This post is for anyone who needs Spanish speech to text: native speakers writing in Spanish, learners practicing, and bilingual people who move between Spanish and English all day. Spanish is one of the best-supported languages in dictation, so the free options are genuinely good. The main choices are which variant to set and whether you want cleanup on top.
Everything below comes from Apple, Google and Microsoft's help pages and each app's own site, as of October 2026. We make LumeVoice and it's in the list; we've tried to be fair about where the free tools are enough. ¿Prefieres leer en español? Visita LumeVoice en español.
The short answer#
| Tool | Spanish variants | Where it works | Cost (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Dictation | Several regional variants | Mac, iPhone, iPad, any app | Free |
| Gboard voice typing | Several; advanced voice typing in Spanish on Pixel 6+ | Android, any app | Free |
| Windows voice typing | Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico) | Windows, any app | Free |
| Word Dictate | Spanish (Spain) and (Mexico) fully supported | Word | Microsoft 365 |
| Google Docs voice typing | Several regional options | Docs in Chrome, Edge, Safari | Free |
| LumeVoice | Detected automatically; output language | Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, any app | 3,000 free words, no card required, then $14.99/mo, $79.99/yr, or $249 lifetime |
| Wispr Flow | 100+ languages | Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android | Free plan; Pro $15/mo |
Swipe to see all columns
First: pick your Spanish#
Speech engines usually treat Spanish as several languages: es-ES (Spain), es-MX (Mexico) and, depending on the tool, others for the US, Argentina, Colombia and more. Choosing the variant closest to how you speak affects vocabulary and spelling choices ("computadora" or "ordenador", "celular" or "móvil"). If you write for a particular market, choose that market's variant even if your own accent differs.
1. Apple Dictation (Mac and iPhone)#
Apple Dictation
Verdict: Best Free Choice on Apple Devices
Mac: System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation, click Edit next to Languages and add the Spanish you want. Switch by clicking the language shown next to the cursor or pressing the Globe key (how to use dictation on Mac).
iPhone: add a Spanish keyboard in Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards. Apple says dictation follows the keyboard language you're using (Dictate text on iPhone). For English (U.S.) and Spanish (Latin America), Apple also lets you add Spanish to the English keyboard for typing.
- Good at: free, every app, auto-punctuation in supported languages, and on-device processing for the languages Apple lists in Keyboard settings.
- Limits: one language at a time; no cleanup of filler words or restarts.
2. Gboard voice typing (Android)#
Gboard voice typing
Verdict: Best Free Choice on Android
Add Spanish to Gboard, tap the microphone and talk. To switch languages mid-session, tap the language abbreviation at the bottom left of the voice toolbar (Gboard help). On Pixel 6 and later, advanced voice typing works in Spanish and adds punctuation automatically.
- Good at: free and fast.
- Limits: outside advanced voice typing, you say the punctuation yourself.
3. Windows voice typing#
Windows voice typing
Verdict: Best Free Choice on Windows
Windows 11 voice typing supports Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Mexico). Install your variant under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, switch with Windows key + Spacebar, and press Windows key + H (Microsoft's guide). Turn on automatic punctuation in the voice typing settings.
- Good at: free, in every app, with Spanish command lists on Microsoft's page.
- Limits: needs internet; Fluid dictation's cleanup on Copilot+ PCs is English only.
4. Word Dictate (Microsoft 365)#
Microsoft Word Dictate
Verdict: Best for Long Spanish Documents in Word
Microsoft lists Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Mexico) among Dictate's fully supported languages, with preview languages marked as possibly having lower accuracy or limited punctuation (Dictate in Word). Choose the spoken language under the gear icon.
- Good at: dictating and formatting a document by voice, if you already pay for Microsoft 365.
- Limits: works only inside Microsoft's apps and needs a subscription. See voice typing in Word.
