Best Dictation Apps for iPhone (2026), Free and Paid

The best dictation app for most iPhone users is already installed: Apple Dictation, the microphone key on the iPhone keyboard. It is free, works in any app, and in many languages it runs on the phone with no internet connection. If you want what you say cleaned up and formatted before it lands in Messages or email, Wispr Flow is the AI voice keyboard to try, free for 1,000 words a week on iPhone and $15 a month for unlimited use (as of October 2026). And if you are thinking out loud for minutes rather than sending a message, a voice-note app such as Flint, which turns a long ramble into a clean, structured note, does that job better than any keyboard.

Flint belongs only in that last group. It is not a keyboard and it does not type into other apps. You record, and it gives you back a written note you can copy wherever you need it.

Most "best dictation app" lists mix two different kinds of tool. This guide splits them by job, shows how to dictate on iPhone, and says plainly what each app can't do.

Dictation or Voice Notes: Which Job Do You Need?

Decide first whether you want words typed into another app, or a note you will read later.

Job A: type into any app. Texts, emails, search boxes, a ChatGPT prompt. You tap the microphone, talk for a few seconds to a minute, and the text appears at your cursor. Apple Dictation, Wispr Flow and Superwhisper do this job.

Job B: speak for longer and get a clean note. Planning a project on a walk, a brain dump before bed, a recap after a lecture. You talk for two to twenty minutes, wander, repeat yourself, and want something organized at the end. Dictated word for word into a text field, that becomes a wall of text. Voice-note apps such as Flint, Otter and Apple Voice Memos do this job.

Many people use one of each.

How to Dictate on iPhone

Turn on Dictation once in Settings, then tap the microphone on the keyboard in any app.

1. Open Settings > General > Keyboard and turn on Enable Dictation. If a prompt appears, tap Enable Dictation.
2. In any text field, tap where you want the text to go.
3. Tap the microphone key and start talking. The keyboard stays open, so you can mix typing and talking.
4. To stop, tap the microphone again or say "stop dictation". Dictation also stops on its own after 30 seconds of silence.

In supported languages, iPhone inserts commas, periods and question marks for you. To say every mark yourself instead, turn off Auto-Punctuation under Settings > General > Keyboard. Apple says dictation is processed on the iPhone in many languages with no internet connection needed. On iOS 27, the iPhone 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air and later also use an on-device Apple Intelligence model to improve spelling, punctuation and capitalization in English.

These voice commands are worth learning, from Apple's list:

Say	You get
"period", "comma", "question mark", "exclamation point"	. , ? !
"colon", "semicolon", "quote" … "end quote"	: ; and quotation marks
"new line" / "new paragraph"	A line break or a new paragraph
"cap" / "all caps"	Capitalizes the next word, or makes it all uppercase
"heart emoji", "smiley emoji"	The emoji (in supported languages)

In U.S. English on iPhone 12 and later (except iPhone SE), you can also edit by voice with "select …", "delete …", "change … to …", "undo" and "redo". For an unusual name, spell it out: "invite Stephen, S-T-E-P-H-E-N".

What Are the Best Dictation Apps for Typing Into Any App?

For job A, start with Apple Dictation and only pay when you want AI cleanup.

Apple Dictation (free, built in)

The microphone key you just set up. It suits quick replies, short emails and searches, and costs nothing. The catch is that it transcribes rather than rewrites: it won't restructure a rambling sentence or turn a spoken list into bullets, so longer dictation usually needs editing.

Wispr Flow

An AI voice keyboard for iPhone, with apps for Mac, Windows and Android. It removes filler words, handles punctuation and formatting, adapts tone for email or texting, and keeps a personal dictionary for names and jargon, in 100+ languages. It suits people who dictate long messages all day and want text they can send as is.

The catches: speech is processed in the cloud, and Wispr's setup guide says the keyboard needs Wi-Fi or cellular data to transcribe. It needs Full Access, and when you start dictating, the keyboard opens the Flow app to record before you return. The free plan allows 1,000 words a week on mobile; Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed annually (as of October 2026). Our Wispr Flow alternative page compares it with Flint.

Superwhisper

An AI dictation app for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android that works as a custom keyboard on iPhone. The free plan gives unlimited dictation with on-device Whisper models, and Superwhisper says nothing you dictate on those leaves your device. Pro adds cloud models and AI modes that reshape your speech, such as a casual mode for messages and a formal one for client email.

The catches: iPhone only (no iPad), the AI rewriting is Pro-only, and on iOS 26.4 and later you swipe back to your app yourself after starting a recording. Pro is $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year, or $249.99 for a lifetime license (as of October 2026).

Google AI Edge Eloquent (free, no keyboard yet)

A newer Google app that runs on the phone, works offline, and strips out "ums", "uhs" and mid-sentence corrections. It is free with no usage limits and covers 15 languages. The catch: as of October 2026 it has no keyboard (the listing says one is "coming soon"), so you dictate in the app and paste the text.

What Happened to Dragon Anywhere?

Long the standard for professional mobile dictation, Dragon Anywhere stopped being sold on July 1, 2026, and renewals are no longer possible either, according to its App Store release notes and Google Play listing.

One thing applies to every third-party voice keyboard here. Apple doesn't give custom keyboards direct access to the microphone, so they hop over to their own app to record. Apple Dictation skips that step.

What Are the Best Apps for Longer Voice Notes?

For job B, you want an app that records first and writes second.

Otter

Otter records and transcribes in real time, adds AI summaries, and can join Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls. It suits meetings, interviews and notes shared with a team. The catch is the free Basic plan: 300 transcription minutes a month, a 30-minute cap per conversation, and only your 25 most recent conversations. Pro is $16.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually (as of October 2026).

