# Willow Voice

> Willow Voice turns speech into clean text in any app, even offline. See what it costs, what the free plan can do and what users complain about.

- URL: https://toolguide.io/en/tool/willow-voice/
- Last updated: 2026-11-11
- Author: [Ruud Caris](https://toolguide.io/over-toolguide/)
- Language: en
- Site: ToolGuide (https://toolguide.io/)

Links to tools go through toolguide.io/go/; some are affiliate links. Prices are as listed by the maker, in the maker's currency, with the date they were last checked.

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Willow Voice turns your speech into clean text in any app on Mac, Windows and iPhone. For people who type a lot and want to write faster.

Available on · Windows · Mac · iOS

[Try Willow Voice →](https://toolguide.io/go/willow-voice/?p=tool-top) [Visit website](https://toolguide.io/go/willow-voice/?p=tool-website)

## Quick verdict

Willow Voice is a fast, privacy-focused dictation tool with a thin free plan and strong paid options for people who dictate a lot.

### For you if

- you write a lot of emails, chats and documents every day and want to dictate them faster
- you want to dictate on Mac, Windows and iPhone in any app where you type
- you care about privacy: Willow promises end-to-end encryption and an offline mode

### Not for you if

- you work on an Android device, because Willow Voice does not run there
- you mainly want to record and summarize meetings, then look at Otter
- you want to choose where your audio is processed, then Superwhisper fits better

## How much does Willow Voice cost?

Per month, per user, in US dollars

Basic Free

$ 0

- Speech recognition (Frontier Mini model)
- 20 Scribe uses per week
- Works in any app where you type

The free Basic plan uses a lighter speech model and limits you to 20 Scribe uses per week.

[Try Willow Voice](https://toolguide.io/go/willow-voice/?p=tool-pricing)

Pro Subscription

$ 12/mo · per user

$ 144 per year, billed at once

20% cheaper than monthly

$ 15/mo · per user

$ 12 per month billed yearly

- Speech recognition (Frontier Pro model, faster and more accurate)
- Unlimited Scribe usage
- Remembers your writing style
- Longer dictations possible

[Try Willow Voice](https://toolguide.io/go/willow-voice/?p=tool-pricing)

Business Subscription

$ 28/mo

$ 336 per year, billed at once

20% cheaper than monthly

$ 35/mo

$ 28 per month billed yearly

- Zero data retention (enforced)
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- HIPAA compliance
- Advanced team settings

[Try Willow Voice](https://toolguide.io/go/willow-voice/?p=tool-pricing)

**Work it out for your team**

| Plan | Per month | Per year |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro | $ 36 | $ 432 |
| Business | $ 28 | $ 336 |

**My advice:** Start with the free Basic plan to test whether dictation suits you. If you dictate daily, Pro at $ 15 per month (or $ 12 per month billed annually) is the logical step, with unlimited use and a better model. Business costs $ 35 per month (or $ 28 billed annually) and is meant for teams with compliance requirements like HIPAA and SOC 2.

Prices checked on November 11, 2026 · Amounts in US dollars, as listed by the maker. VAT may be added. · Source: [willowvoice.com/pricing](https://toolguide.io/go/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwillowvoice.com%2Fpricing)

## Pros and cons

### What I like

- Fast, near real-time transcription
- Works in any app where you type
- Offline dictation possible
- Zero data retention on Business
- Over 100 languages supported
- Free plan to try it out

### What I like less

- Free plan: 20 Scribe uses per week
- No Android app available
- Sometimes treats words like 'delete' as commands
- Multilingual dictation not always reliable
- Settings do not always sync well

## Features

- Speech to text in any app
- Automatic cleanup and formatting of dictation
- Remembers your writing style (Pro)
- Offline dictation on your own device
- More than 100 languages
- End-to-end encryption
- Zero data retention
- Team dictionary (Business and Enterprise)
- API for Enterprise customers
- SSO and SAML (Enterprise)

By Ruud Caris · updated November 11, 2026 · [How I work](https://toolguide.io/en/hoe-wij-werken/)

Willow Voice did not start as a dictation app but as a healthcare idea, after the founders volunteered in nursing homes. After a few sharp turns, that idea became a tool that lets you dictate instead of type in any app. The mix of speed and notably strict privacy promises is what sets it apart from many other dictation apps.

## From healthcare idea to dictation app

Allan Guo and Lawrence Liu founded Willow Care, Inc. in 2025, in San Francisco. Their first plan was something for healthcare, based on what they saw while volunteering in nursing homes. That did not pan out. After several pivots they landed on a problem they had themselves: AI dictation was not fast enough anywhere.

According to reports, the company raised at least $ 4.2 million in a seed round led by BoxGroup. Other reports mention about $ 4.5 million in total, with Y Combinator taking part in spring 2025. In 2026 the company reported more than 100,000 professionals as users. In its own marketing, Willow names customers like Uber and Gusto, and there is a customer story with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian.

So this is a young tool. You notice that in the fast development, but also in the rough edges covered further down.

## Dictate in any app, even without internet

The core is simple. You speak, and Willow turns it into clean text, right in the app you are working in. That can be your email, Slack, Notion, a document or WhatsApp. You do not install anything per app, it works wherever you type.

