Voice In alternatives for dictation outside the browser

The best Voice In alternative on a Mac is a dictation app that works outside the browser too, because that's the wall most Voice In users hit. Sayburst types into any Mac app (Word, Outlook, Slack, Mail and every browser), transcribes on your Mac, and costs $29 once instead of $59.99 a year for Voice In Plus. If you only ever dictate into web pages and don't mind a yearly fee, Voice In Plus is still a good extension.

We make Sayburst, so read the ranking with that in mind. Facts about Voice In and the other tools come from their official pages, checked October 31, 2026.

#What Voice In does, and where it stops

Voice In, from Dictanote, is a Chrome extension (with an Edge add-on) that types what you say into text boxes on web pages: Gmail, Google Docs, ChatGPT and, by its count, more than 10,000 sites. It supports 50+ languages. Dictanote says audio is transcribed in your browser and no audio or transcript is sent to its servers, though the extension needs a working internet connection and doesn't work offline.

The limits are spelled out on its own Plus page:

Two things push people to look elsewhere. First, it only works inside the browser: the moment you open the Word or Outlook desktop app, Slack, Notes or a code editor, there's no microphone. Second, the free tier is fine for an email or two, but the 20-second silence cutoff and the 60-minute cap make longer writing awkward, and Plus is a recurring cost for a tool that only covers part of your day. Safari, Firefox, Brave and Arc users can't run it at all.

#The alternatives compared

#1. Sayburst: the same habit, in every app

Sayburst takes the thing Voice In does well, talking into a text box, and makes it work everywhere on the Mac. There's no extension. Click into any field, hold fn, talk, let go, and the text is inserted at your cursor, whether that's Gmail in Safari or Outlook's desktop app.

What changes once you leave the browser:

• Recognition is on the Mac. Parakeet v3 runs on the Neural Engine. Sayburst never uploads your audio, and after a one-time model download it works with no connection, on a train or a hotel network that blocks half the web.
• Cleanup instead of commands. Voice In Plus gives you custom voice commands; Sayburst removes "um" and "uh", fixes capitals and punctuation automatically, and understands "new paragraph" and "bullet point" without you learning a list.
• No silence timer. Hold the key as long as you're talking, or tap fn once to go hands-free and tap again when you're done.
• Per-app tone. Set Email mode for Outlook and Message mode for Slack, and each one comes out right.

A reply you might send from Outlook's desktop app, where Voice In can't reach:

"Hi Priya, thanks for, uh, sending the contract over. I'll sign it tonight, actually no, first thing tomorrow, and get it back to you before ten. Best, Sam."

With Email mode and the optional on-device Sayburst Writer:

Hi Priya,

Thanks for sending the contract over. I'll sign it first thing tomorrow and get it back to you before 10.

Best, Sam

If you click away before the text lands, it isn't lost: ⌃⌥⌘V pastes your last dictation anywhere.

Price: free for 7 days, then $29 once for one Mac or $49 for up to three, including every 1.x update. That's less than half of one year of Voice In Plus.

Tradeoffs: Mac only (Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later), so it won't follow you to a Chromebook or a Windows work laptop the way a Chrome extension does. Text is inserted when you finish speaking rather than typed live into the page; the overlay shows your words as you go.

#2. Apple Dictation: free and already on your Mac

Apple Dictation works in every app, like Sayburst, and costs nothing. Press the Dictation shortcut or choose Edit › Start Dictation. In supported languages it adds commas, periods and question marks automatically, and Apple says it stops after 30 seconds with no speech, which is far more forgiving than Voice In's free 20 seconds. There's no filler removal or per-app tone, so you'll tidy more afterwards. If you're leaving Voice In only because of the browser wall and dictate lightly, try this first. Sayburst vs Apple Dictation covers the difference in detail.

#3. Google Docs voice typing: if Docs is all you use

If most of your Voice In time was spent in Google Docs, Google's own voice typing (Tools › Voice typing) is free and now works in Chrome, Edge and Safari. Spoken punctuation ("period", "new paragraph") works in English. It's Docs and Slides speaker notes only, though, so it solves one tab, not your workflow. Our Google Docs page shows how Sayburst handles the same documents.

#4. Spokenly: an extension and an app

Spokenly has both: a Chrome extension for web pages and desktop apps for Mac, Windows and Linux. Local Whisper and Parakeet models are free with no account. Pro ($15 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly) adds managed cloud models and hosted text cleanup; Local+ is $29 once but doesn't include hosted cleanup. A good fit if you split time between a Mac and a Windows or Linux machine.

#5. Voicy: cross-platform, subscription

Voicy also pairs a Chrome extension with desktop apps (Mac, Windows, Linux) and phone apps. Pro is $8.49 a month, a lifetime license is $260, and the free trial is 30 minutes of recording. Normal dictation uses an online service; an offline mode on desktop keeps audio on the computer, though Voicy says Mac offline mode needs macOS 15 or later and some features still need internet.

#When to stay with Voice In

Voice In Plus is the better fit if:

• You work on a Chromebook or a locked-down Windows PC where you can install an extension but not an app.
• All your writing happens in web apps (Gmail, Docs, a CRM in Chrome) and you rely on its custom voice commands.
• You want one tool across several computers without licensing each one.

If you're on a Mac and half your writing happens outside Chrome, a system-wide app ends the switching. For a wider look at browser tools, see the best speech-to-text Chrome extensions, and our Chrome page covers Sayburst in the browser. Every Mac option is lined up on the comparison page.

Our take

Voice In is a solid extension with a hard boundary: the browser. If you write on a Mac and want the same talk-to-type habit in Word, Outlook, Slack and Mail, with your speech processed on the Mac and no yearly fee, Sayburst is the switch. If you live in Chrome on several machines, Voice In Plus still earns its price.

Questions people ask

How much is Voice In Plus?

Dictanote lists Voice In Plus at $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year (prices checked October 31, 2026). The free version is capped at 60 minutes of dictation a day.

What does Voice In Plus add over the free version?

Unlimited daily dictation, an advanced mode that works on all sites, a longer silence timeout, dictation that continues when you switch tabs, custom voice commands, AI Transforms and a dictation box.

Does Voice In work in Word or Outlook on a Mac?

No. Voice In says it only works within the browser, so desktop apps like Word, Outlook, Slack or Mail are out of reach. A system-wide app such as Sayburst or Apple Dictation types into those.

Does Voice In work in Safari, Firefox or Brave?

No. Dictanote says the speech APIs it depends on are available in Chrome and Edge, not in Brave, Vivaldi or Firefox. Safari isn't listed either.