LumeVoice vs Willow Voice: Which Dictation App Fits You?

LumeVoice vs Willow Voice is a closer contest than most. Both apps turn your speech into clean text wherever your cursor is, both start when you hold fn on a Mac, and both clean up filler words as you go. The differences sit at the edges: Willow has an offline mode, an AI writer called Scribe and team plans with compliance paperwork. LumeVoice runs on Android, sells a one-time license and gives larger student and accessibility discounts.

A quick disclosure: LumeVoice is our product. We haven't used Willow ourselves, so nothing below is a hands-on test. What we say about Willow comes from its website, pricing page, help center, blog and App Store listing, all checked on October 20, 2026. Prices change, so confirm them on Willow's pricing page before you buy.

Who should pick which#

Pick Willow Voice if you:

• want to dictate offline on a Mac or iPhone
• want AI to draft messages or rewrite selected text by voice (Willow's Scribe)
• are buying for a team that needs a SOC 2 report, single sign-on or a signed BAA
• want a free plan with no word limit and don't mind a lighter speech model
• work for a nonprofit or serve in the military (Willow takes 30% off; LumeVoice has no such discount)

Pick LumeVoice if you:

• dictate on an Android phone (Willow's Android app is listed as coming soon)
• would rather pay once than subscribe
• are a student or teacher, or find typing hard because of a disability, injury or health condition
• want to transcribe audio and video files on your computer
• use an iPhone on iOS 17 (Willow needs iOS 18)

LumeVoice vs Willow Voice at a glance#

Willow details as of October 2026, from willowvoice.com, its help center, its blog and its App Store listing.

Price and 3-year cost#

Willow's pricing page shows Pro as $15 crossed out next to $12 a month, the annual rate, which comes to $144 a year. Its iPhone app lists the same plans at $15.00 a month and $143.99 a year in the US App Store (App Store listing).

Willow is subscription-only: year three costs as much as year one.

Discounts work differently. Willow's 30% needs proof: you email its support team a student ID, a staff ID or a similar document and get a code back (Willow's discount page). LumeVoice's accessibility discount needs none: anyone who finds typing hard because of a disability, injury or health condition can ask, and it brings Pro to $7.49 a month or $39.99 a year. Students and teachers email from a school address or attach proof of enrollment. Our codes are entered at checkout on Mac or Windows, not in the App Store or Google Play. See the accessibility discount and student pricing.

Willow also runs a referral program (a free month of Pro for you and a friend) and a Switch Program that gives you Pro free until your current yearly plan with another dictation app ends (Switch Program). LumeVoice starts every new account with 3,000 free words, no card required, and Pro Monthly and Pro Annual begin with a 7-day free trial the first time you upgrade in the app (card required). See LumeVoice pricing or our Willow Voice pricing breakdown.

Platforms: where each app runs#

Mac. Both start when you hold fn. LumeVoice lives in the menu bar and runs on macOS 11.5 or later. Willow lets you set up to four hotkeys, and double-tapping the dictation hotkey starts hands-free mode (Willow's hotkey settings). More on LumeVoice for Mac.

Windows. LumeVoice sits in the system tray: hold Ctrl + Win to talk, tap Space while holding it for hands-free, or press Esc to cancel. It supports Windows 10 and 11 and installs per user, without admin rights. Willow's Windows app is a download from its site, with a global hotkey you choose, and its own blog says its offline mode doesn't cover Windows (Willow on offline dictation). See LumeVoice for Windows.

iPhone. Both are keyboards that need Full Access, and both briefly open their app to turn on the microphone. LumeVoice needs iOS 17 or later. Willow needs iOS 18, runs on iPhone only, and puts Scribe in its keyboard. In the US App Store, Willow is rated 4.6 out of 5 from 1,067 ratings (October 20, 2026). See LumeVoice for iPhone.

Android. Only LumeVoice, for now. Willow's download page lists Android as coming soon, and we found no Willow app on Google Play. LumeVoice shows a floating bubble over your keyboard and uses Android's Accessibility Service only to find the text field and insert your words, so you keep your usual keyboard. See LumeVoice for Android.

One LumeVoice plan covers all four platforms. A Willow Pro subscription also carries across its apps if you sign in with the same email and the same sign-in method (upgrading to Willow Pro).

Features: cleanup, Scribe and extras#

The basics overlap. Both remove filler words, add punctuation, format spoken lists and follow you when you correct yourself mid-sentence. Both keep a dictionary for names and jargon, expand short spoken cues into saved text (snippets in LumeVoice, shortcuts in Willow), offer writing styles, and handle 100 or more languages with automatic detection.

