Free and open first

Best Speech Recognition Software in 2026

If you need to turn speech into text, the right comparison depends on where recognition runs and how you plan to use the results. Compared on real-time recognition, offline recognition, deployment, and supported languages, these tools can be assessed against your audio and environment needs. API access and command control may matter for integrating recognition or operating it in a particular workflow; speaker labeling is another factor when voices need to be distinguished. Notta, Speechmatics, and Superwhisper are among the options shown. Check free-plan availability and paid-from pricing as you compare the listed capabilities.

32 apps
Research read 23 Sept 2026
How the order is worked out

1

ESPnet
by ESPnet
Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+2

Choose ESPnet for an open-source speech toolkit with broad task coverage, recipes, and pretrained-model inference options. It can also support training, though that requires additional dependencies.

9.1 Open source Visit site
2

Whisper

Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+2

Whisper provides multilingual speech-processing capabilities as locally installable, MIT-licensed code and model weights.

8.5 Open source Visit site
3

CMU Sphinx

Free plan AndroidLinuxMac+2

CMU Sphinx offers speech-recognition components and model-training tools for developers, with documented offline and on-device options.

7.6 Open source Visit site
4

AssemblyAI

Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

AssemblyAI offers a broad set of speech capabilities and usage-based plans, with a free tier subject to stated limits.

7.5 From $0.15 Visit site
5

Azure AI Speech
by Azure AI Speech
Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

7.5 Free plan Visit site
6

Amazon Transcribe

Free plan APIWeb

Amazon Transcribe covers live and batch speech transcription, with language, speaker, and privacy features.

7.4 From $0.01 Visit site
7

Gladia
by Gladia
Free plan APIMacWeb+1

7.4 From $0.61 Visit site
8

Kaldi

Free plan AndroidLinuxMac+3

Kaldi offers a broad toolkit and model archives for speech recognition work, with commercial use permitted under Apache License 2.0.

7.4 Open source Visit site
9

Google Cloud Speech-to-Text

Free plan APISelf-hostedWeb

Speech-to-Text offers multiple recognition modes, language support, and developer interfaces for application integration.

7.3 From $0.00 Visit site
10

Notta
by Notta
Free plan AndroidExtensioniPhone+3

Notta combines meeting capture and file transcription with summaries, action items, and multiple export formats.

7.3 Free plan · paid from $8.17/user/mo (annual) · 7-day trial Visit site
11

NVIDIA Riva

Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1

NVIDIA Riva combines broad speech features with multiple deployment models and developer interfaces.

7.3 Free plan · paid from $1 · 90-day trial Visit site
12

Otter.ai

Free plan AndroidExtensioniPhone+2

Otter.ai combines meeting capture, transcription, and follow-up notes across desktop and mobile platforms. Check the plan limits if you need longer conversations or more imported files.

7.3 Free plan · paid from $8.33/user/mo (annual) Visit site
13

ElevenLabs
by ElevenLabs
Free plan APIWeb

7.2 Free plan · paid from $6/mo Visit site
14

IBM Watson Speech to Text
by IBM Watson Speech to Text
Free plan APISelf-hosted

7.1 Free plan Visit site
15

Speechmatics

Free plan APILinuxMac+3

Speechmatics offers speech APIs with multilingual transcription and multiple deployment choices. Its free plan has a two-session real-time limit, and the available deployment options depend on plan.

7.1 Free plan · paid from $0.13 Visit site
16

SpeechRecognition

Free plan APILinuxMac+2

SpeechRecognition offers a broad interface for speech recognition in Python, including offline and self-hosted choices.

7.1 Free plan Visit site
17

Superwhisper

Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+3

Superwhisper offers cross-app dictation, context-aware formatting, and an offline on-device option. Review the trial limit and cloud-model handling if you plan to use cloud processing.

7.1 Free plan · paid from $8.49/mo Visit site
18

MacWhisper
by MacWhisper
Free plan iPhoneMac

MacWhisper covers transcription, meeting recording, dictation, and transcript workflows, with a free plan and a paid one-time Pro option.

7.0 Free plan · paid from €64 Visit site
19

Voice In

Free plan ExtensionLinuxMac+1

Choose Voice In if you want speech-to-text across web fields in Chrome or Edge, with built-in voice commands and a daily free allowance.

7.0 Free plan · 5-day trial Visit site
20

Vosk

Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+4

Vosk provides offline recognition, streaming, and developer interfaces across a range of devices and server protocols.

7.0 Open source Visit site
21

Talon Voice

Free plan LinuxMacWindows

Talon combines voice input, customizable commands, and optional eye-tracking control across three desktop platforms.

6.9 Free plan Visit site
22

Soniox
by Soniox
Free plan API

Choose Soniox if you need API-based transcription and translation with support for 60 languages, speaker labeling, and timestamps.

6.7 Free plan · paid from $19.99/mo Visit site
23

Yandex SpeechKit

Free plan APIWeb

Yandex SpeechKit combines API and web speech synthesis with voice cloning, multiple export formats, and custom voice options.

6.6 Free plan Visit site
24

Picovoice Leopard

Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+5

Leopard offers local transcription with word metadata and vocabulary customization, but it is not for streaming transcription. Review its AccessKey and usage requirements before integrating it.

6.1 Pricing on request · 7-day trial Visit site
25

Rev AI
by Rev AI
Free trial AndroidAPIiPhone+2

Rev AI offers API-based transcription with speaker identification, timestamps, and several export formats.

6.1 From $0.01 Visit site

#1Places #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 on this list can be bought by the makers of the software on it. See the price

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