The best dictation apps for iPhone in 2026 Pick by where the words need to end up.
Most dictation advice compares engines. The better question is where the words go after you stop talking: into the text field you are already in, into a recording you read later, or into the list where the task belongs. Each group below answers one of those.
I build Driftto, and it is on this list. It leads the last group only, the one about dictating straight into a list, because there it takes the fewest steps. It is not the most accurate app here. It uses the same Apple speech engine as the dictation already on your iPhone.
The list has three groups: voice keyboards that type into any app, apps that record and then transcribe, and apps that send what you said to a list. Prices, platforms and languages come from each app's App Store page, pricing page and help center in October 2026. Claims about speed or accuracy are the vendor's, and I say whose.
The short list
Three dictate into any app: Apple Dictation, Wispr Flow and Superwhisper. Four record first and give you the text after: Just Press Record, Whisper Memos, AudioPen and Voicenotes. Two put what you said straight into a list: Driftto, which sends it to the list app you pick, and Drafts, which keeps it until you send it on.
| Rank | App | Best for | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dictate into any app | ||||
| 1 |  Apple Dictation |
Dictating into any text field, at no cost | Included with iOS | |
| 2 |  Wispr Flow |
Spoken drafts cleaned up as you go | Free, or $15 a month | |
| 3 |  Superwhisper |
Voice keyboard that can stay on the device | Free, or $8.49 a month | |
| Record and transcribe | ||||
| 4 |  Just Press Record |
A recorder you pay for once | $6.99, once | |
| 5 |  Whisper Memos |
Rambles that arrive in your inbox | $69.99 a year | |
| 6 |  AudioPen |
Messy speech rewritten into clear notes | Free, or $99 a year | |
| 7 |  Voicenotes |
A searchable archive of everything said | Free, or $9 a month | |
| Straight into a list | ||||
| 8 |  Driftto |
Speak a task straight into your list | From $2.99 a month | |
| 9 |  Drafts |
Dictate first, send it anywhere after | Free, or $2.99 a month | |
Dictate into any app Voice keyboards that type where your cursor is.
1 Apple Dictation
Apple · iPhone, iPad, Mac
Already on your iPhone, works in every app with a keyboard, and runs on the device in many languages.
- Price
- Included with iOS. Turn it on in Settings, General, Keyboard.
- Works in
- Any app where you can type. Tap the microphone on the keyboard and speak.
- Offline
- Apple says Dictation runs on the iPhone in many languages, with no internet connection needed.
- Extras
- Automatic commas, periods and question marks in supported languages, spoken emoji, and voice commands to select or delete words.
- The catch
- No cleanup or rewriting, and it stops after 30 seconds of silence. The text only goes where your cursor already is.
Start here before you pay for anything. The keyboard stays open while you talk, so you can switch between typing and speaking in the same sentence. You can say "new paragraph", spell a name letter by letter, or say "undo" when it hears you wrong.
If the results are good enough for your messages and notes, the apps below mostly add polish, history or a different place for the text to land.
2 Wispr Flow
Wispr AI · iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android
A voice keyboard that tidies what you say into text ready to send, and keeps going on your Mac and PC.
- Price
- Free with a weekly word limit. Pro is $15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly on Wispr's site.
- Works in
- Any app, through the Wispr Flow keyboard. Wispr names Slack, Messages, email, WhatsApp and ChatGPT.
- Languages
- Wispr says it supports more than 100 languages.
- Extras
- A personal dictionary for names and jargon, and a quiet mode for dictating at a low voice.
- The catch
- The free plan caps how much you can dictate each week, and Pro costs more than any other app here.
Wispr Flow is the app most people mean when they say AI dictation. You talk the way you would to a colleague, and it removes the filler and adds punctuation without spoken commands. Wispr says the result needs no edits; how close it comes depends on how you speak.
It earns its price if you also dictate on a computer, because the same account and dictionary carry over.
3 Superwhisper
SuperUltra · iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android
A voice keyboard with a free plan that keeps your dictation on the phone, and paid AI modes when you want them.
- Price
- Free with local Whisper models. Pro is $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year or $249.99 once on its site.
- Works in
- Any app, as a custom keyboard. It needs Full Access to insert text.
- Offline
- SuperUltra says local models transcribe without internet and that nothing leaves the device on the free plan. Cloud models need a connection.
- Extras
- Modes that format text for a message or an email, custom vocabulary, and one Pro license for every device.
- The catch
- It needs iOS 26 or later, iPhone only. Since iOS 26.4 you swipe back to your app by hand after it opens.
Superwhisper started on the Mac and now has an iPhone keyboard that works in any app. The free plan is a real one: unlimited dictation with local models and custom vocabulary. Pro adds cloud models and the AI modes that rewrite your words for the place you are writing.
Record and transcribe Talk now, read the text later.
4 Just Press Record
Open Planet Software · iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch
One tap to record on any Apple device, a searchable transcript, and no subscription.
- Price
- $6.99 once on the App Store.
- Start recording
- Siri, a widget, the Lock Screen, Control Center, the Action button, or the Apple Watch without your iPhone nearby.
- Where the text goes
- Into the recording, synced through iCloud Drive. You copy or share the transcript from there.
- Languages
- Open Planet says it transcribes more than 30 languages, whatever your device language is.
- The catch
- It writes down what you said, word for word. No summaries, no cleanup, and moving the text on is up to you.
Just Press Record is a voice recorder first. The transcript sits under the audio, and playback highlights the words as they are spoken, which helps when you want to check what you actually said. Recordings made on the Apple Watch move to the iPhone for transcription.
