Dragon alternative
After Dragon NaturallySpeaking: dictation without the $686 license.
Dragon Home is no longer sold and no version 16 of it was made, so desktop Dragon now means Dragon Professional 16. Yap is a smaller tool for the part most people used Dragon for: say it, and it is typed in the app you are in, recognized on your own PC, Mac or phone, for $6.90 a month.
Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. 3 days free with a free account, no card, then a 10-day trial with a card.
Side by side
Dragon and Yap.
| Question | Dragon | Yap |
|---|---|---|
| What is sold today | Dragon Professional 16 for Windows 11 and 10, the Legal and Law Enforcement editions, and the Anywhere subscriptions. Dragon Home is no longer sold. | One app for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, on one subscription. |
| Price | $685.99 for a one-user Professional 16 license at a US reseller; Professional Anywhere $55 a month or $660 a year, on a one-year term. | $6.90 USD a month or $69 USD a year, after 3 free days and a 10-day trial. |
| Mac | Updates ended in October 2018. | Apple Silicon Macs, macOS 13 or later. |
| Where speech is recognized | Professional 16 is installed on your PC; the Anywhere editions are cloud-hosted. | On your device, every time. The audio is never uploaded. |
| Languages | Version 15 was built for English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. | 25 languages, English and 24 European languages, detected from each recording. |
| When it listens | Unless you tell it to stop listening, it takes in everything it hears, a phone call or a coworker included. | Only while you hold the key, or until you finish a longer note. |
| Commands and vocabulary | Full voice control and correction, and a vocabulary you can add words to. | None: no voice commands and no custom dictionary. It types what you say, with punctuation. |
Prices are what the linked resellers listed on the day we checked; Nuance does not publish one price for every country.
Being fair
When Dragon is still the better tool.
- You run the whole computer by voice. Dragon opens apps, clicks and corrects by voice; Yap only types. If you cannot use a keyboard and mouse at all, Windows Voice Access does this for free and works without internet, in 15 languages and dialects.
- You need legal or medical vocabulary. Dragon Legal and Dragon Medical are trained for it, and you can add your own words. Yap has no custom dictionary; for lawyers, see Yap for lawyers.
- You already own a working Dragon license. If it runs well on your PC, there is no reason to pay again.
Questions.
- Is Dragon NaturallySpeaking discontinued?
- The home edition is: resellers say Dragon Home is no longer sold and no version 16 of it was made, and Dragon for Mac stopped getting updates in 2018. Nuance still sells Dragon Professional 16 for Windows, its Legal and Law Enforcement editions, and the cloud-hosted Anywhere subscriptions.
- Can Yap replace Dragon?
- For dictating text, yes: hold Ctrl + Win on Windows or Fn on a Mac, speak, and let go, and the text appears with punctuation in the app you are in. For controlling the computer by voice (opening apps, clicking, correcting by voice), no: Yap has no voice commands. Use Dragon or Windows Voice Access for that.
- Is there a free alternative to Dragon?
- Windows 11 has Voice Access built in, which Microsoft says works without an internet connection and also controls the PC by voice. On a Mac, Voice Control is free. Yap is free for 3 days with a free account and no card, then needs a 10-day trial with a card.
- Does Yap need training like Dragon?
- No. There is no voice profile to create or train: install it, download the speech model once, and dictate. It recognizes 25 languages and picks the language of each recording by itself.
- Does Yap work offline?
- Yes. Speech is recognized on your device, so dictation works without internet for up to 24 hours after each successful access check. The audio is never uploaded.
On a Mac? Read Dragon for Mac: discontinued, and what to use now.
From the library
Dictation Software: How to Choose the Right App
Start with the free dictation already built into your computer or phone, and pay only for what it cannot do: typing in every app, working offline, AI cleanup, a specialist vocabulary or full hands-free control. Four choices decide the rest (on-device or cloud, raw words or AI rewriting, subscription or one-time license, general or specialist), and a short test on your own writing settles the final pick better than any ranking.