What is the best free dictation app for iPhone?

Apple's built-in Dictation is the best free dictation app for iPhone. It comes with iOS, so there is nothing to install or buy. Turn it on once, then tap the microphone key on the keyboard. On iPhone, Dictation is processed on the phone in many languages and needs no internet connection ¹. Choose a free or paid third-party app only when the built-in key falls short on session length, AI cleanup or specialist words.

Turn on Dictation once, then use the microphone key

To turn it on, open Settings, tap General, then Keyboard, and turn on Enable Dictation ². After that, tap any text field and then the microphone key on the keyboard to start.

Use the built-in key first for short messages, email replies and notes. The results need little editing, and you do not give any app access to your keyboard.

Dictation stops after 30 seconds of silence

The main limit of the free built-in tool is its timer. On iPhone, Dictation stops by itself after 30 seconds without speech ³. A long pause ends the session, and you have to tap the key again to continue.

That is a fair trade for short text. It is a poor fit for a long draft, where you pause to think. If that is your usual task, dictate in short sections, or test a longer-session app as described below.

Gboard's iPhone microphone sends your voice to Google

Gboard is Google's keyboard, and it has a microphone too. The choice of key matters for privacy. Google's App Store listing says that if you use the Gboard microphone, voice input is sent to Google for transcription ⁴.

That makes Gboard a different option from Apple's key, not an equivalent. Apple's Dictation runs on the phone in many languages, as described above. Gboard sends your voice input to Google. Pick Gboard if that is acceptable for your messages, and pick Apple's key if it is not.

Free third-party plans have word caps

Several dictation apps offer a free plan, and the cap on that plan decides how far it goes. Wispr Flow's free iOS plan keeps dictation going but slows it at 1,000 words in the weekly window, and a card blocks new dictations at 1,500 words per week ⁵. That is a small allowance for a week of drafts.

Aqua Voice's free plan includes 1,000 free words and its Avalon transcription model ⁶. Aqua's page does not say whether the free words renew, so check the current plan in the store before a long writing week.

Keyboards that need the network must ask for Full Access

A third-party keyboard on iPhone can reach the network only with open access. Apple says users must explicitly turn on Allow Full Access for a keyboard in Settings before it can have open access ⁷. Apple's warning on third-party keyboards, as quoted by TechCrunch in 2014, says that if you enable Full Access, developers are permitted to access, collect and transmit the data you type ⁸.

The built-in Dictation key is not a third-party keyboard, so this switch does not apply to it. It matters for a third-party keyboard that needs the network, such as one that sends speech to a cloud model. Read that keyboard's privacy policy before you turn Full Access on. The terms are explained in the entries for Allow Full Access and third-party keyboard.

When the free tool is enough, and when to test an app

The built-in tool is enough for most messages and short notes. Test a paid or free app when one of these applies to you:

• Long dictation. You pause for more than 30 seconds, or you draft long documents.
• AI cleanup. You want the text tidied, with filler words and false starts removed. Read the result before you send it, because cleanup can change words you meant to keep.
• Specialist words. Names and medical or legal terms may be misheard, so test the app on them.
• Privacy. You want recognition that stays on the phone, and the app's privacy policy confirms that.

What to do

1. Turn on Enable Dictation in Settings, under General and Keyboard, and dictate a 200-word passage of your own writing.
2. Turn on Airplane Mode and repeat the passage to see how the built-in key behaves offline on your iOS version.
3. Count how often the 30-second stop interrupts your normal writing. If it rarely does, stay with Apple's key.
4. If you need longer sessions or cleanup, try one free plan for a day, and note when it slows or stops.
5. Before you turn on Full Access for any keyboard, read its privacy policy.

For the steps and the menu names in more detail, see how to use dictation on iPhone and the iPhone dictation commands. For the wider comparison, read our guide to the best dictation apps for iPhone and Android, part of our overview of dictation on phones and tablets. If you use an Android phone, read the best free voice to text app for Android. To learn what a Whisper keyboard can and cannot do, read whether you can use Whisper AI as a keyboard. If Dragon is on your list, see whether there is a Dragon dictation app for iPhone or Android. The question of whether Gboard's iPhone voice typing works is answered in voice typing with Gboard on iPhone.