Steno vs The Competition

Honest, detailed comparisons so you can pick the voice-to-text tool that fits your workflow.

Steno vs Apple Dictation

The built-in option every Mac has. Free and private, but limited in power-user features and accuracy.

The legacy enterprise dictation king. Powerful but expensive, Windows-focused, and no longer sold on Mac.

Best-in-class meeting transcription. Great for recordings, but not designed for real-time typing.

The open-source model Steno is built on. Raw power, but requires technical setup to use directly.

Free and accurate inside Google Docs. But locked to Chrome and Google's ecosystem.

Built into Microsoft 365 apps. Solid for Word and Outlook, but limited outside the Office suite.

AI meeting notes and transcription. Strong for team collaboration, not for system-wide dictation.

Human + AI transcription service. Highest accuracy for recordings, but not real-time typing.

Enterprise speech-to-text API. Powerful for developers, not a consumer desktop app.

Developer-first speech API with real-time streaming. Great infra, but you build the UI yourself.