LumeVoice vs Speechnotes comes down to where you want your words to go. Speechnotes is a distraction-free notepad you dictate into, in Chrome or on Android, plus a Chrome extension for web forms and a cheap transcription service. LumeVoice puts dictation in every app: hold a key on your computer or tap a bubble on your phone, and clean text lands where your cursor is.
A quick disclosure: LumeVoice is our product. We haven't used Speechnotes ourselves, so nothing below is a hands-on test. What we say about it comes from speechnotes.co, including its pricing and privacy sections, checked on October 20, 2026.
Short answer
Should I use LumeVoice or Speechnotes?
Use Speechnotes if you want free or very cheap dictation in Chrome, a clean notepad for long notes, or pay-as-you-go transcription with captions and speaker labels. Use LumeVoice if you want to dictate straight into any app on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with filler words removed and self-corrections applied as you talk.
Who should pick which#
Pick Speechnotes if you:
- want dictation that's free, or nearly free at $1.90 a month without ads
- like drafting in a clean, separate notepad before pasting text elsewhere
- work on a Chromebook or a computer where you can only use the browser
- need occasional file transcription with timestamps, speaker labels or .srt captions, paid by the minute
Pick LumeVoice if you:
- want to dictate directly into Word, Outlook, Slack, Gmail or any other app
- use Firefox or Safari, or work in desktop apps rather than the browser
- want filler words, stutters and self-corrections cleaned up automatically
- dictate on an iPhone
- write in more than one language (100, detected automatically)
LumeVoice vs Speechnotes at a glance#
| LumeVoice | Speechnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Dictation app that types into any app | Dictation notepad, voice typing extension and transcription service |
| Computer | Mac (macOS 11.5+) and Windows 10 and 11 apps; works in any browser | Runs in Chrome (its privacy note also mentions Edge); Chrome extension |
| Phone | iPhone keyboard (iOS 17+); Android bubble over your keyboard | Android notepad app; no iPhone app |
| Where text goes | Wherever your cursor is | The Speechnotes notepad, or web text boxes with the extension |
| How you start | Hold fn (Mac) or Ctrl + Win (Windows); double-press for hands-free | Click the mic in the notepad or extension |
| Cleanup | Fillers and stutters removed, self-corrections applied, lists, punctuation, grammar | Spoken punctuation and formatting commands, automatic capitalization |
| Speech engine | Whisper large-v3-turbo on Groq, Voxtral fallback, then a language model | Dictation: the browser's or Android's speech service. Transcription: Google and Microsoft engines |
| File transcription | Included in the desktop app | $0.10 a minute, with timestamps, English speaker labels and .srt |
| Price | 3,000 free words, no card required, then $14.99/mo, $79.99/yr, or $249 lifetime | Free with ads; Premium $1.90/month |
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Speechnotes details as of October 2026, from speechnotes.co.
Price and 3-year cost#
Speechnotes is one of the cheapest dictation tools anywhere (Speechnotes pricing):
| LumeVoice | Speechnotes (as of October 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 3,000 free words, no card required | Unlimited dictation in the notepad and extension, with ads |
| Paid dictation | $14.99/mo, $79.99/year or $249 once | Premium: $1.90/month, no ads, developer support |
| File transcription | Included with the desktop app | $0.10 a minute, pay as you go |
| Students | 50% off | Not listed |
| Disability or accessibility | 50% off | Not listed |
| Refunds | 14-day, 10,000-word money-back guarantee | Not stated on the pricing section |
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Over three years:
| Plan | Over 3 years |
|---|---|
| Speechnotes, free with ads | $0 |
| Speechnotes Premium at $1.90 a month | $68.40 |
| LumeVoice Pro Monthly | $539.64 |
| LumeVoice Pro Annual | $239.97 |
| LumeVoice Lifetime | $249 |
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On price alone, Speechnotes wins easily. LumeVoice costs more because it does more of the work: an app on every device that types into every app and cleans up your speech. If you can live with a notepad and the browser, Speechnotes is hard to argue with.
For LumeVoice, students and teachers get 50% off, and anyone who finds typing hard because of a disability, injury or health condition gets 50% off, with no proof needed. With that code, Pro is $7.49 a month or $39.99 a year. Codes are entered at checkout on Mac or Windows. See the accessibility discount and LumeVoice pricing.
Dictate Straight Into Any App
Skip the copy and paste: LumeVoice types where your cursor already is.
- On your computer: hold fn (Mac) or Ctrl + Win (Windows), talk, let go. Works in every browser and desktop app.
