Spokenly
Hacker ApprovedRanked 14 of 26 dictation apps by recommenders
People recommend Spokenly as a free dictation app that is stable, easy to use for post-processing output, and fast with little transcription delay.
People recommend Spokenly as a free dictation app that is stable, easy to use for post-processing output, and fast with little transcription delay.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free to use
“Spokenly is free (one time fee of $0) and does the same (and even more)”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Why do voice transcription apps charge monthly when Whisper runs locally?” “I've used it for 6 months and haven't paid anything”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “Apple's new SpeechAnalyzer API, benchmarked against Whisper and its predecessor” “in both cases for free when using parakeet”
Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “Voxtral Transcribe 2”
Other dictation apps people recommend
The four most recommended other dictation apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handy | 150 | 20 | 88% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | Approved |
| Wispr Flow | 52 | 33 | 61% | 12 | — | — |
| MacWhisper | 31 | 9 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| macOS Dictation | 26 | 44 | 37% | 10 | — | — |
| SpokenlyThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
7 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I bind it to right command and use it frequently for hard to spell words.”
“I've used it for 6 months and haven't paid anything”
“I found Spokenly to be easier to use for post-processing the output, and more stable overall”
“in both cases for free when using parakeet”
“Spokenly is my go-to app on iOS for transcription as well.”
“Almost imperceptible transcription and processing delay.”
“Spokenly is free (one time fee of $0) and does the same (and even more)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.