The tool runs on macOS, Windows and iOS. Android is missing, and users complain about that regularly.

What sets Willow apart from many dictation tools is a combination of three things. First, speed. Users praise that the transcription keeps up almost in real time as you speak, instead of making you wait afterwards. Second, cleanup. The tool turns raw speech straight into text that is ready to send, with formatting, and users call that one of its strongest points. According to reviews it handles numbers, dates and jargon well.

Third: privacy. According to Willow Voice, everything is end-to-end encrypted and you can dictate offline on your own device. Zero data retention is only enforced on Business and Enterprise. Those are claims from the maker, but they are stated explicitly on the site. The Business plan adds SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance. Data is processed in the United States.

You can dictate in more than 100 languages. Users do report that multilingual dictation is not always reliable: the fast mode sometimes falls back to English.

## What the free plan does and does not give you

The free Basic plan sounds more generous than it is. You get speech recognition with the Frontier Mini model and it works in any app where you type. But there is a hard limit: 20 Scribe uses per week.

Scribe appears to be the feature that cleans up and formats your spoken text, judging by how the site mentions it alongside that cleanup feature. If you dictate a short email now and then, 20 uses is enough to get to know the tool. For daily use it is too little. So see the free plan as a trial version, not as a plan to work with long term. You also get the weaker speech model and miss out on personalization.

## Three paid plans, from $ 12 to custom

[Willow Voice](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/willow-voice/)

| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Basic | $ 0 |   |
| Pro | $ 15 | $ 12 |
| Business | $ 35 | $ 28 |

Pro costs $ 15 per month, or $ 12 per month if you pay annually. For that you get the faster and more accurate Frontier Pro model, unlimited Scribe use, longer dictations and the feature that remembers your writing style. That last one is valuable if you want dictated text to sound the way you write.

Business costs $ 35 per month, or $ 28 per month billed annually. That plan targets organizations with compliance requirements: enforced zero data retention, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and team settings such as a shared team dictionary. Useful for healthcare or legal teams that want to share word lists, for example.

For larger organizations there is an Enterprise plan without a public price. It includes SSO and SAML, billing by invoice or purchase order, an MSA and DPA, usage dashboards, an API and dedicated support, among other things.

**Tip.**

Paying for Pro annually saves you $ 3 per month. Test with the free plan for a few weeks first to see whether dictation really fits your workday.

## Where users get stuck: commands and Android

The scores are high: 4.8 out of 5 on Product Hunt from 12 reviews, and 4.6 out of 5 in the App Store from 1,073 ratings. On G2, reviewers praise the smooth setup and the friendly interface, also for less technical users. Many users say it saves them a lot of time on emails, chat replies and long documents.

Still, there is a recurring annoyance. The tool sometimes interprets spoken words as commands. Say the word "delete" in a sentence, and Willow may treat it as an instruction instead of text. Users call this one of its most frustrating traits.

There are also complaints about occasional slowdowns, an inactivity notice you cannot turn off, and settings that do not sync properly between devices. And then there is the missing Android app, which is a dealbreaker for part of the potential users.

**Watch out.**

Do you work in several languages a lot? Test that well with the free plan. Users report that the fast mode sometimes switches back to English without being asked.

## Willow Voice next to Superwhisper, Wispr Flow and Otter

[**Superwhisper** Superwhisper turns your voice into clean text in any app, with local or cloud models. For people who write a lot and want to choose where their audio goes. · From $ 7.08/mo · Free plan](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/superwhisper/)

The most direct competitor is [Superwhisper](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/superwhisper/). It does the same thing: speech to clean text in any app. The difference is control. With Superwhisper you choose between local and cloud models yourself, so if you want to decide exactly where audio is processed, look there first. Willow leans more on ready-made promises like zero data retention and an offline mode.

[Wispr Flow](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/wispr-flow/) focuses mainly on speed and automation while dictating. Pick it if dictation needs to be as fast as possible for you, with lots of automatic formatting.

[Otter](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/otter/) is a different story. It is a meeting assistant that records, transcribes and summarizes meetings. If you mainly want to capture conversations and pull out action items, Otter makes more sense. If you want to speed up your own writing, Willow, Superwhisper and Wispr Flow are the candidates.

[Try Willow Voice →](https://toolguide.io/go/willow-voice/?p=tool-bottom)

## Alternatives to Willow Voice From the same category.

[Intercom · An AI-powered customer service platform that combines messaging, helpdesk, and proactive support to help businesses communicate more personally. · ★ 4.6 · from $ 19](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/intercom/) [Reflect Notes · A minimalist, AI-powered note-taking app for networked thought, backlinking, and secure encryption. · ★ 4.5 · from $ 10](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/reflect-notes/) [Remnote · An all-in-one note-taking app that combines notes with flashcards and spaced repetition for efficient learning. · ★ 4.5 · free plan · from $ 8](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/remnote/) [Granola AI · AI notebook that runs locally on your device to transcribe meetings and enhance notes without a bot. · ★ 4.5 · free plan · from $ 14](https://toolguide.io/en/tool/granola-ai/)