Speech-to-text apps are handy for everyday use and stand out from transcription software, which is often more time-consuming to use. The primary difference between the two is that speech-to text apps will take live speech and transform it into readable content. For example, a speech-to-text app can create a text copy of what you dictate to your phone.
In contrast, transcription software will create a text copy of an audio file. However, transcription apps almost always require you to upload a pre-recorded audio file, adding one more step to the process.
We’ve spent hours researching the best speech-to-text apps available for their usability, accuracy, pricing, and much more. Today, we are sharing the 12 best speech-to-text apps for Android and iPhones.
How to choose the best speech-to-text apps for Android and iPhone?
Our criteria for choosing the best speech-to-text apps for Android and iPhones include the following factors:
● Accuracy: A guaranteed accuracy level or customers experiencing strong accuracy with the speech-to-text app was a hugely important factor when choosing apps for our list. Accuracy is a crucial feature that ensures the app will save you time in the long run because you won’t have to go through and extensively edit the transcript.
● User-friendliness: User-friendliness is crucial to the functionality of any app. If we found the app unwieldy, difficult to use, or not organized intuitively, we didn’t include the app on our list.
● Pricing: We looked for apps that are reasonably priced and included the prices throughout our list so that you are aware of all fees going into using the app.
● High customer ratings: We checked that the following speech-to-text apps for Android and iPhones had high customer ratings and satisfaction online.
● Multi-language support: We looked for apps with multiple language support to fit many language needs.
● App compatibility: Speech-to-text apps that are compatible with other apps or integrate within other apps were prioritized on our list. This is an essential feature if you want to use the app among multiple platforms and apps.
● No additional software required: We prioritized apps that only needed one software or app to use and skipped any apps that required multiple downloads or software to operate thoroughly.
● Security features: We looked into the app's security and privacy measures to protect your private information.
12 Best Speech-to-Text Apps for Android and iPhone
1. Notta
Verdict: Notta is an impressive app with over 98% accuracy and various helpful features, including organizational tools and options for exporting audio and text.
Notta is an innovative, safe speech-to-text app offering free basic and multiple paid plan options. It does not share data with third parties or collect data. Your private data is also encrypted in transit, and you can request that data be deleted. In addition to these security measures, Notta can transcribe audio files and video calls live or post-recording. We also love that Notta directly connects to Notion, allowing you to save transcripts to Notion quickly.
Notta offers a massive variety of organization features, including the ability to organize your transcripts and voice notes in folders. The editing feature also allows you to edit the transcription and add images and notes. We love that Notta supports adding vocabulary to improve accuracy for Japanese transcription and over 42 supported languages. In addition, it offers many export formats, such as docx, srt, txt, pdf, and xlsx. Lastly, Notta syncs across multiple devices, such as your phone, tablet, and computer, saving you time and energy transferring the files yourself.
Pros
● Add images to a transcript
● Automatic correction and editing while you speak
● Multiple playback speeds
● Valuable organization features
● Syncs across multiple devices
Cons
● Doesn’t connect to smart home devices
Pricing: Basic plan: $0, Pro: $8.25 per month billed annually, Team: $18 per month billed annually
Supported OS: iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Chromebooks
Supported Languages: English, a total of 104 supported languages
2. Google Assistant
Verdict: Google Assistant is ideal for users looking for various features, including speech-to-text applications, search functions, and playing music.
Google Assistant also offers a variety of security features. Your privacy is personal. The app doesn’t record everything you say while on standby, and you have the option to delete anything you say. You can also set your data up to auto-delete. In addition, Google Assistant also integrates with all other Google apps. Google Assistant also offers a Guest Mode, which prohibits the app from saving information to your Google Account.
Pros
● Connects to your smart home and home automation devices
● Offers a huge variety of assistant and productivity features
● Uses artificial intelligence and can engage in two-way conversations
Cons
● Transcription editing features are limited
Pricing: Free
Supported OS: Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Smart speakers, Smart home devices
Supported Languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, 12 languages in total and many dialects among these languages
3. Apple Dictation for iOS users
Verdict: This app is ideal for iPhone and iPad users who want an app that allows them to add punctuation and formatting while they are speaking.
