1. Install it
Get AudioPen from the Microsoft Store, then open it from the Start menu.
AudioPen for Windows
Voice to text on Windows, written up in any app.
Windows has voice typing built in: click in a text box and press Windows key + H. It needs the internet, and on most PCs it types every um and false start. AudioPen for Windows gives you text you'd send. Hold Right Ctrl and talk, and your words land in any app. Double-tap to get them rewritten in your style.
Get it from the Microsoft Store
Free to start. Windows 10 or later.
Windows voice typing
Fine for a note to yourself. Rough in an email.
On most PCs, Windows voice typing types every word, including the ums, the false starts and the sentence you began twice. That's fine for a note to yourself. In an email to someone else, it reads badly.
The rewriting is the part Windows doesn't do. Even Fluid dictation, on Copilot+ PCs, fixes grammar, punctuation and filler words and leaves the rest alone. AudioPen turns what you said into clear sentences in a style you choose, and your exact words are one hot key away when that's all you need.
| What we compared | Windows voice typing | AudioPen |
|---|---|---|
| How you start it | Windows voice typingClick in a text box and press Windows key + H. | AudioPenHold Right Ctrl, talk, and let go. You can change the key. |
| Where it types | Windows voice typingAny text box on Windows 10 and 11. | AudioPenAny app with a text field: Outlook, Word, Slack, your browser, even a code editor. |
| Ums and false starts | Windows voice typingTyped word for word. Fluid dictation corrects grammar and filler words, on Copilot+ PCs in English. | AudioPenDouble-tap for AI Rewrite and get clear sentences back. |
| Tone and style | Windows voice typingNo writing styles. | AudioPenPick a style or make your own, and map styles to apps, so Slack sounds casual and email sounds formal. |
| Without internet | Windows voice typingNeeds a connection. Voice access works offline on Windows 11, version 22H2 and later, but you steer it with spoken commands. | AudioPenWith offline transcription on, your audio stays on your PC. AI Rewrite needs a connection. |
Sources for the Windows voice typing column: Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC and Dictate text with voice, checked October 2026.
Getting started
Start talking in four steps.
2. Sign in
Use your email and the one-time code AudioPen sends you. No credit card needed.
3. Hold and talk
Click into any text box. Hold Right Ctrl, say what you mean, and let go. Your words appear where your cursor is.
4. Double-tap to rewrite
Double-tap the hot key, talk it through, and tap once more when you're done. AudioPen rewrites it in your chosen style and types it in.
Voice typing, in any style
Ramble in. Clear email out.
One hot key, every app you write in. Map a casual style to Slack and a formal one to Outlook, and each message comes out sounding right without you switching anything.
Talk the way you think. Start mid-thought, circle back, change your mind halfway through. AudioPen types your exact words when you want them, or writes it up in a style you pick, right at your cursor.
“hey priya, so, um, the deck, I looked at it last night and mostly it's great, the numbers slide though, slide six I think, it's got last quarter's figures, can you swap those, and, oh, can we push our review to thursday, wednesday's packed”
Hi Priya, I went through the deck last night, and it's in great shape. One fix: slide 6 still shows last quarter's figures. Could you update them? Also, could we move our review to Thursday? Wednesday is fully booked for me. Thanks
Works in any app, on every device: a hotkey on Mac and Windows, the AudioPen keyboard on iPhone and iPad, and a floating bubble on Android.
Privacy
Keep your audio on your PC.
Offline transcription is a setting in AudioPen for Windows, and the speech model it needs comes with the app. You can use cloud transcription instead. Either way, voice typing audio is never saved.
Offline when you want it
Choose offline transcription and speech becomes text on your PC. A compact speech model comes with the app. For the best accuracy, download the larger on-device model, about 1.6 GB, in Settings.
AI Rewrite saves nothing
Double-tap for AI Rewrite and your text goes to the cloud to be rewritten. It's typed in at your cursor, then thrown away. Nothing is stored.
Only your hot key
AudioPen listens for the hot key you picked and nothing else. Your keystrokes are never recorded.
Notes
Keep the thought for later.
Triple-tap the hot key to record a note instead. It's saved to your AudioPen library and syncs with the web app and with AudioPen on iPhone and Android.
Everywhere you work
One account on every device.
The same account works on your Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android phone, and in the web app.
One Prime account covers all of them. Your notes sync across every device, so whatever you capture on one is waiting on the next.
Testimonials
Loved by people who think out loud
Read what real users have to say about AudioPen.
I used to manually summarize my transcribed brainstorming sessions. Took hours. AudioPen automates everything to the point where I am almost done with my article after talking about a topic for 10min. Magic.
No product has fundamentally changed the way I work over the last 12 months more than Audiopen. Home Screen on iPhone.
I can now create 95% of my blog posts and have minimal editing. In my tone of voice. This saves so much time
I’ve been using AudioPen to talk through my ideas, have them summarized and then use the summarization as a draft for blog posts. 13 out of 10. Highly recommend for the “blank page” problem.
This is probably the best product I’ve come across in the past 18 months. So useful and it just keeps getting better.
Simple, but effective. The best tool to convert rambling into structured text, while keeping what you rambled intact.
I freakin love AudioPen.ai. If you are not using it yet, get on it.
Most helpful AI tool = audiopen. Been using it daily to do things like: turn voicenotes into action items, content ideas (magic for this), summarize calls, giving feedback. The UI is also so clean that it’s an absolute joy to use.
You speak to it as thoughts come in. It stitches a fine narrative from the rant. Writers can edit a ‘wrong’ page, not a ‘blank’ page. AudioPen gets you to 90% and then you do the rest.
OH MY GOSH. I just learned about AudioPen today, and it’s already a GAME CHANGER. If you write, create, or do any serious thinking, this tool is for you.
This is one tool that has dramatically changed the way I think. It has allowed me to get the thoughts out of my head and down on paper.
I can’t say enough good things about the AudioPen app. It’s been my go-to app for getting ideas down without having to type. Not only does it arrange even the most inarticulate nonsense into readable sentences, it’s the best dictation app I’ve ever used.
I’ve been writing online for over 10 years and tried virtually every writing app, productivity, note-taking, and idea-capture system out there. Nothing comes close to the amount of time AudioPen saves me.
This is by far the greatest and most useful tool I have ever had! I have severe ADHD and it’s able to translate my rambling into a well written and concise note. I feel more organized and less anxious!
Best buy in 2023: AudioPen from @louispereira. Hats off.
Switched from Superwhisper to Audiopen Mac App within 20 minutes of using the Mac App.
Tried it out, and paid for the prime version because it is SO good and simple to use. The product has made it so much easier to track my various thoughts throughout my day.
I am a natural speaker. My ideas flow faster when I speak. I record my voice notes and with my accent, it is perfect all the time.
AudioPen is able to clear my spoken thoughts into text in Estonian, one of the most complicated languages in the world! Shut Up And Take My Money!
Already not sure what I did before I had AudioPen. If you often have thoughts you want to capture in writing, check it out. Cost is super reasonable too.
Questions
Everything you might want to know
Straight answers to the questions people ask before they start.