- On your phone: the Lume keyboard on iPhone, a floating bubble over your keyboard on Android.
- Cleanup as you go: filler words removed, self-corrections applied, spoken lists turned into lists.
- The tradeoff: it costs more than Speechnotes and needs an internet connection.
Every new account starts with 3,000 free words, no card required.
Platforms: where each app runs#
In the browser. Speechnotes is built for it: the notepad "works entirely online in your Chrome browser," with no download, install or sign-up. Its Chrome extension types into forms and text boxes on websites. That makes it a natural fit for Chromebooks, where LumeVoice has no app. LumeVoice has no extension; on Mac and Windows, its desktop app types into any website in any browser, Firefox and Safari included.
Desktop apps. Speechnotes doesn't type into Word, Outlook, Slack or other desktop programs directly; you dictate in the notepad and paste. LumeVoice types into all of them. See LumeVoice for Mac and LumeVoice for Windows.
Android. Speechnotes has a notepad app that, according to its site, has more than 5 million downloads and a 4.3+ rating on Google Play. LumeVoice adds a floating bubble above your usual keyboard, so you dictate in WhatsApp, Gmail or any other app. See LumeVoice for Android.
iPhone. Only LumeVoice, through the Lume keyboard. Speechnotes points iPhone users to TextHear, a sister app for live captions with its own pricing.
Features: notepad, extension and cleanup#
Writing. Speechnotes gives you a clean, distraction-free editor with spoken punctuation and formatting commands, automatic capitalization, and import and export options. It's designed so you can talk through a long piece without interruption. LumeVoice has no editor of its own; it's built to drop finished text into the app you're already using.
Cleanup. LumeVoice removes filler words and stutters, applies self-corrections ("let's meet at five, actually six" becomes "Let's meet at six."), adds punctuation and paragraph breaks from context, turns spoken lists into lists, and fixes grammar. Speechnotes' site describes spoken punctuation and automatic capitalization for dictation, not filler-word removal.
Extras. LumeVoice has a custom dictionary (on Mac and Windows, its words are passed to speech recognition), snippets, writing styles and an output language. Speechnotes' transcription service adds timestamps, speaker labels in English, .srt captions, YouTube links, an API, webhooks and Zapier, plus AI summaries.
Privacy: where your voice goes#
- Speechnotes: for dictation, the recording and recognition are handled by your browser (Chrome or Edge) or by Android, so Speechnotes never receives the audio and that browser's or Android's privacy policy applies. Your notes are saved in your browser's or the app's local storage. For transcription, Speechnotes says recordings are deleted from its servers once the transcript is done, its contracts bar Google and Microsoft from keeping audio or results, and it describes the service as HIPAA compliant. The free tier shows Google ads.
- LumeVoice: cloud-based. Your audio is sent for processing and isn't stored afterwards, what you say is never used to train models, and your dictation history stays on your device. It needs an internet connection.
Where Speechnotes is the better choice#
- Price: free with ads, or $1.90 a month.
- Browser-only setups, including Chromebooks, with nothing to install.
- A dedicated notepad for long, uninterrupted drafting.
- Pay-as-you-go transcription with captions, speaker labels, an API and Zapier.
Where LumeVoice is the better choice#
- Dictation in every app, including desktop apps and any browser.
- iPhone support, plus an Android bubble that works over your own keyboard.
- Automatic cleanup of filler words, stutters and self-corrections.
- 100 languages, detected automatically, with an output-language option.
- A custom dictionary and snippets for names, jargon and text you repeat.
Switching from Speechnotes to LumeVoice#
- Export your notes from Speechnotes; they live in your browser's storage, so save anything you want to keep.
- Install LumeVoice on the computer and phone you use most.
- Dictate where you'd normally paste: straight into your email, document or chat.
- Add your recurring names and phrases to the custom dictionary and snippets.
- Use your free words on real work, then ask for a student or accessibility code before you upgrade on Mac or Windows.
Dictating mostly in Google Docs? See speech to text in Google Docs and our Google Docs voice typing alternatives.
The bottom line#
Speechnotes is a generous, very cheap tool: a clean notepad in Chrome or on Android, a Chrome extension for web forms, and transcription by the minute. LumeVoice costs more and is built for a different habit: talking straight into whatever app you're using, on every device, with the "ums" and restarts already gone. If a notepad in the browser covers what you do, stay with Speechnotes. If you're tired of copying and pasting, try LumeVoice.