Philips SpeechLive vs Speechnotes (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Speechnotes grades higher than Philips SpeechLive: 3.2 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Philips SpeechLive grades higher on features. Speechnotes grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Philips SpeechLive
Cloud dictation and speech recognition for legal and health teams
Speechnotes
Free online dictation notepad with a voice-typing extension
Which one is for you
Pick Philips SpeechLive if
- Fits if you dictate legal or medical documents and use Philips hardware
- Works for teams that pass dictation to typists in a workflow
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you buy for yourself: every plan is per user, billed yearly, excluding tax
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there isn't one after the two-week trial
- Watch out: the AI Assistant plans are $54 for 2026, then $76.80 from 2027
- Watch out: typed transcription is billed per minute from a prepaid balance, from $1.39 a minute
- Not for you if you have an Intel Mac, which uses a legacy version
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
| 2.2GPAPhilips SpeechLiveFair | 3.2GPASpeechnotesVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DWorkflow is $21.90 a user a month on yearly billing, excluding tax, past the category's dearest-tenth line of $19.99. Legal and Health plans run from $47.80 to $103. | 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 | CA two-week free trial with all Enterprise features and no credit card, for up to 10 users and 200 minutes each. No free plan. | AThe dictation notepad and voice-typing extension are free with unlimited dictation. The cost is ads. |
| Features | BDictation workflow, speech recognition at the cursor, AI drafts, clinical notes and hardware support. Nothing in the listing is missing from the core job. | 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 | CNo store rating on record. It has accounts, hardware and a workflow to set up. | BNo store rating on record. Open the page and talk, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and a browser extension, with Philips SpeechMike and its device connector. No API or wider integration list. | BWeb, Chrome extension and Android, with Google Drive, Gmail and Zapier. No desktop app. |
| Best for | professional dictation for legal and health work | 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: Philips SpeechLive and Speechnotes. How we grade
Price against what you get
Philips SpeechLive starts at $21.90 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Speechnotes starts at $1.90 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Speechnotes starts $20 a month lower. Of the other voice dictation apps on the chart, 5 score higher than Philips SpeechLive 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
- Philips SpeechLive also covers clinical notes.
- Speechnotes also covers notes.
At a glance
| Philips SpeechLive | Speechnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $21.90 per user / month, billed annually, excl. tax | $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 | Two-week free trial with all Enterprise features, no credit card, up to 10 users and 200 speech recognition minutes per user | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Speech Processing Solutions | Speechnotes |
| Price read from | speechlive.com | speechnotes.co |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Philips SpeechLive
- No free plan; all prices are per user, billed annually, and exclude tax.
- The AI Assistant plans are shown at an introductory $54.00 for 2026, rising to $76.80 from 2027.
- The desktop app is listed for Windows and Apple Silicon Macs; Intel Macs use a legacy version.
- Typed transcription is billed per minute from a prepaid balance, from $1.39 per minute for English.
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
Philips SpeechLive
- Dictation workflow
- Authors record on a phone app, in a browser or by uploading a file, and the dictation can be assigned to a typist or team with task tracking.
- Speech recognition at the cursor
- The Direct plans use a desktop app that types into supported Windows and macOS applications and supports voice commands for navigation, editing and formatting.
- AI document drafts
- The AI Assistant plans turn dictation into structured documents from system or custom templates, and the draft can be edited with plain-language instructions.
- Clinical notes
- The Health AI Assistant plan generates clinical notes from consultations, with specialty templates.
- Human transcription service
- Typed transcripts can be bought from a prepaid balance, at $1.39 per minute for English with a 24-hour turnaround.
- Hardware support
- A Chrome or Edge extension and a native host app connect Philips SpeechMike microphones and foot controls to the web app.
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
Philips SpeechLive
Workflow$21.90
per user / month, billed annually, excl. tax
Records and routes dictations: mobile app and file upload, browser recorder, task assignment and tracking, and links to third-party software.
Legal Direct / Professional Direct$47.80
per user / month, billed annually, excl. tax
Workflow plus speech recognition at the cursor in supported desktop apps, with voice commands and custom vocabulary. Unlimited under fair use.
Legal / Professional AI Assistant$76.80
per user / month, billed annually, excl. tax, from 2027
Direct plan plus unlimited AI-drafted documents from templates, natural-language editing, and PDFs or images as extra sources. The page shows an introductory $54.00 for 2026.
Health AI Assistant$103.00
per user / month, billed annually, excl. tax
Workflow plus unlimited AI-generated clinical notes from consultations, with specialty templates.
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
Philips SpeechLive
- Other savings
Introductory 2026 price on the AI Assistant plans
The Legal and Professional AI Assistant bundles are listed at $54.00 per user per month, billed annually, for 2026, then $76.80 from 2027.
Speechnotes
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Philips SpeechLive or Speechnotes?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Philips SpeechLive starts at $21.90 per user / month, billed annually, excl. tax, and Speechnotes starts at $1.9 per month, paid once for a year with no auto-renewal. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Philips SpeechLive or Speechnotes?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Speechnotes has a free plan. Philips SpeechLive does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Philips SpeechLive and Speechnotes run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Philips SpeechLive lists macOS, Windows and iOS apps. Both list a web app, an Android app and a browser extension. 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.