I have a problem. When I get curious about something, I go way too deep. Last month it was mechanical keyboards (don't ask how much I spent). This month, it's been voice-to-text software.
After testing literally everything I could find, I figured I'd save you the trouble and share what I learned.
The Free Built-In Options
Windows Voice Typing is... fine? For dictating a quick note, sure. For actual work? The accuracy is mediocre, it needs constant internet, and it only works in certain apps. Google Docs voice typing is similar. Decent accuracy but you're stuck in a browser.
The Expensive One Everyone Recommends
Dragon Professional. £699. Yes, really.
Is it good? Yeah, it's pretty good. The accuracy is solid after you train it. But here's the thing nobody mentions: it's a pain to use with anything other than Microsoft Office. Want to dictate into Notion? Good luck. Slack? Forget it. And the whole "train the software to your voice" process takes ages.
For that price, I expected perfection. What I got was "good but fiddly."
The Subscription Apps
Otter.ai, Notta, Wispr Flow. They're all roughly £8-15 per month. They work well enough, but do the maths. That's £100+ per year, forever. And they all need internet connection, which means your audio is going to their servers. Not ideal if you're dictating anything sensitive.
The One I Actually Use Now
After all that testing, I landed on PeekoType. Forty-nine quid, one time, done.
Here's why it won:
It works offline. Completely. No internet needed, which means no sending my voice to some server. My data stays on my computer.
It works everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I've used it in Word, Google Docs, Notion, Slack, Discord, email, even the address bar in Chrome. You click where you want text, press F9, talk, and it appears. Simple as that.
The accuracy is genuinely impressive. It uses OpenAI's Whisper model, which is the same tech that powers a lot of the fancy AI stuff you've been hearing about. Handles accents well, gets punctuation right, even deals with technical terms better than I expected.
And there's no subscription. I paid once, I own it, it keeps working.
The Verdict
If you've got £700 to spare and only use Microsoft Office, Dragon's fine.
If you're happy paying forever and don't mind your voice going to the cloud, the subscription apps work.
But if you want something that just works, everywhere, offline, for a one-time price? PeekoType's the one.
I've stopped testing now. I found my answer.