Apple Voice Memos

Free and built in. On iPhone 12 or later, it transcribes recordings in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, live or afterwards. Transcripts are searchable and easy to copy, and Apple Intelligence iPhones can summarize them with Writing Tools. The catch is that you get a raw transcript, not a structured note. Our Flint vs Voice Memos comparison goes into detail.

Where Does Flint Fit?

Flint is for job B: you talk for as long as you need, and it hands back a clean, structured note.

Start recording from the record button in the app, or on iPhone from the Lock Screen widget, Control Center or the Action Button without unlocking. Pause and resume keep it all in one note. Flint transcribes the recording, then writes the note from the transcript, so the "ums", repeats and false starts don't make it into the written note. The full transcript and audio stay attached if you want to check what you actually said.

Built-in formats are Note (prose), Todo (checkboxes), Keypoints and Meeting, and you can create custom formats with your own instruction, such as "group by theme and list follow-ups". Switch a note's format later and it is rewritten from the same transcript. Key Terms in Settings tell transcription which names, jargon and product codes to expect. You can also chat across your notes, for example to ask what you decided about a project last month.

In on-device mode the audio is never sent to Flint's servers and transcription is free and unlimited; only the transcript text is sent to write the note. Cloud transcription with credits is more accurate. Flint is a one-time purchase with no subscription, and there is a free tier. For a worked example, see writing a spec for Claude Code by talking.

The Best Dictation Apps Compared

App	Job	Types into other apps?	Cleans up filler?	Price model (Oct 2026)	Works offline?
Apple Dictation	A: type anywhere	Yes	No rewriting, auto-punctuation	Free, built in	Yes, in many languages
Wispr Flow	A: type anywhere	Yes (keyboard)	Yes	Free 1,000 words/week; Pro $15/mo	No
Superwhisper	A: type anywhere	Yes (keyboard)	With Pro AI modes	Free (local models); Pro $8.49/mo or $249.99 lifetime	Yes, with local models
Google AI Edge Eloquent	A: dictate, then paste	No keyboard yet	Yes	Free	Yes
Flint	B: long voice notes	No	Yes, in the written note	One-time purchase, free tier	No, writing the note needs a connection
Otter	B: meetings, recordings	No	AI summary on top of the transcript	Free 300 min/month; Pro $16.99/mo	No, transcribes in the cloud
Voice Memos	B: simple recordings	No	No, raw transcript	Free, built in	Yes

In short: Apple Dictation for short messages, Wispr Flow or Superwhisper for heavy daily dictation, and a voice note when you are thinking rather than writing.

Dictation Tips for iPhone

Know roughly how the sentence ends. If you don't, you are thinking out loud, and a voice note will serve you better.

Pause instead of filling. Silence is fine, up to a point: Apple Dictation stops after 30 seconds of it.

Teach it your names. Wispr Flow has a dictionary, Superwhisper has custom vocabulary, and Flint has Key Terms. With Apple Dictation, spell an unusual name once.

Read before you send. Dictation errors are usually real words in the wrong place, like "their" for "there", which spellcheck won't flag.

Check where your audio goes. Apple Dictation (in many languages) and Superwhisper's local models stay on the phone; Wispr Flow and Otter use the cloud. Never dictate passwords.

When Is Flint Not the Right Tool?

If you want to type into other apps, Flint is the wrong tool. It is not a keyboard, so use Apple Dictation or an AI keyboard for texts and emails, and copy Flint notes across by hand.

It is also not word-for-word dictation. The written note is a concise rewrite; if you need your exact sentences, dictate them.

Recording can stop if you switch apps or leave the screen locked for a long stretch, so keep Flint in the foreground for long sessions. In on-device mode the audio isn't sent to Flint's servers, but the transcript text is sent to Flint's cloud AI to write the note, so you need a connection for that step. Flint doesn't join Zoom, Meet or Teams calls, and it runs on phones only, with no desktop app.

Flint is available on the App Store and on Google Play.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best dictation app for iPhone? For typing into other apps, Apple Dictation is the best free option, and Wispr Flow is the one to try if you want filler removed and formatting handled for you. For thinking out loud for several minutes, a voice-note app such as Flint, which turns the recording into a structured note, fits better than a keyboard.

Is iPhone dictation free? Yes. Dictation is built into the iPhone keyboard at no cost. Turn it on in Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation, then tap the microphone key in any app.

Does iPhone dictation work offline? In many languages, yes. Apple says dictation is processed on the iPhone with no internet connection required, though availability varies by language and region, and text dictated into a search field may be sent to the search engine.

Is there a time limit on iPhone dictation? Apple doesn't publish a maximum session length. Its guide says dictation stops automatically after 30 seconds of silence, or when you tap the microphone or say "stop dictation". For long thinking-out-loud sessions, a recording app that keeps the audio is safer.

Is there an Apple dictation app? Not a separate one. Apple's dictation is built into the keyboard and works in any app with a text field. For longer recordings, Voice Memos transcribes audio on iPhone 12 or later in supported languages.

What's the difference between dictation and transcription? Dictation turns speech into text as you speak, usually straight into a text field. Transcription turns a recording into text afterwards. Voice-note apps like Flint transcribe a recording, then write a structured note from it.

Is Dragon Anywhere still available? No. Since July 1, 2026, Dragon Anywhere is no longer sold and existing subscriptions can't be renewed, according to its App Store and Google Play listings. For heavy mobile dictation today, look at Wispr Flow or Superwhisper.

A keyboard is built for messages; thinking out loud needs somewhere to land. With Flint, talk for as long as you need and get back a clean, structured note you can search and reuse. One-time purchase, free to try. Download Flint on the App Store or Google Play.