Is Aqua Voice free?

No, not for ongoing use. Aqua Voice has a Free plan, but it is a one-time allowance of 1,000 words ¹, which Aqua says is about 7 minutes of talking at a normal pace ². The allowance does not renew each month. After it is used, you need a paid plan, and Pro costs $10 a month billed annually ³ or $12 a month billed monthly ⁴. We read every price below on Aqua's own pages on October 27, 2026.

This answer belongs to our guide to Aqua Voice, part of our overview of dictation software.

The free plan is a test drive, and the limit is lifetime

The Free plan runs the same Avalon 1.5 speech model as the paid plans ¹, so you can judge the real accuracy before paying. It also includes Deep Context, the feature that reads your screen to spell names and code correctly, on desktop ⁵. What it lacks is volume: 1,000 words is a few emails. A person speaking at a normal pace reaches the limit in a single sitting, and nothing in the free plan resets it.

What each paid plan costs

Pro is the plan most individuals need. It removes the word limit and adds Custom Instructions and a Personal Dictionary ⁶. Max adds Realtime Mode, which shows words as you speak, and the "send it" voice command ⁷.

Pro has also gone up. When 9to5Mac covered the iPhone launch in April 2026 the web price was $10 a month or $96 a year ¹⁰; by October 2026 annual billing was $120 a year, 25 percent more ¹¹. Older reviews may quote the old price.

Students get 70 percent off

Students who sign up with a school email address get 70 percent off Pro and Max, which brings Pro to about $3 a month billed annually ¹². That is a deeper discount than Wispr Flow's 50 percent for students and educators ¹³.

It depends: billing terms and where you subscribe

Prices in the App Store and Google Play may differ from the web prices, and one subscription covers Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android ¹⁴. For subscriptions bought from Aqua directly, fees paid are non-refundable ¹⁵, so test on the free allowance before you commit to an annual plan. If you subscribe through Apple or Google, cancel there: deleting your Aqua account does not cancel a store subscription ¹⁶.

What to do

1. Try the free 1,000 words on the platform you will really use, with the kind of text you really write.
2. If you dictate a few messages a month, skip paying. Aqua's own Windows page concedes that built-in voice typing may be enough for a few sentences ¹⁷, and Apple's Mac dictation is free.
3. If you want a free plan that renews, compare Wispr Flow, which gives 2,000 words a week on desktop ¹⁸, or Superwhisper, whose free plan runs local models without a word cap ¹⁹. Our question on Aqua Voice vs Wispr Flow sets the two side by side.
4. If you pay, choose monthly billing for the first month, because annual fees are not refunded.

Before paying for anything, also read whether Aqua Voice is safe for your data, and whether it works on your devices. For the wider field of no-cost options, see our guide to free dictation software. Yap, which we make, also offers dictation on Mac and Windows; see pricing for its plans.