Apple Dictation is a versatile, accurate speech-to-text app built into iPhone 6s or higher and iPads. It can be used without an Internet connection and offers a high accuracy rating. In addition, this app has impressive customer reviews and features great punctuation and formatting tools that we haven’t seen with many speech-to-text apps. With a few basic punctuation and formatting commands, you can format and add punctuation, like periods, commas, dollar signs, quotation marks, colons, and much more.
We like that Apple Dictation is flawlessly integrated into iOS products. It also has a simple user interface that makes using and learning the app easy. We also like that the dictation will either stop manually or automatically after 30 seconds of no speaking. All in all, this app is a great on-the-go option for iPhone and iPad users.
Pros
● Can be used on iPhone 6 or later and iPad without an Internet connection
● You can use Voice Control to interact with your iPhone
● Dictate text of any length
Cons
● Not available on Android devices
● Not available in all countries and regions
Pricing: Free
Supported OS: iPhone and iPad
Supported Languages: English, German, Finnish, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, 16 total supported languages
4. Gboard - The Google Keyboard
Verdict: Ideal for Android users looking for both glide typing and voice typing.
Gboard offers reliable voice typing and accurate speech-to-text features. We love that it provides efficient voice and glide typing, allowing you to slide your finger from letter to letter rather than regular typing and dictating on the go. You can type faster using Gboard’s voice typing feature and talk to anyone with the built-in translate feature. The app also offers handwriting options, allowing your text to appear in cursive and printed letters. We also like that you can add GIFs, stickers, and emojis to your text to infuse your personality into the text. Lastly, it offers intelligent suggestions to improve spelling and readability while you type.
Gboard also has a variety of user-friendly functions, such as one-handed mode and the ability to customize the interface by making the number row available and creating symbol hints. It also allows you to choose your own theme, including or excluding key borders.
Gboard does not share data with third parties and allows you to request that data be deleted. This app also encrypts data in transit.
Pros
● Offers GIFs, stickers, and emojis through emoji kitchen
● Multilingual typing allows you to switch between languages automatically
● Translate as you type with Google Translate
● Supports a huge number of languages
Cons
● Not available for iOS users
● No verbal punctuating formatting
Pricing: Free
Supported OS: Android
Supported Languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, 150+ total supported languages
5. Dragon
Verdict: This app is best suited for Dragon Professional desktop product users or users who want unlimited Cloud syncing.
Dragon is a highly accurate, fast speech-to-text app that syncs with other Dragon Professional desktop products. It also syncs to the Cloud and readily shares documents with other apps, like your email, Evernote, and Dropbox. A lifetime of upgrades is also included with the software.
We love that Dragon has no length limitations for your dictation, so you could dictate an entire book or business report if you want. It also has many voice formatting and editing options, including correction, deletion, editing, and standard formatting dictations. You can also add specific jargon from your industry to Dragon’s vocabulary and create custom voice commands to skip repetitive steps. For example, you could program a custom voice command to insert a clause or email signature into your document automatically.
Dragon is heavily focused on privacy and shares that all your communication with the Cloud is secured with Enterprise grade encryption. It also doesn’t access your personal information, such as your contacts or location.
Pros
● 99% accuracy and high speed
● Unlimited dictation to the Cloud
● Shares documents to Dropbox, Evernote, email, and more
● Syncs with other Dragon Professional desktop products
Cons
● Expensive
● Requires active WiFi or cellular connection
Pricing: $15 monthly or $150 yearly
Supported OS: iOs and Android devices
Supported Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch
6. Otter
Verdict: Otter is ideal for business use because of its collaborative and organizational functions.
Otter is a cloud-based speech-to-text app with many features, from keyword summaries, to the word cloud, real-time transcription, and additional playback speeds. With the Pro plan, you receive up to 1,200 minutes of speech-to-text transcription. Otter’s AI software automatically captures meeting notes, helps you find your transcriptions, and annotates and shares notes to allow for better collaboration.