Where they differ:

Scribe. This is Willow's biggest extra. Instead of dictating word for word, you describe what you want, such as "decline Thursday's call politely and suggest Friday", and Scribe writes it. It can also read your screen to draft a reply, or rewrite selected text: shorter, more formal, or in another language (Introduction to Scribe). Free accounts get 20 uses a week; Pro is unlimited. LumeVoice has nothing like it: it writes down what you said, cleaned up, and never drafts text or carries out commands.

Context and dictionary. Willow can optionally read a little of the text around your cursor to get names right, and it adapts its style to the app you're in. LumeVoice's styles are presets you pick, such as Default, Casual and Excited. Its custom dictionary feeds speech recognition on Mac and Windows; on phones, its corrections apply.

Long dictations. Willow caps a single dictation at 5 minutes on the free plan and 8 minutes on paid plans (Willow's time limits).

Files and translation. LumeVoice's desktop apps transcribe audio and video files (mp3, m4a, wav, mp4, mov and more), and you can speak one language and get your text in another. Willow's site doesn't list file transcription, though Scribe can translate text you've selected.

Privacy: where your voice goes#

Both apps are cloud-first. LumeVoice's speech is transcribed by Whisper large-v3-turbo running on Groq, with Mistral's Voxtral as a fallback, and then a language model does the cleanup. Willow says it uses cloud models because on-device models can't yet match their speed and accuracy, and that it runs on US cloud infrastructure (how Willow protects your data, Willow security).

• LumeVoice: your audio isn't stored after processing, what you say is never used to train models, and your dictation history stays on your device. It needs an internet connection.
• Willow: Private Mode is on by default. Its privacy policy, updated August 5, 2026, says audio is processed transiently and isn't retained by Willow or its providers, dictated text isn't kept, and transcript history stays on your device. If you opt in to Help Willow Improve, it keeps anonymized text, never audio. Willow holds a SOC 2 Type II report and offers a Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA work, which individuals can sign in the app (HIPAA support in Willow).

The real difference is offline mode. With Willow's offline mode on, dictation runs on your Mac or iPhone, with no connection needed. LumeVoice has nothing like it. If your audio has to stay on the device, Willow on a Mac or iPhone is the better fit.

Where Willow is the better choice#

• Offline dictation on Mac and iPhone.
• Scribe, for drafting, replying and rewriting by voice, including inside its iPhone keyboard.
• Team and enterprise plans, with shared dictionaries, admin dashboards, single sign-on, enforced privacy mode and dedicated support. LumeVoice is built and run by one person and has no team plan.
• Compliance paperwork: a SOC 2 Type II report and a HIPAA BAA, even for individuals.
• A free plan with no word limit, on its lighter speech model.
• Discounts for nonprofit staff, military and veterans, which LumeVoice doesn't offer.

Where LumeVoice is the better choice#

• Android, today.
• Paying once: $249 for Lifetime, or $79.99/year against Willow's $144 a year.
• Larger student and accessibility discounts: 50% off for students and teachers, and 50% off for anyone who finds typing hard, with no proof needed.
• File transcription on Mac and Windows.
• A money-back guarantee: 14-day, 10,000-word money-back guarantee. Willow doesn't publish a refund policy.
• Older iPhones: iOS 17, where Willow needs iOS 18.

Switching from Willow to LumeVoice#

1. Install LumeVoice on the computer and phone you use most, and keep Willow for now.
2. Re-add your words. Copy the terms from Willow's Dictionary page into LumeVoice's custom dictionary, and recreate your shortcuts as snippets.
3. Use your free words on real work.
4. Ask for your discount before you buy. Email hello@lumevoice.com for the student or accessibility code, then upgrade on Mac or Windows.
5. Cancel Willow before it renews: on a Mac, Settings, then Manage Billing (Stripe's portal); on iPhone, Settings, your name, then Subscriptions. Your plan stays active until the end of the period you've paid for (managing your Willow subscription).

For more depth, see the best Willow Voice alternatives and Willow Voice vs Wispr Flow. All our head-to-heads are on the comparisons hub.

The bottom line#

Willow is the broader app where features cost the most to build: an offline mode, an AI writer, team plans and compliance paperwork. LumeVoice is narrower: no offline mode, no Scribe, no team plan. It covers Android, sells a one-time license and gives larger student and accessibility discounts. If one of Willow's extras is a must-have, choose Willow. If not, dictate a week of real writing in both and keep the one you edit less.