# Free Dictation App for Windows: 4 Options Compared (2026) > Infina's voice typing with a key is free and unlimited on Windows, and it tidies up your words on PCs with 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. Compared with Windows key + H and the free tiers of Wispr Flow and Superwhisper. Source: https://www.infina.so/free-dictation-app-windows 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 Right Alt and talking instead is free and unlimited, with your words tidied up on your computer, and needs no card: talk, let go, and your words land in any app. On Windows, tidying up your words needs 16 GB of memory and 4+ cores. Windows key + H is free too, but its tidy-up works only on Copilot+ PCs, in English, and it needs the internet; Wispr Flow's free plan shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words and blocks new dictations above 5,000. Hands-free, you lean back with your coffee and just say "type" plus your words, then "send it", with no key at all. 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. ## What a free dictation app for Windows should actually give you "Free" covers very different deals on Windows. Some free tools are complete but basic. Some are polished but metered. Some are generous but leave the cleanup for the paid plan. Three questions sort them quickly: - **Is there a word limit?** A weekly cap is fine for a few emails and painful if you prompt AI tools all day. - **Does it tidy up your words?** Raw transcription keeps every "um", every restart, and every missing comma. - **Does it need the internet?** Dictation that runs online stops on a train, a plane, or a bad hotel connection. ## The free options on Windows, side by side | | Free with tidy-up, no word limit | Free word limit | Tidy-up on free | Works offline | Opens apps by voice | No key at all | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | **Infina** | **Yes on PCs with 16 GB and 4+ cores: no word limit, no card, no API key** | **None: voice typing with a key is unlimited** | **Yes, on PCs with 16 GB** | **Yes, on a laptop with 4 cores and 8 GB** | **Yes, free, hands-free** | **Yes, hands-free: commands free, typing with 2,000 free words, then Infina Unlimited** | | Windows key + H | Partly: tidy-up on Copilot+ PCs only, in English | None | Only on Copilot+ PCs, in English | No, needs the internet | No | No, press Windows key + H to start | | Wispr Flow Free | No: weekly word limit | Weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words, blocks new dictations above 5,000 | Not stated | No, online only | No | No | | Superwhisper Free | No: the tidy-up is paid | Unlimited use of its Whisper models | AI tidy-up is on Pro | Yes | Not documented | No | Wispr Flow and Superwhisper details were checked on their own pages on November 2, 2026. Windows voice typing details come from Microsoft's support page, checked November 2, 2026. ## 1. Infina: free voice typing with a key for Windows, tidied up on 16 GB, 4+ core PCs Infina is a voice app for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit, Intel or AMD) and for the Mac. On Windows the free part works like this: 1. **Hold Right Alt.** The mic opens the moment you press. 2. **Talk.** A sentence, a Slack reply, a 300-word prompt for ChatGPT or Claude. 3. **Let go.** Infina types what you said at your cursor, in whatever app has focus. On PCs with 16 GB, Infina tidies up what you say before it lands: filler words come out, punctuation and capitals go in, and your own words stay. It is included on Free, with no word limit and no card. On Windows, the tidy-up needs 16 GB. Dictations over 100 words, and dictations on smaller PCs, get a basic cleanup instead. The key can be changed in Settings (see [keyboard shortcuts](/docs/keyboard-shortcuts)). To switch apps, turn on hands-free and say "open Slack", or "open Spotify", and Infina switches you there, no key at all. Voice commands are free; hands-free typing comes with 2,000 free words. Transcription runs on your own laptop by default, so dictation keeps working with no internet. That is also why Infina asks for a laptop with **at least 4 processor cores and 8 GB of memory**. Infina checks and tells you if yours is below that. The tidy-up on Windows needs 16 GB. On a lower-spec laptop, voice typing works over the internet with Infina Unlimited instead. ARM laptops (Snapdragon and Copilot+) are not blocked, but they are not tested yet. The full walkthrough of the keys, on both computers, is in [free voice typing with a key](/free-push-to-talk-dictation). ## 2. Windows key + H: free, built in, and basic Every Windows 11 PC already has [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). Click into a text box, press Windows key + H, and talk. It costs nothing, has no word limit, and understands a few spoken edits like "delete that" and "press enter". Automatic punctuation is an optional setting. The limits are real, though. Microsoft's own page says you need to be connected to the internet. Its tidy-up (fluid dictation) runs only on Copilot+ PCs, in English (checked November 2, 2026); on other PCs your filler words and false starts are typed exactly as spoken. It cannot open apps, and you press Windows key + H again for every new session. For a quick note it is fine. For an afternoon of prompts, the missing cleanup shows in every message. If you have outgrown it, our [Windows dictation app ranking](/best-dictation-apps-windows) covers the paid field too. ## 3. Wispr Flow's free tier: metered [Wispr Flow](https://wisprflow.ai/pricing) runs on Windows. Whether its free plan tidies up your words is not stated. As of November 2, 2026 its pricing page lists the free plan as "Limited words per week", and its docs say the desktop app shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words