Otter is recommended for lectures, meetings, interviews, and more, making it a versatile app. It offers many work functions, including collaboration features, bulk export options, and the capability to sync audio from Dropbox. In addition, the Teams plan offers additional features, including user management, centralized billing, two-factor authentication, voiceprints, live captioning, and user statistics. We like that Otter has different speakers and allows you to assign different speaker IDs, making it easier to understand your transcription.
Pros
● Free tier available
● Multiple export options
● Live captioning available
● Team collaboration features
Cons
● Live chat support is not available
● Only supports English and regional accents
Pricing: Basic plan: free, Pro plan: $16.99 per month, Business plan: $20/per user per month, enterprise plans available
Supported OS: iOS and Andriod
Supported Languages: English and regional accents
7. Verbit
Verdict: Verbit is an excellent platform for building a business due to its specialized teams and accessibility technology.
Verbit is trusted by over 3,000+ organizations, including Google, Blackboard, CNN, and Fox. Verbit has a considerable number of tools, including live captioning and transcription, captioning, transcription, audio descriptions, and translation and subtitles. The audio description makes this an accessible option that supports audiences who have vision loss. The descriptions are created by expert human describers and are ideal for both corporate and learning video content.
Verbit has professional-grade accuracy and offers easy-to-schedule real-time services. It’s built for meetings, podcasts, events, and live formats. You can also integrate Verbit with Microsoft Teams, Zooms, and other apps. We like that this app uses a mixture of speech models, including algorithms and neural networks, to lessen background noise, making your audio easier to understand. This app is noted for being great at differentiating between speakers with different accents.
Verbit is a speech-to-text service, but it should be stressed that it’s more of an enterprise transcription service. However, we like that Verbit has industry-leading turnarounds and customized templates that fit corporate formatting requirements.
Pros
● Enterprise service
● Smart AI software
● Team Technology
● Integrates with many platforms, like Vimeo, Zoom, YouTube, etc.
Cons
● Not always live
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Supported OS: Android and iOS
Supported Languages: English and Spanish, with plans to expand in the future
8. Speechmatics
Verdict: Speechmatics is an excellent app option that supports different accents and is ideal for prominent British accents.
Speechmatics is a leading speech recognition technology that works on both existing video and audio files and live audio. This app is ideal for users concerned about converting speech to text with solid accents, especially prominent British accents. The app also advertises itself to be great for American, South African, and Jamaican accents.
Speechmatics has a high accuracy of 86.5% or more. It also offers many speech-to-text transcription services, including call center phone recording transcriptions that you can turn into searchable Word or text documents. The software is also compatible with video and other media and creates captions and keyword triggers to organize your files.
In short, we like that Speechmatics is a versatile, accessible, and comprehensive software. It’s also a massive plus that this app features speaker diarization, which detects and labels different speakers within the audio. Lastly, it offers extensive advanced punctuation to make transcription easier.
Pros
● No contract required
● Automatic sample rate detection chooses the best transcription model
● Deploys in the Cloud
● Supports all major file formats
● Offers online support during traditional business hours for On Demand and Enterprise plans
Cons
● No free option available
● Offers only essential features with nothing standout
Pricing: Free tier, On Demand with pricing starting at $2.75 per hour, Enterprise with custom pricing
Supported OS: Android, iOS
Supported Languages: 34 supported languages in total
9. Braina Pro
Verdict: This app best suits someone wanting a powerful digital assistant and jargon dictation capabilities.
Braina Pro is three times faster than typing and offers many personal virtual assist and dictation features. We love that it has a simple user interface design, making it easy to learn and use. In addition, the app is easy to set up and requires no voice training. Braina Pro can recognize unusual vocabulary, including scientific, legal, and medical terms and jargon.
We like that Braina Pro also offers many dictation commands, making accurate punctuation and formatting easy. The app is also organized, searches for online information, has a dictionary and thesaurus, and plays and searches for songs and videos. We like that it can also use custom replies and offers support with its pro plans.
Overall, Braina Pro is a great virtual assistant and dictation app designed to optimize your productivity. Its custom voice commands can save you a lot of time.
