is not stated. **Is there a free dictation app for Windows that tidies up your words?** Yes. Infina's voice typing with a key has no word limit on Windows, with the tidy-up on PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. Windows key + H cleans up text on Copilot+ PCs, in English. See [a free dictation app for Windows](/free-dictation-app-windows). **Which free dictation apps work offline?** Infina (once set up), Spokenly, FluidVoice, Handy, Superwhisper, OpenWhispr and Amical with their speech engines that run on your computer, and Apple Dictation for the languages it handles on your Mac. Windows key + H, Granola, Wispr Flow and Aqua Voice need internet. **Do free dictation apps need a credit card?** Infina, Wispr Flow, Aqua Voice and the open-source apps do not. Apple Dictation and Windows key + H are built in. ## The bottom line If you want free dictation that cleans up your words with nothing to turn on, start with Infina: unlimited voice typing with a key, the tidy-up already on (on Mac, and on Windows PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores), and it works offline once set up. If you never want to install anything, use Apple Dictation or Windows key + H. If you need phones too, Wispr Flow's free plan, which shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words and blocks new dictations above 5,000. Leaving Wispr Flow in particular? Read [the best free Wispr Flow alternatives](/best-free-wispr-flow-alternatives). [Download Infina free](/download).