Wispr Flow alternatives for Windows, free and open source

Which free dictation apps run on Windows?

Handy and Amical are the only free, open-source apps here with native ARM64 builds. Every app types into any Windows app.

Every app on this page does what Wispr Flow does: press a shortcut, speak, and the text lands in whatever Windows app has your cursor. They differ on price, on whether the code is open, on where your speech is transcribed, and on whether they run natively on ARM laptops such as Snapdragon PCs.

What does Windows already give you for free?

Two tools, and they work differently. Voice typing sends your speech to Microsoft's servers, while Voice access recognizes speech on your PC in a fixed list of languages.

Voice typing (Win+H)

Press Windows key + H in any text box. Microsoft's voice typing page says it "uses online speech recognition, which is powered by Azure Speech services," and that you need to be "connected to the internet."

Voice access

Microsoft describes Voice access as a way to "control their PC and author text using only their voice and without an internet connection." It downloads language files for "on-device speech recognition."

It needs Windows 11, version 22H2 and later, and supports 15 languages and variants: six kinds of English, two of Spanish, two of French, German, Italian, Japanese and two kinds of Chinese.

1. SpeakoFlow: what do you get beyond dictation?

SpeakoFlow is the app I build. It is free and MIT licensed, with no account and no telemetry. Hold Left Ctrl + Left Win, speak, and the text is typed at your cursor in any app.

Speech is transcribed on your PC unless you choose a cloud speech service (ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, Groq, Mistral, Azure or OpenRouter). The catalog has 65 speech models: Parakeet is the English default and Whisper covers 99 languages.

Version 2.0.1 came out on October 11, 2026. Beyond dictation, it lets you ask about selected text in any app, talk with the assistant out loud, set reminders by voice, and record meetings without a bot joining the call (Meetings is in beta).

A few things are specific to Windows:

• Two installers: SpeakoFlow_2.0.1_x64-setup.exe for most people, and SpeakoFlow_2.0.1_x64_en-US.msi for IT teams installing on many PCs.
• Learn words I correct is Windows only: it can learn the words you fix, on top of the Dictionary you fill yourself.
• Meetings can offer to record when it notices a call.

1. Download. Get the .exe from the download page or the GitHub releases.
2. Get past SmartScreen. The installer is not signed by a known publisher yet, so Windows may warn you. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
3. Pick a speech model. First launch asks you to choose one of five and shows a short tour while it downloads.
4. Dictate. Click into any text box, hold Left Ctrl + Left Win and speak. You can switch to tap-to-toggle in Settings.

2. Handy: why is it the safest free pick?

Handy is the most established free option on Windows. It has 33,992 GitHub stars, an MIT license, and its latest release, 0.9.8, came out on October 3, 2026.

Built by CJ Pais, it does one job: "Press a shortcut, speak, and have your words appear in any text field." It works completely offline with Whisper or Parakeet V3 models.

The 0.9.8 release ships native Windows x64 and ARM64 installers (.exe and .msi), and Handy is also on winget. SpeakoFlow's dictation core comes from Handy. If you want dictation and nothing else, Handy is the better choice, and on an ARM laptop it is the clear one.

3. OpenWhispr: is it really free?

The local part is. OpenWhispr is MIT licensed and open-core, with about 9,500 GitHub stars.

Its free plan includes unlimited local models (Parakeet or Whisper) and your own API keys, plus 2,000 words a week of OpenWhispr Cloud and 5 hours a month of meeting recording. Pro is $80 per user per year ($6.67 a month).

It goes wide: dictation, meeting transcription with speaker labels worked out locally, notes and an AI agent. The Windows download is a single Setup .exe, and the release does not say whether it runs natively on ARM.

4. Amical: what makes it different?

Amical formats your words for the app you are in, so a dictated email comes out differently from a chat message or a line in your code editor.

It is MIT licensed and, in its own words, "Open source, private and free." It works offline with local models, and cloud models are optional.

Version 1.12.5 ships Windows x64 and arm64 installers. With 1,558 GitHub stars it is a smaller project than Handy or OpenWhispr.

5. VoiceTypr: open source, but is it free?

No. The source code is AGPL-3.0, but the app you download runs a 3-day trial and then needs a $69 lifetime license for 2 devices.

On Windows it needs Windows 10 (build 19041 or later) or Windows 11, and version 2.0.9 ships an x64 installer only. It transcribes locally with Whisper by default, has optional cloud engines, and includes a command-line tool and an API for agents. Pick it if you would rather pay once than subscribe.

6. Does Superwhisper work on Windows?

Yes. Superwhisper's download page offers Windows x64 and ARM64 builds (version 1.6.8, Windows 10 or later). It is closed source.

The free tier includes "Unlimited use of Whisper models" and 100+ languages, plus a 3,000-word trial of Pro. Pro costs $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year or $249.99 once, and adds cloud models, your own API keys, translation to English and file transcription. Meetings is Mac only.

If you use Superwhisper on a Mac and want the same app on your PC, this is it. If you were looking for a Superwhisper alternative because you want open source, look at Handy, SpeakoFlow or Amical.

7. How does Wispr Flow itself work on Windows?

Well, and in the cloud. Its security FAQ says "Wispr Flow processes dictated audio in the cloud to turn speech into text."

The free plan gives 2,000 words a week on Mac and Windows. Pro is $15 per user per month, or $144 a year. Model training is on by default for Free and Pro users, who can turn it off.

Windows on ARM is out: Wispr's system requirements say that on non-x64 processors, "Flow shows 'Unsupported Windows Architecture' and quits."

Which one should you pick?

Start from the one thing you cannot give up. For most people leaving Wispr Flow over the word cap, a free local app removes it, because your own PC does the work.

For the same comparison across macOS and Linux, see our roundup of the best free and open-source Wispr Flow alternatives.

Frequently asked questions