Pros
● Up to 99% accurate speech recognition
● Understands complex jargon and unusual vocabulary
● Offers both subscription model and lifetime payment choices
● Allows you to control your PC and use the Wi-Fi network remotely
Cons
● Free plan available
● Need to be online and have Chrome installed for speech recognition functionality to work
Pricing: Free plan, $79 for Braina PRO plan, $199 for lifetime Braina PRO plan
Supported OS: Android, iOS, Windows
Supported Languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and over 100 supported languages
10. Just Press Record
Verdict: Just Press Record is an easy-to-use, highly accessible app with excellent VoiceOver support to ensure everyone can use it.
Just Press Record is an award-winning audio recorder that records audio, transcribes, and syncs across all iOS devices, including Apple Watch. Just Press Record requires only a tap to start recording and a single swipe to pause, allowing you to record in the background discreetly. The app also features your last 12 recordings on your Apple Watch, so you can easily listen to your latest recordings. We like that it also syncs immediately with your other Apple devices, saving you time transferring files.
Just Press Record is a highly accessible app with VoiceOver features, reduced motion and support, and extra large complication templates. We also love that Just Press Record has many organizational and editing features, including the ability to rename recordings, create a dedicated tab for quick access to recordings on your Apple Watch, and search by transcription content. You can also make instantaneous corrections to your transcription, including adding text. Just Press Record also has the ability to visualize your audio in waveform and edit out audio cuts.
Pros
● Simple user interface
● Pro audio recordings up to 24-bit with external microphones
● Organizational features available
● Edit your transcription
● Unlimited recording time
Cons
● Can’t add images or notes to your transcription
● No Android version available
Pricing: $4.99 one-time fee
Supported OS: iOS
Supported Languages: English, over 30 supported languages
11. Speechnotes
Verdict: Speechnotes is ideal for users wanting a simple user interface and easy editing choices.
Speechnotes is a speech-to-text online notepad with professional and accurate free speech recognition. It has a built-in text editor, allowing you to make edits to your transcription quickly. In addition, it has an amazingly clean, efficient, easy-to-use user interface. The Speechnotes technology is cutting-edge and has high-quality accuracy.
Speechnotes has many productivity features in addition to their dictation capabilities. We love that it has Cloud saving, export to Google Docs, and the ability to download as a document on your PC. It also auto-saves your document in real-time, so you never have to worry about losing your transcription. Speechnotes will also automatically capitalize letters at the beginning of the sentence, saving you time editing your document later.
Overall, we like that Speechnotes values user privacy by never saving anything you say or type with third parties other than Google’s speech-to-text engine. The website interface also doesn’t use any cookies and follows Google’s strict privacy policies. Lastly, we like that it has custom key options, allowing you to create signatures, names, clauses, or save other frequently used text.
Pros
● Available on PC and Android, no download is needed on PC
● Free unlimited usage
● Auto saves your document and edits
● Multiple export options
Cons
● No iOS app available
● In-app advertisements for free option
Pricing: Free option and pro plans available
Supported OS: Android
Supported Languages: English, Czech, Dutch, and many more
12. Transcribe
Verdict: Transcribe is ideal for transcribing videos and voice memos to text using almost instant AI technology.
Transcribe is an excellent iPhone app that automatically transcribes any voice memo or video. It supports a massive number of languages, over 120, including dialects. Transcribe is a highly-rated transcription app with a built-in text search feature that allows you to find transcriptions on your phone quickly. You can also export texts to various editors, including messages, mail, Facebook, and notes. It also syncs audio and transcripts across all of your devices.
We love that Transcribe has an easy-to-use interface and offers a dark mode to lessen eye strain. You can also import files from DropBox and other apps. The export functions within Transcribe are also many, including the ability to export your files as DOCS, SRT, PDF, and TXT.
Overall, we recommend Transcribe for iOS users looking for a user-friendly interface that syncs automatically across all your Apple devices.
Pros
● Synchronize an unlimited number of files, up to 50 GB, with the app
● Free trial available
● No ads
● Five extra hours of transcription free each month with the PRO plan
Cons
● No disclosed accuracy rate
● No Android app available
● Can’t add images or notes to your transcript
Pricing: $5 per transcription hour, subscription options available
Supported OS: iOS
Supported Languages: English, Russian, Spanish, supports over 120+ languages and dialects
Useful tips for using speech-to-text apps
You should follow a few essential tips when using a speech-to-text app to keep your transcription as accurate as possible.