5. Google Docs voice typing#
Google Docs voice typing
Verdict: Free Option for Docs Users
Open Tools > Voice typing and choose your Spanish from the language menu above the microphone. Docs lists over 100 language and accent options. Voice commands for editing and formatting only work in English, but plain dictation works in Spanish (speech to text in Google Docs).
- Limits: Docs only, in Chrome, Edge or Safari; you say punctuation, and Google notes it isn't available in every language.
6. LumeVoice: Spanish detected, cleanup included#
LumeVoice
Verdict: Best for Bilingual Spanish and English Writers
LumeVoice detects Spanish automatically among its 100 languages, so you can write a Spanish WhatsApp message and an English email back to back without touching a setting. You can also set an output language: speak in English and get Spanish text, or the reverse.
- Good at: finished text. It removes filler words and stutters, applies self-corrections, adds punctuation and paragraphs, and turns spoken lists into real lists. Hold fn on a Mac or Ctrl + Win on Windows; on iPhone use the Lume keyboard, and on Android a bubble above your usual keyboard.
- Limits: needs an internet connection; no Linux or ChromeOS app.
- Price: 3,000 free words, no card required, then $14.99/mo, $79.99/yr, or $249 lifetime, one plan for all four platforms.
7. Wispr Flow#
Wispr Flow
Verdict: Polished Cleanup, Choose Your Language
Wispr Flow supports more than 100 languages on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with cleanup, a dictionary and snippets (pricing). Its guidance recommends choosing the language you're speaking rather than relying on auto-detect.
- Price: free plan with 2,000 words a week on desktop; Pro $15 a month or $144 a year. See LumeVoice vs Wispr Flow.
Dictate in Spanish, English or both
LumeVoice detects your language on its own, removes the filler and types clean text into any app on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. Every new account gets 3,000 free words, no card required.
Which one should you start with?#
Start with what's already on your device, set to your Spanish:
- iPhone or Mac: Apple Dictation with a Spanish keyboard or dictation language added. Turn on auto-punctuation.
- Android: Gboard voice typing. On a Pixel 6 or later, advanced voice typing handles Spanish punctuation for you.
- Windows: voice typing with Spanish (Spain) or Spanish (Mexico) installed, automatic punctuation on.
- Long documents in Word with Microsoft 365: Dictate, since both main Spanish variants are fully supported and you can format by voice.
Use it for a week of real messages. If you keep deleting filler words, restarting sentences or switching the language setting back and forth, that's the point where an AI dictation app earns its place. If the free tool already gives you text you'd send, keep it.
One more consideration if you write in both languages: count how often you change the setting. Two or three times a day is fine. Twenty times a day is a good reason to try a tool that detects the language for you.
Spanish-specific tips#
Punctuation. In the built-ins, you say the Spanish name of the mark, and each vendor publishes a Spanish command list (Microsoft's voice typing page, Apple's dictation commands, Google's help). With automatic punctuation turned on, Apple and Windows add the common marks for you. Watch the opening ¿ and ¡: check that questions and exclamations come out with both marks.
Accents on letters. Dictation writes "está", "árbol" and "año" correctly when it's set to Spanish. If accents disappear, the tool is probably set to English.
Names. Spanish surnames and place names are often fine; English brand names inside Spanish sentences are where errors creep in. On Mac and Windows, LumeVoice's custom dictionary passes them to speech recognition.
Spanglish. Switching languages mid-sentence is hard for every tool. Starting a new dictation when you switch language works more reliably.
Recordings. To transcribe a Spanish interview or voice memo, LumeVoice's desktop apps transcribe audio and video files (mp3, m4a, wav, mp4 and more).
Where LumeVoice isn't the right pick#
If you dictate without a connection, the free built-ins are better: iPhone dictation works offline in many languages, and Apple lists the languages a Mac processes on the device. If you only write long documents in Word and already pay for Microsoft 365, Dictate's Spanish support and voice formatting may be all you need.
