Voice In vs Voice Notebook (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Voice In if

• Fits if most of your writing happens in web apps inside Chrome or Edge
• Works for people who can get by on an hour of dictation a day for free

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you write in Word or other desktop apps, because it only works inside the browser
• Not for you if you use Firefox, Brave or Vivaldi, or need to dictate offline, as it supports neither
• Tight if you're staying free and work in Notion or Slack, since those need Advanced Mode on Plus
• Watch out: the free version stops listening after 20 seconds of silence and when you change tab
• Watch out: Dictanote has never offered a HIPAA business associate agreement, and the Plus trial is 5 days

Pick Voice Notebook if

• Fits if you want free voice typing on a phone as well as in Chrome
• Works for people transcribing audio or video files without paying

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you don't use Chrome, as the web version works there only
• Watch out: the footer copyright reads 2011-2016, so it looks lightly maintained
• Not for you if you want offline dictation on anything but Android
• Tight if you want to save: saving texts and commands needs a registration
• Watch out: the iOS app shows ads, and iOS Premium is $5.99 with no period stated

Voice In

• It works only inside Chrome and Edge: not in desktop apps such as Word, and not in Firefox, Brave or Vivaldi.
• The free version is capped at 60 minutes a day and stops listening after 20 seconds of silence; Advanced Mode and custom voice commands need Plus.
• It needs an internet connection and does not work offline.
• Dictanote says it has never offered a HIPAA business associate agreement, because speech recognition is done by the browser.

Voice Notebook

• The web version works only in Chrome.
• Saving texts, voice commands and custom languages needs a free registration.
• Offline dictation is described only for the Android app, with lower accuracy, and needs language packs.
• The site's footer copyright line reads 2011 to 2016, so it looks lightly maintained.

Voice In

Dictation in web text boxes

Place the cursor in a text box, right-click and choose Start Recording, and speech is typed in real time. The site lists Gmail, Google Docs, Outlook on the web, WhatsApp and ChatGPT among supported sites.

Advanced Mode

A Plus feature that inserts text with a different strategy, so dictation works on sites with complex editors such as Notion, Slack, Salesforce, Zendesk and HubSpot.

Custom voice commands

With Plus, a spoken phrase can insert saved text such as a signature, or run an action such as pressing Tab, switching the dictation language or opening a URL.

AI Transforms

Select dictated text and apply the built-in Polish style or one custom prompt of your own. Only the selected text is sent to an AI model, and Dictanote says it is not stored.

Dictation Box and multi-tab dictation

Plus adds a small box on the page to dictate into before copying text across, and keeps dictation running when you switch tabs. In the free version it stops on a tab change.

Transcription by the browser

Voice In uses the speech-to-text API built into Chrome or Edge. Dictanote states that no audio or transcript is sent to its own servers.

Voice Notebook

Voice typing in Chrome

Press Start recording and speak; buttons insert punctuation, change letter case and undo the last sentence.

Audio and video transcription

It can transcribe a file from your computer, an HTML5 audio or video URL, or a YouTube clip.

Dictate into any site or app

A Chrome extension types into text fields on any site, and integration modules do the same in applications on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Voice commands and custom terms

Registered users can set voice commands, add custom languages and keep a table that maps spoken phrases to replacement text.

Phone apps

Android and iOS apps handle dictation and file transcription; the Android app can work offline once language packs are installed.

About 50 languages

The language menu lists roughly 50 speech languages, from Afrikaans to Vietnamese.

Voice In

• Free$0

  Up to 60 minutes of dictation a day in 50+ languages on popular sites such as Gmail, Google Docs and WhatsApp, with built-in punctuation commands.

• Voice In Plus (Yearly)$59.99

  per year (about $5 per month)

  Unlimited dictation, Advanced Mode, AI Transforms and custom voice commands. Shown against a crossed-out $119.88, which is twelve months at the monthly price.

• Voice In Plus (Monthly)$9.99

  per month, billed monthly

  The same Plus features billed month to month. Plus is licensed per user and works on every computer where you sign in.

Voice Notebook

• Free$0

  Web dictation and audio transcription, plus the free phone apps. The iOS app shows ads and caps transcribed file length.

• iOS Premium$5.99

  in-app purchase; the listing does not show a billing period

  Removes ads, adds a no-sleep switch and Bluetooth support, lifts the transcribed file length limit and unlocks the dictionary Open button.

Voice In

• Annual discount

  Save 50% with yearly billing

  Voice In Plus costs $59.99 a year against $9.99 a month, which the pricing page presents as a 50% saving on the $119.88 that twelve monthly payments would cost.

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime Plus for $149.99, one payment

  The pricing page offers a one-time $149.99 payment for all Plus features and future plan updates for life. It is labelled limited in time; on November 9, 2026 it said available until November 10th.

• Other savings

  $5 in credits for each referral

  The referral program gives $5 in credits each time someone signs up through your link. Credits can pay for a Voice In Plus upgrade or go toward renewals.

Voice Notebook

No public discounts listed.