Letterly vs Speechnotes (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Speechnotes grades higher than Letterly: 3.2 against 3.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Letterly grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Speechnotes grades higher on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Letterly
Voice notes and dictation that rewrite speech into finished text
Speechnotes
Free online dictation notepad with a voice-typing extension
Which one is for you
Pick Letterly if
- Fits if you want one voice-notes app across your phone, laptop and the web
- Works for turning spoken drafts into emails, posts or journal entries
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as the free version stops at 10 recordings of up to 3 minutes
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $19.99 against yearly prices from $69.99
- Not for you if you want a clear price list: there's no pricing page, and the App Store shows four yearly and two lifetime prices
- Watch out: Letterly's pages disagree on note length on Pro, 15 minutes on the support page and 90 on the homepage
- Watch out: nothing on record says whether the 7-day trial asks for a card
Pick Speechnotes if
- Fits if you want free dictation into a notepad in Chrome
- Works for people who want to push transcripts to Drive or Zapier
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't use Chrome, as the notepad works there only
- Not for you if you want ads gone without paying: they stay on the free version
- Watch out: Premium is paid once for a year and you must renew by hand
- Not for you if you want file transcription included: it costs $0.10 a minute
- Watch out: the iOS app, TextHear, is a sister app with its own pricing aimed at people with hearing impairment
How we grade them
| 3.0GPALetterlyVery good | 3.2GPASpeechnotesVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$19.99 a month is the dearest tenth of this category, where the dear quarter already starts at $12. Yearly runs $69.99 to $99.99, but the App Store shows four yearly prices without saying which one a new subscriber gets, and lifetime is listed at both $199.99 and $249.99. | APremium is $1.90 a month, billed once for a year, which is under 60% of the category's cheapest quarter. It doesn't auto-renew. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free version is 10 recordings of up to 3 minutes each, by Letterly's own support page, so you'll run through it in an afternoon. New users also get a 7-day trial, and nothing on record says whether it asks for a card. | AThe dictation notepad and voice-typing extension are free with unlimited dictation. The cost is ads. |
| Features | AMost of this category stops at turning speech into text. Letterly rewrites it, into 25-plus finished styles or one you define: an email, a post, a summary. It also dictates into any text field, recaps meetings split by speaker and opens your notes to Claude over MCP. Its pages disagree on note length, 15 minutes or 90. | CDictation notepad, voice-typing extension, Android app, API, webhooks and Zapier, but the dictation works only in Chrome and file transcription is a separate paid service. |
| Ease of use | A4.73 from 1,106 App Store ratings, above the 4.7 an A needs. You talk, it hands back rewritten text, and the spoken language is picked up on its own, even if you switch mid-sentence. | BNo store rating on record. Open the page and talk, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | AiPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and the web, with notes synced between the lot. Zapier and webhooks push notes into other apps, and Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor can connect over MCP to search and rewrite them. | BWeb, Chrome extension and Android, with Google Drive, Gmail and Zapier. No desktop app. |
| Best for | voice notes rewritten into finished text | a free dictation notepad in Chrome |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Letterly and Speechnotes. How we grade
Price against what you get
Letterly starts at $5.83 a month when paid by the year and scores 4.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Speechnotes starts at $1.90 a month and scores 2.7.
Letterly scores higher, and starts $3.93 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other voice dictation apps on the chart, none scores higher than Letterly for less, and none scores higher than Speechnotes for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Letterly also covers meeting notes and text expansion.
At a glance
| Letterly | Speechnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19.99 per month, or from $69.99 per year, as listed on the US App Store | $1.9 per month, paid once for a year with no auto-renewal |
| Free plan | None | Online dictation notepad and the voice-typing Chrome extension, with unlimited dictation, editing and ads. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial for new users. The free version is limited to 10 recordings of up to 3 minutes each. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Letterly | Speechnotes |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | speechnotes.co |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Letterly
- Letterly's site has no pricing page; prices here come from its US App Store listing, which shows several price points for yearly and lifetime PRO.
