Which dictation apps can you buy once instead of subscribing?

Yes, many apps can be bought once. Two kinds exist on the US App Store: apps with a lifetime purchase inside the app, with a median price of 59.99 US dollars ¹, and paid apps that charge only to download, with a median of 7.49 US dollars ². Prices vary a great deal, and a lifetime unlock is not always a bargain next to the same app's subscription.

Lifetime unlocks cost less than a yearly plan at the median, but not for every app

The lifetime median of 59.99 US dollars ¹ is below the yearly median of 79.99 US dollars ³. That does not mean a lifetime unlock costs less than a year of the same app. The two medians cover different apps,.

The range is wide. Yfli AI Subtitle, a Mac transcription app, lists a lifetime unlock for $1.99 ⁴. At the other end, SayCopyPaste lists Bravely Premium (Lifetime) for $399.99 ⁵, and Yaps lists Yaps Premium Lifetime at the same price $399.99 ⁶, the top of the range ¹.

Many lifetime unlocks cost far less than the median

Several apps ask for a low one-time price:

All of these sit far below the lifetime median ¹. Where the same app also lists a monthly plan, the lifetime unlock pays for itself within a year of monthly payments. Viska's monthly plan costs $1.99 ¹⁴ against its lifetime price in the table. Diphony, a Mac meeting-notes app, charges $1.99 a month ¹⁵ or $19.99 for a lifetime unlock ¹⁶.

Lifetime unlocks of popular dictation apps take years to pay off

The pricier lifetime purchases belong to apps with strong subscription plans, and the lifetime price is set well above one year:

• Superwhisper: Pro Lifetime costs $249.99 ¹⁷, against $84.99 for Pro Annual ¹⁸. That takes years of the annual plan to break even.
• Yaps: the mobile lifetime unlock costs $79.99 ¹⁹ against $49.99 for the mobile annual plan ²⁰, so it breaks even during the second year. Premium lifetime costs more than the premium annual plan at $144.99 ²¹, and breaks even in the third year.
• SayCopyPaste: Bravely Premium (Annual) costs $95.99 ²², so its lifetime unlock ⁵ is several years of the annual plan.
• Letterly: lists two lifetime purchases at $199.99 ²³ and $249.99 ²⁴, and every one of its yearly plans in our readings costs less than either, for example $79.99 ²⁵.

A lifetime unlock only pays off if you keep using the app for long enough.

A one-time download price is the lowest entry cost at the median

Paid apps charge only to download. Their median is 7.49 US dollars ², far below the lifetime median ¹. Examples:

• Voice Notes (Devpool), an iPhone transcription app, costs $0.99 ²⁶.
• Undertekst, a transcription app, costs $1.99 ²⁷.
• WhisPaste, a Mac dictation app, costs $2.99 ²⁸.
• Scriber Pro, a Mac transcription app, costs $3.99 ²⁹.
• E-ScribeVoice costs $44.99 ³⁰, the dearest download in the dataset ².

Showing 8 of 34 rows. See every row in the dataset.

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What these numbers do and do not measure

These are US App Store prices read on October 30, 2026, from a dataset of 1295 data points ³⁸. Keep the limits in mind:

• At most ten purchases per app. A lifetime purchase may be missing from an app that lists many plans.
• The period comes from the name. Tingdong's purchase called "1,000 Credits, One-Time" is filed as Lifetime and costs $9.99 ³⁷, but it is a bundle of credits, not an unlock for good.
• Medians mix different apps. Lifetime, yearly and download prices come from different apps, so only a comparison inside one app is like for like.
• No trials, no other storefronts. A free trial or an introductory price is not shown, and US prices only.
• Not sold in the US is not counted. Neither are web services and APIs.

What it means if you want to pay once

Start with the free built-in tools, such as the dictation your phone or Mac already has. If you want more, a paid app with a one-time download price has the lowest median cost, and the table shows how few dollars many of them cost. If an app has a lifetime unlock, divide it by the price of one year: if you expect to use the app for longer than that, the lifetime purchase is likely to win. Check the maker's website too, because some makers charge less there than on the App Store ³⁹.

To compare products beyond price, see the market overview. You can read every row in the full dataset. For subscriptions, read how much dictation apps cost on the App Store in the page on monthly and yearly prices. More background is in the guide to the best dictation software, the overview of dictation software, how apps make money on the App Store and the dataset of dictation app prices.