and blocks new dictations above 5,000. If you prompt AI tools all day, that ceiling arrives early in the week. Past it, Wispr Flow Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed annually. It also runs only online, so there is no dictation without a connection. Infina gives you hold-a-key dictation with no weekly meter, free, and tidies up your words on PCs with 16 GB. We lay out the full swap in [a free Wispr Flow alternative](/free-wispr-flow-alternative), and rank every free option in [the best free Wispr Flow alternatives](/best-free-wispr-flow-alternatives). ## 4. Superwhisper's free tier: local, with cleanup on Pro [Superwhisper](https://superwhisper.com) also ships a Windows build, younger than its Mac app. As of November 2, 2026 its free plan lists "Unlimited use of Whisper models" and "Voice to text that works in any app". The catch is the cleanup. "Unlimited use of Cloud and Local AI models" sits on Pro (about $8.49 a month), so the free plan gives you transcription without the AI pass that removes filler and fixes punctuation. Infina includes the tidy-up on its free plan, on PCs with 16 GB. Details in [a free Superwhisper alternative](/free-superwhisper-alternative). ## Other free dictation apps worth knowing Infina is one of several free options on Windows, and pretending otherwise would waste your time. [Handy](https://handy.computer) is free and open source, runs offline, and works on Windows, Mac and Linux; its AI post-processing is labelled experimental and needs setup. OpenWhispr has a free plan: unlimited on your own computer, 2,000 words a week on its servers. Spokenly and Speechify Voice Typing also give some free cleanup: Spokenly's cleanup, which runs on your computer, is off until you turn it on, and Speechify says its free cleanup is free today but may change. We rank all of them in [the best free dictation apps](/best-free-dictation-apps). What Infina brings, free: the tidy-up on by default (on PCs with 16 GB), a held key that types in any app, voice commands with no limit, and 2,000 free words of hands-free typing. ## Hands-free: the main way to use Infina Every free option above, including Infina's free mode, needs a key for every dictation. Hands-free removes it. Turn hands-free on in Infina, push your chair back, and talk to the laptop from a few feet away: - Say **"type"** plus your words, and Infina types them. - Say **"send it"**, and Infina presses Enter. - Say **"open Claude"** or **"open Slack"**, and you are in the next app. Then loop: prompt, send, switch, without touching anything. On Windows it transcribes on your own laptop, so it needs the same 4-core, 8 GB floor. More on how it feels in [hands-free voice prompting](/hands-free-voice-prompting). 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)**. The free words are one time, no card; Infina Unlimited gives unlimited hands-free words, with a 7-day no-questions refund. Holding a key and talking stays free either way. See [pricing](/pricing). ## What Windows gets, and what stays on the Mac Windows does the things you say to your computer. A Mac also does the things you say about what is on your screen. So on Windows you get voice typing in any app, hands-free mode, opening apps and websites, and system controls like volume and lock. Rewriting the text you have selected and reading your screen stay on the Mac for now. On Windows, Infina matches what you say against a set list of commands, so the wording in the docs matters more. The full list is in [Infina for Windows](/docs/windows), and Mac readers want [free dictation app for Mac](/free-dictation-app-mac). ## FAQ **What is the best free dictation app for Windows?** 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 and needs no card, with your words tidied up on your computer. On Windows, the tidy-up needs 16 GB. Hold Right Alt, talk, and let go. Windows key + H is free too, but its tidy-up works only on Copilot+ PCs, in English, and it needs the internet; Wispr Flow's free plan shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words and blocks new dictations above 5,000. **Is Windows key + H dictation good enough?** For short notes, yes: it is free, built in, and has no word limit. It needs an internet connection, tidies up your words only on Copilot+ PCs (in English), and cannot open apps, so heavy dictation and AI prompting outgrow it fast. **Does Infina's free dictation work offline on Windows?** Yes, on a laptop with at least 4 processor cores and 8 GB of memory, because by default transcription runs on the laptop itself. Below that, voice typing works over the internet with Infina Unlimited instead. Infina checks your laptop and tells you which case you are in. **What keys does Infina use on Windows?** Hold Right Alt to dictate. It is free, and you can change the key in Settings. Voice commands like "open Slack" work in hands-free mode with no key at all, free and with no limit; hands-free typing comes with 2,000 free words. **How much does hands-free cost on Windows?** Unlimited voice commands are free; hands-free typing is the paid part: 2,000 free hands-free words, one time, no card, then $8.25/month billed yearly ($99) for Infina Unlimited, with a 7-day refund. Voice typing with a key stays free. ## The bottom line Free dictation on Windows used to mean a choice: Windows key + H with little or no cleanup, or an app with a weekly meter, like Wispr Flow's free plan, which shows a weekly-limit notice at 2,000 words. Infina removes the choice. Hold Right Alt and your words land in any app, with no word limit, for free, tidied up on PCs with 16 GB. [Download Infina](/download), hold Right Alt, and say your next message. When holding a key starts to feel like the last thing tying you to the desk, turn on hands-free and just say "type".