Dictate / Windows / Dragon alternative
A Dragon alternative for Windows, for people who just want to type by voice
Dragon is still the heavyweight of Windows dictation: voice commands, custom vocabularies, and a price you ask a sales team for. If what you actually use it for is speaking instead of typing, Dictate does that part: hold a key, speak, release, and the text is at your cursor, transcribed on your PC. We make Dictate, and we'll be clear about what it doesn't replace.
Free in the Microsoft Store as “Offline Dictation” · 7 days free, then $49 once, lifetime license, no subscription · Windows 10 (22H2) or 11 · 64-bit PC
Dragon vs Dictate on Windows
From Nuance's product page, read November 2026, and Dictate's own Windows app.
| Dictate | Dragon Professional v16 | |
|---|---|---|
| Typing by voice in any app | Yes | Yes |
| Voice commands, editing and form filling | No; dictation only | Yes |
| Voice profile and training | None needed | A profile per user |
| Price | $49 once, lifetime license, no subscription | No price on Nuance’s page; you contact sales |
| Where to get it | Microsoft Store | “Contact us” on Nuance's page |
| Windows versions | Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 (x64) | Windows 11, backwards-compatible to Windows 10 |
| Also on Mac | Yes, the same licence | No, Mac ended October 22, 2018 |
Nuance: dragon.nuance.com, Dragon Professional (Windows). The Mac side: Dragon for Mac alternative.
Why people look past Dragon on Windows
They only use the dictation
Dragon's command language, macros and specialised vocabularies are its strength, and many people never touch them. If your day is emails, documents and notes, a tool that only types has nothing to learn: hold Right Ctrl, talk, let go.
The price and the buying process
Nuance's page for Dragon Professional v16 has no price and no buy button, only a way to contact sales. Dictate is free to try from the Microsoft Store for 7 days, then $49 once, for every future update, for life, on all your computers.
Privacy without a server
Dictate recognises speech on your PC with NVIDIA's Parakeet model. Audio is held in memory while you speak and then discarded; it is never written to disk, and the Windows app makes no network connections. That suits confidential work, from client letters to patient notes, where you'd rather not send audio anywhere. The privacy page lists exactly what the app does.
When Dragon, or something else, is the better choice
- You control the computer by voice: open apps, click, select and correct text. Dragon does this; so does Windows 11's free voice access (voice access vs voice typing). Dictate doesn't.
- You rely on Dragon's medical or legal vocabularies, or an organisation manages your Dragon profiles.
- You dictate in a language outside Dictate's 21, or one written in a non-Latin script.
If what you want is to speak instead of type, in any app, without sending your voice anywhere, Dictate covers that.
More: offline dictation for Windows · a Wispr Flow alternative for Windows · dictating into Word.
Questions
Is Dragon NaturallySpeaking still available for Windows?
Yes, as Dragon Professional v16. Nuance, now part of Microsoft, describes it as optimised for Windows 11 and backwards-compatible to Windows 10. Its product page lists no price: you contact Nuance to buy. Dragon Professional Anywhere is the cloud edition.
What is a cheaper alternative to Dragon on Windows?
For typing by voice, Windows' own voice typing (Windows logo key + H) is free but runs in Microsoft's cloud, and voice access on Windows 11 is free and runs on the PC. Dictate is $49 once, works offline in any app, and needs no voice training. We make Dictate, so weigh our view accordingly.
Does Dictate have voice commands like Dragon?
No. Dictate only types what you say, with fillers removed and your own substitutions applied. It doesn't open apps, select text, format or fill forms by voice. If you need that, Dragon or Windows 11's voice access is the tool.
Do I need to train Dictate to my voice?
No. There is no profile and no training session: the speech model works from the first time you hold the key. When it keeps getting a name wrong, add a substitution once and it is fixed from then on.
Does Dictate work offline like a desktop dictation program?
Yes. The speech model comes inside the Microsoft Store package, so Dictate transcribes on your PC with no internet connection, and the Windows app makes no network connections at all.