The best talk to text apps in 2026, by device

Sayburst puts talk to text on one key. Hold fn, say what you want, let go, and the text is inserted at your cursor: Messages, Mail, Slack, Notion, a browser form, a code comment. A small overlay shows your words while you speak, and the finished text drops in when you release the key.

The part you notice after a week is the cleanup. Here's a message to a group chat, said the way people actually talk:

"Hey, so, um, I can do dinner Friday, but not, not before eight. Actually, make that eight thirty, the train gets in late. Can someone book the place on Elm Street?"

What Sayburst types into Messages with the Message mode:

Hey, I can do dinner Friday, but not before 8:30, the train gets in late. Can someone book the place on Elm Street?

The "um" is gone, the stutter is gone, and the self-correction kept only the final time. Recognition runs on your Mac with NVIDIA's Parakeet (25 languages) or OpenAI's Whisper (99 languages), so your audio is never uploaded and you can keep dictating on a plane. Names you add to the vocabulary get spelled your way.

Why it's first: the most useful thing a talk to text app can do is give you text you don't have to fix, in the app you're already using. Sayburst does that without a subscription or an account.

Trade-offs: Mac only, and only Apple silicon Macs (M1 or later) on macOS 14 or newer. Text arrives when you finish speaking rather than word by word.

Already on your Mac and iPhone. On a Mac, turn it on in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, then press the microphone key or choose Edit > Start Dictation. On an iPhone, tap the microphone on the keyboard. Apple processes dictation on the device for many languages, and iPhone adds punctuation automatically in supported languages.

It's good for a quick reply. It's thinner for long writing: you say punctuation out loud on a Mac, there's no filler removal or custom vocabulary, and Apple's Mac guide says it stops when it hears nothing for 30 seconds. We compare the two in detail in Sayburst vs Apple Dictation.

Wispr Flow runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android with one account, and adds AI polish out of the box. Its pricing page lists a free plan with a weekly word limit and Pro at $15 a month ($12 a month billed yearly).

The catch is where your voice goes. Wispr's own data-controls page says "transcription always occurs on the cloud," so it needs a connection and an account. If that's fine and you switch between a Windows laptop and an Android phone, it's a strong choice. Our Sayburst vs Wispr Flow comparison covers the trade in detail.

Superwhisper also runs on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, and one Pro license covers all of them. The free plan gives unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, up to two modes without AI processing, custom vocabulary and replacements. Pro adds cloud and AI models. Its own FAQ notes that offline models run best on Apple silicon Macs.

Pick it if you want local recognition and a Windows machine in the mix.

Click into any text field and press WinH. It's built into Windows 11 (Windows 10 has the older dictation tool), and it works across apps. Microsoft's support page is clear that it uses online speech recognition, so it needs an internet connection. Sayburst is Mac-only, so on Windows this is where to start.

On Android, tap the microphone at the top of Gboard and speak. Google's help page says it works "in most places where you can type with a keyboard," and you can say "period", "comma" or "new line." Not every language is supported. For texting while walking, it's hard to beat.

In Docs, open Tools > Voice typing and click the microphone. Google lists Chrome, Edge and Safari as supported browsers. It works only inside Docs (and Slides speaker notes), voice commands are English-only, and an admin can switch it off on work accounts. Our Google Docs page shows how it compares with dictating into Docs from any Mac browser.

The Dictate button on Word's Home tab. Microsoft says it's "only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers" and needs a reliable internet connection. On a Mac you can start it with ⌥F1. Good for long documents in Word; it doesn't follow you to Mail or Slack.

Otter records and transcribes conversations: Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls, or a recording you upload. Its free Basic plan includes 300 minutes a month with a 30-minute cap per conversation. It doesn't type into your other apps. If what you need is a transcript of a meeting, this is the right category; see dictation vs transcription for how the two jobs differ.