5 Whisper Memos
Median Tech · iPhone, Apple Watch
Talk for as long as you need, and a tidy transcript with a summary lands in your email seconds later.
- Price
- Free to download. $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year on the App Store.
- Start recording
- Lock Screen widget, Action button, Siri and Shortcuts, or a standalone Apple Watch app.
- Where the text goes
- Email by default. Built-in links to Notion and iCloud, plus Zapier and webhooks for the rest.
- Languages
- The developer says more than 50.
- The catch
- It is a subscription with no ongoing free use. The text arrives as a memo, not as a task in your list.
Whisper Memos suits long thinking out loud: a walk, a commute, a meeting debrief. The email arrives split into paragraphs with a summary on top, and you can add your own summary prompts. Median Tech says recordings can run up to 90 minutes.
6 AudioPen
Nicheless · iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, web
Say it badly, read it well. AudioPen rewrites your rambling in the tone you pick.
- Price
- Free with notes up to 3 minutes. Prime is $99 a year on its site; App Store prices differ.
- Works in
- Its own app, the web, and a voice keyboard on iPhone for typing into other apps.
- Where the text goes
- Your AudioPen notes. Zapier and webhooks send them on, on the free plan too.
- Languages
- The App Store lists English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
- The catch
- The output is a rewrite, not what you said. Good for drafts, less so when the exact words matter.
AudioPen is for the moment when your thought is clear but your sentence is not. You talk for a minute, and it hands back a short note in the style you chose. Prime raises the recording limit to 15 minutes.
7 Voicenotes
Coping Hard · iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, Android, Windows
Record memos and meetings, then ask the archive questions later.
- Price
- Free with 100 transcription minutes a week. Pro is $9 a month on its site, $14.99 a month in the app.
- Start recording
- In the app, from the Action button, or on the Apple Watch.
- Where the text goes
- Your Voicenotes library. Pro connects to Notion, Zapier and AI assistants.
- Languages
- Voicenotes says it transcribes more than 100 languages.
- The catch
- The free plan keeps 30 days of history. Getting notes into other apps needs Pro.
Voicenotes treats your recordings as a library. Long notes get a summary, and the built-in AI can answer questions across everything you recorded. It is closer to a second brain than a dictation tool. If that is what you are after, see the best brain dump apps.
Straight into a list When what you said is something to do.
8 Driftto
Made by me · iPhone
Say it, tap where it goes, done. The text lands in your list app without opening it.
- Price
- Free to download. $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year with a free week for new subscribers, or $29.99 once.
- Works in
- Its own capture screen, with Siri, Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, and a Control Center control.
- Where the text goes
- Apple Reminders, Todoist, TickTick, Notion, Asana, Jira, Linear or email. One capture can go to several at once.
- Speech
- Apple's speech recognition, on the device. Notes are not stored on Driftto's server.
- The catch
- Same engine as Apple Dictation, so it is no more accurate. The whole note becomes the item's title.
Driftto opens to a text field with the keyboard already up. You speak or type, tap a destination, and the text lands in the project or list you set up for it. "Hey Siri, new capture in Driftto" does the same hands-free, in English and Dutch.
I built it for tasks, not for long dictation. If you want a sentence in your Apple Reminders or Todoist inbox before the thought is gone, this is the short way. It does not write to Things or Apple Notes.
9 Drafts
Agile Tortoise · iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch
A dictation screen with real controls, and actions that move the text to almost any app.
- Price
- Free to use. Drafts Pro is $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year on the App Store.
- Works in
- Its own app, from a widget or the new draft button, and on the Apple Watch.
- Where the text goes
- A new draft. Actions send it to Things, Reminders, Todoist, email and more.
- Speech
- Apple's speech APIs. Agile Tortoise says it can run fully offline in most cases.
- The catch
- Sending is a separate step: dictate, then run an action. Building your own actions needs Pro.
Drafts has its own dictation screen on top of Apple's engine. You can switch languages mid-session, add a custom dictionary for names, and keep dictating while the app is in the background. When you are done, an action sends the text on, including to Things, which Driftto does not reach.
How I picked
Every app here runs on iPhone and turns speech into text you can use. Within each group I judged one thing. Voice keyboards: how well they work inside other apps, and what you pay. Recorders: where the transcript ends up and how easy it is to get out. List apps: the fewest steps from speaking to the text landing in the app where it belongs.
I did not rank engines on accuracy, because I have no fair way to measure it across accents, rooms and microphones. Nobody paid to be here and there are no affiliate links. When a price changes, this page changes with it.
Questions
What is the best free dictation app for iPhone?
Apple Dictation, because it is built in and works in every app. If you want a separate voice keyboard, Superwhisper's free plan gives unlimited dictation with local models.
What is a good Wispr Flow alternative?
Superwhisper is the closest match: also a voice keyboard for any app, with a free plan and Pro at $8.49 a month. If you mostly need plain text in a field, Apple Dictation costs nothing.
Does iPhone dictation work offline?
Apple says Dictation runs on the iPhone in many languages without an internet connection. Drafts, which uses Apple's engine, can work the same way. Driftto turns speech into text on the device too, but it needs a connection to deliver to your list. Apps with cloud models need a connection.
How do I dictate a task straight into Reminders or Todoist?
Siri can add to Reminders on its own. For Todoist and other list apps, a capture app like Driftto or Drafts sends the text there for you, so you never open the list app to type.
Driftto is in the App Store now.
Free to download. The yearly plan starts with a free week.