1. Speak clearly and loudly. The app should be able to hear you clearly to maintain the highest level of accuracy for the transcription. Use a microphone, if possible, to heighten your voice and reduce background noise. In addition, we recommend speaking slowly and enunciating clearly so that the app doesn’t misunderstand your words.
2. Avoid background noise as much as possible. Background noise can skew the accuracy of your transcription and lead to gaps in the text.
3. Outline a draft first. If you are dictating a voice memo or email, go over your notes or outline first. This can help you avoid pauses and errors while dictating.
4. Emphasize while you speak. Take pauses before sentences, and don’t be afraid to take a long pause to collect your thoughts.
5. Learn voice commands. Many speech-to-text apps offer dictation commands, such as “comma,” “period,” or “open quotes,” so that you can add punctuation to your transcription easily. Many of these apps also allow you to insert emojis as you go. Using voice commands will save you time in the long run by cutting down on edits later.
6. Choose the best app for your situation. Take a moment to assess the many speech-to-text apps available and choose an app that is best fitted to your needs. For example, if you plan on having multiple speakers for dictation, select an app advertised as good at identifying multiple speakers. Likewise, some apps offer many more supported languages and dialects, so if you have a strong accent or want transcription that translates to other languages, choose one of those apps.
7. Proofread your transcriptions. Before sending your transcription to a colleague or fellow student, take a moment to look over the transcription for mistakes. Even the best speech-to-text apps will make occasional errors, so always take a moment to double-check for mistakes to avoid any embarrassing moments.
8. Use placeholder commands. Check if your speech-to-text app offers the ability to use a placeholder word. The placeholder word will signify to your app to insert a phrase, jargon, or email signature instead of needing to state the entire phrase each time you dictate to your app.
FAQs
1. How to use Google docs to convert speech to text?
To use Google Docs to convert speech to text, start by opening a Google Doc with your browser. Then, click ‘Tools’ and click the microphone icon. Start speaking at a normal pace and volume so the Doc can pick up your audio easily. Please note that this accessibility feature is only available when Google Docs is open within a Chrome browser.
2. What is the most realistic text to speech?
The most realistic text-to-speech app is Nuance Dragon, Murf, Speechify, Synthesys, and Notevibs. Text-to-speech apps are a form of assistive technology that reads text aloud, giving it the nickname “read aloud” technology as well. Text-to-speech apps can read words on your computer or mobile device and convert them to audio aloud. These apps are helpful for those with vision impairments, students or employees wanting to have documents read aloud to reinforce learning, or individuals looking to multitask.
3. What is speech-to-text used for?
Speech-to-text is used for speech recognition and translating spoken words into text through a computer or app. Speech-to-text is also referred to as computer speech recognition or speech recognition. Additionally, its best uses are saving notes on your phone through dictation, media subtitling, clinical documentation, call analytics, and media content search.
4. Should I use free speech to text software or paid speech to text software?
Using free speech to text software or paid speech to text software is entirely up to you. However, free speech-to-text software often lacks quality technical support and may not have the best accuracy or speed. Much speech-to-text software also lacks capacity, so you may be limited by a small number of recording time. Lastly, free speech-to-text software may require a more significant time commitment on your part because lower accuracy may require you to make additional edits that you wouldn’t otherwise need to do.
5. Is voice-to-text software secure?
Yes, voice-to-text software is reasonably secure. As with anything, there is some risk to your security in using any software. However, voice-to-text software removes the human transcription element, decreasing the risk of security leaks or information being read by other humans.
Conclusion
The best speech-to-text apps have many great uses, from saving you time, freeing up your hands, and creating a neat transcription of your dictation. We hope today’s guide to the 12 best speech-to-text apps inspires you to use a great speech-to-text app to improve productivity and save time during busy work or school schedules. Notta allows you to focus on current conversations, organize your transcriptions, and generate valuable documents, such as work memos, reports, and video subtitles from your transcriptions.