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SpeechBee vs Apple Dictation
Apple Dictation costs nothing and is already on your Mac. SpeechBee costs $79 a year. That is only worth paying if the built-in option keeps getting in your way, so here is exactly where they differ.
By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Checked against Apple's Mac User Guide on 12 October 2026
SpeechBee
Apple Dictation
On this page
Side by side
| Apple Dictation | SpeechBee | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Included with macOS | $9/mo, $79/yr, or $99 once, 7 days free |
| Start dictating | Microphone key, a shortcut, or Edit, Start Dictation | Hold a key you choose, or press once to start and again to stop |
| Where speech is processed | Your Mac or Siri's servers, depending on language and settings | Always on your device |
| Works offline | Depends; Apple says you may need an internet connection | Yes, after a one-time model download |
| Stops on its own | After 30 seconds without speech | When you let go of the key or press it again |
| Custom dictionary | No | Yes, teach it names and terms |
| Snippets | No | Yes, "booking link" types the full URL |
| Filler words | No removal | "um" and "uh" removed |
| Punctuation by voice | Yes, plus auto-punctuation in supported languages | Yes, "period", "new paragraph" and similar |
| Languages | Varies by language and region | 25 by default, up to 99 on Mac with Whisper |
| Read text aloud | Separate Speak selection feature with system voices | Built in, with natural local voices |
| iPhone and iPad | Built into the keyboard | Keyboard and app, same plan |
| Mac requirements | Built into macOS | Apple silicon Mac, macOS 14 or later |
Where Apple Dictation is good enough
If you reply to messages and jot notes by voice a few times a day, Apple Dictation is hard to beat. It is free, there is nothing to install, and on an Apple silicon Mac you can even keep typing while it listens. It adds commas, periods and question marks for you in supported languages, and it inserts emoji when you say their names.
Where it starts to get in the way
It cannot learn your words. There is no custom dictionary in Dictation settings. If it hears your colleague's name wrong today, it will hear it wrong tomorrow. SpeechBee lets you add the correct spelling once.
You never quite know where your voice goes. Apple's own guidance is to check the note under Dictation in Keyboard settings to see whether your dictation is processed on your Mac or sent to Siri's servers, and dictating into a search box can be handled differently. With SpeechBee there is no setting to check. Speech recognition always runs on the device, audio stays in memory, and nothing is recorded or uploaded.
It stops when you pause to think. Dictation turns itself off after 30 seconds without speech. SpeechBee listens for as long as you hold the key, or until you press it again in toggle mode.
Your "um"s stay in. SpeechBee removes filler words before the text lands.
No snippets. You cannot say "my address" and get three lines of text. With SpeechBee you can.
The other half: hearing your text
Hi Maya, I'll send the revised proposal tomorrow morning.
Most people read faster than they speak. SpeechBee reads the sentence you selected out loud, while you keep working.
macOS has a separate accessibility feature, Speak selection, that reads selected text when you press Option-Esc. It works, with Apple's system voices. SpeechBee builds reading into the same app as dictation. Select text, press your reading key, and a natural voice reads it with a small player for speed and skipping. The voices download once and run on your Mac, so your text stays there. We cover both in our guide to text to speech on a Mac.
Is SpeechBee worth $79 a year?
Only if you dictate enough for the gaps above to cost you time. A rough test: if you fix the same mistakes more than a couple of times a day, or you avoid dictating sensitive text because you are not sure where it goes, try the free week. If after seven days you still reach for Apple Dictation, you have lost nothing. You can also pay $99 once instead of subscribing.
Try SpeechBee free for 7 days.
Voice to text and Read Aloud on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. After the week, $9 a month, $79 a year, or $99 once. Every plan has every feature.
Questions
Is Apple Dictation free?
Yes. It is part of macOS. Turn it on in System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation.
Does Apple Dictation send my voice to Apple?
It depends on your language, Mac and settings. Apple says to check the text below Dictation in Keyboard settings to see whether general dictation is processed on your device or sent to Siri servers. SpeechBee always processes your voice on the device.
Can Apple Dictation learn custom words?
Mac dictation settings have no custom dictionary. SpeechBee lets you add names and terms it gets wrong and set up snippets that expand into longer text.
Why does Apple Dictation keep stopping?
It stops automatically after 30 seconds without speech. Our guide to Mac dictation not working covers that and other causes.
Does SpeechBee replace Apple Dictation on iPhone?
On iPhone and iPad, SpeechBee is a keyboard you switch to, plus an app. Apple's dictation stays available in the system keyboard, so you can use either.
Keep reading
Sources
All checked on 12 October 2026.