- The support page limits the free version to 10 recordings of up to 3 minutes each.
- Vendor pages disagree on recording length: the support page says 15 minutes on Pro, the homepage and App Store listing say up to 90 minutes.
Speechnotes
- The dictation notepad works in Chrome only, according to the vendor.
- Premium is paid once for a year and must be renewed by hand; it does not renew by itself.
- The iOS app, TextHear, is a sister app with its own pricing and is aimed at people with hearing impairment.
- File transcription is a separate pay-as-you-go service; speaker labeling is stated for English.
Key features
Letterly
- Dictation in any app
- Speak inside Gmail, Slack, Notion or any other text field on a computer, or use the Letterly keyboard on iPhone, and the text is inserted where you are typing.
- Voice notes with AI rewrites
- Record a thought in the app and get cleaned-up text. Choose from 25+ premade rewrite styles, such as an email, post or summary, or build your own.
- Meeting and lecture recaps
- Long recordings, up to 90 minutes per note, become a transcript split by speaker along with a summary.
- 90+ languages and translation
- The spoken language is detected automatically, including switches mid-sentence, and any note can be translated into 90+ languages.
- Audio upload and offline recording
- Transcribe audio and video recorded outside the app, and record without an internet connection when you are away from one.
- Zapier, webhooks and MCP
- Send notes to other apps through Zapier or webhooks, and connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor over MCP to search, manage or rewrite your notes.
Speechnotes
- Dictation notepad
- A browser notepad for speaking notes, with spoken commands for punctuation and new lines, auto-save and export to .txt, .doc or Google Drive.
- Voice typing extension
- A Chrome extension that dictates into forms and text boxes across the web, Gmail included.
- File transcription
- Uploaded recordings and YouTube links are transcribed with timestamps, and captions can be exported as .srt files.
- API, webhooks and Zapier
- The transcription service accepts files by POST request and sends results to your server, and connects to Zapier.
- Android app
- A notepad app for Android that uses the same voice-driven note-taking approach.
Plans
Letterly
Free version$0
Up to 10 recordings of up to 3 minutes each, according to Letterly's support page.
PRO (1 month)$19.99
per month
Unlimited recordings and AI rewrites. The App Store listing cites notes of up to 90 minutes.
PRO (3 months)$44.90
per 3 months
The same PRO subscription billed every three months, as listed among the App Store in-app purchases.
PRO (1 year)$69.99–$99.99
per year; the listing shows several yearly price points
Yearly PRO. The App Store lists it at $69.99, $79.99, $89.99 and $99.99 without saying which applies to new subscribers.
PRO (Lifetime)$199.99–$249.99
one-time; the listing shows two lifetime price points
A one-time PRO purchase, listed on the App Store at both $199.99 and $249.99.
Speechnotes
Dictation - Free$0
Online dictation notepad and voice-typing Chrome extension, supported by ads.
Dictation - Premium$1.9
per month, billed once for 1 year, no auto-renewal
No ads, commercial use, extra security and developer support.
Transcription$0.1
per minute, pay as you go
File transcription with timestamps, captions export, API, webhooks and Zapier.
Ways to pay less
Letterly
- Lifetime license
Lifetime PRO listed from $199.99
The US App Store listing includes a PRO Subscription (Lifetime) in-app purchase at $199.99 and at $249.99, alongside the monthly and yearly subscriptions.
Speechnotes
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Letterly or Speechnotes?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Speechnotes is cheaper to start with: $1.90 a month, against $5.83 a month when paid by the year for Letterly. Letterly starts at $19.99 per month, or from $69.99 per year, as listed on the US App Store, and Speechnotes starts at $1.9 per month, paid once for a year with no auto-renewal.
Which has a free plan, Letterly or Speechnotes?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Speechnotes has a free plan. Letterly does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Letterly and Speechnotes run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Letterly lists macOS, Windows and iOS apps and only Speechnotes lists a browser extension. Both list a web app and an Android app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.