Best Voice Recognition Software

Dragon NaturallySpeaking wins, hands down

Nuance claims a 99 percent accuracy rate for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, while reviewers say 98 percent is probably closer to reality. Reviewers are especially enamored of the fact that version 11 achieves a high accuracy rate without completing the training modules; with training, accuracy improves and the program becomes more intuitive the more you use it.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 is available in six different editions, all of which contain a headset in addition to the software. The editions are Home (*Est. $100), Premium (*Est. $200), Premium Go Wireless (*Est. $300), Premium Dictate Anywhere (*Est. $300), Professional (*Est. $600) and Legal (*Est. $800). The two least expensive versions are suitable for most users; the Premium version is our overall pick due to its vast software and web browser compatibility. All versions use the same speech recognition engine, with differences in features and extended functionality. Rebates for Dragon voice recognition software are frequent, as are repackaged iterations of different versions directed at user groups such as students and retailers.

Owners of previous versions can save significant money off the retail price of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 by upgrading their older software through Nuance. Upgrading to the Premium version of NaturallySpeaking 11 from the Preferred version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 or 10 saves users $50 off the full retail price, and upgrading older versions of NaturallySpeaking Professional and Legal saves $300 and $500, respectively.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Home edition is designed for personal use, and you can dictate into Internet Explorer, Firefox, OpenOffice and Microsoft Outlook and Word. Unlike the previous year's entry-level Standard edition, the 2011 Home edition includes the other versions' highly regarded verbal system commands. These streamlined commands let users simply tell the computer to perform basic operations, such as searching the web for a particular term or composing an email to a specific person, rather than going through the more tedious process of opening the web browser in one step, dictating the search string in another and then commanding the program to search in yet a third. Similar time savings can be found in editorial functions, which can be formatted in all editions higher than Home using a single command, as opposed to the more laborious process of highlighting text in one step and formatting in another.

The Premium edition adds compatibility with the Safari browser and Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, and "virtually any other Windows application." Support for digital audio recorders is also included; the Dictate Anywhere bundle includes one. You can dictate into a recorder or MP3 player, download the recording to your computer and have Dragon transcribe it into text. Very limited macro creation tools are included in the Premium version. Macros let you create combined functions that can be executed by a single command. NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium and above ship with Bluetooth support, and Nuance's Go Wireless bundle includes a Bluetooth headset.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional adds administrative management and security functions designed to ease the program's integration into the workplace. The Professional edition also provides complete hands-free use of a PC, including mouse control by voice. The Legal edition allows professionals in the field to streamline the transcription process, thereby saving time and money. The version ships with an expanded vocabulary preprogrammed with over 30,000 terms specific to legal professions. There's also a Dragon Medical edition (*Est. $1,150) for healthcare professionals, complete with a special medical vocabulary and EMR (electronic medical record) system support. It was not updated with NaturallySpeaking 11.

Regardless of version, critics state that Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 is more about refining what works in the program rather than introducing new features. The reports say new additions make Dragon Voice Shortcuts more useful; users can tell the program to search major sites such as Twitter, Amazon and Wikipedia for terms, rather than simply launching basic web searches. NaturallySpeaking 11 also boasts a 15 percent boost in accuracy from the previous version, although some reviewers remark that the improvement is negligible when you consider Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 already featured near-perfect dictation rates. David Pogue of The New York Times recommends leaving the automatic formatting option turned off, saying the punctuation it inserted was hit-and-miss and more of a headache than a useful feature.

A frequent complaint with past versions of NaturallySpeaking was that the sheer amount of available commands was difficult to remember. The new Dragon Sidebar, which dynamically displays a list of commands the user is likely to need, is Nuance's attempt to correct the problem. By and large, critics appreciate the tool and comment favorably about it, but Pogue finds the box a bit large, and Sean Carroll of PCMag.com says the Dragon Sidebar is occasionally unresponsive.

Although Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium is the clear winner with critics, it's not perfect. One of the major complaints we find repeated among reviewers is that Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 feels more like an incremental upgrade than a new version of the software. Again and again, critics say that the minor improvements in NaturallySpeaking 11 probably won't compel users of version 10 to spend the extra money for the new version.

Nuance's technical support policies also draw their share of brickbats. The company provides unlimited technical support for 90 days for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11, but there's no toll-free telephone number. After that, Nuance charges $19.95 for each technical support incident that's addressed by phone, and $9.95 for those handled by email. Support for older versions is on a pay-by-incident basis only. On top of those tough policies, several consumer reviews on Amazon.com report Nuance's customer service as lackluster, citing spotty connections, multiple transfers and poor responsiveness from supervisors.

For Windows users, few other current standalone speech recognition programs draw much in the way of positive recognition. We did see a small amount of critical attention for e-Speaking (*Est. $14 after 30-day free trial), which offers web browsing, system commands and voice editing as well as basic dictation. The program fails to impress the editors at TopTenReviews.com despite the list of features, however. They declare that "even though e-Speaking voice recognition software is better than some, it's worse than the rest." Specifically, the reviewer reports the 92 percent accuracy is good, but not quite up to par with the top programs, and adds that e-Speaking is burdened by a difficult user interface and sluggish response times. However, a user review on SharedReviews.com says that e-Speaking is a good budget alternative. Upgrading to a high-quality microphone is recommended to improve accuracy. E-Speaking works with Windows 7 and Vista.

Talking Desktop (*Est. $80) snags TopTenReviews.com's bronze award for 2011, but it performs terribly in the website's dictation tests, coming in dead last with 86 percent accuracy. The editor reports Talking Desktop has troubles with complex or unusual words and that it works better when the user speaks slowly. The review isn't all doom and gloom, though: the report states that the program does a very good job handling default commands, although editors caution that adding custom commands is "unwieldy." TopTenReviews.com also reviews Tazti, a freeware program, but editors can't bring themselves to recommend the product, mainly because it's strictly for voice commands and not dictation. The reviewer reports that Tazti's straightforward voice command software works well when using basic, default commands, but the lack of a dictation mode makes it "too simple to be useful on a daily basis."

Speech recognition for Mac users

None of the programs discussed above run on the Macintosh operating system. For years, the only decent option for Mac users was MacSpeech Dictate. In 2010, Nuance, the company behind Dragon NaturallySpeaking, bought MacSpeech and renamed the program Dragon Dictate. Dragon Dictate 2.0 (*Est. $200) brings Dragon's advanced voice recognition software to Apple's operating system, to the delight of reviewers.

Critics take special note of Dragon Dictate's accuracy. David Pogue of The New York Times sums up the general consensus when he calls program's accuracy and responsiveness "uncanny." He goes on to claim the program is "almost everything it should be." Wired's Brad Moon expresses particular admiration for the software's regional dialect options -- after selecting the "American -- Northern Inland" dialect option, he reports Dragon Dictate never confused his Canadian-tinged "About" with "A Boot." Nate Anderson of Ars Technica conducts tests that show the software has some problems with proper names, but the sample only contained two minor transcription errors. Both Anderson and Pogue single out the software's macro command tool, which lets you execute several functions using one command, as exceptional. Pogue says it has "incredible powers."

Although reviewers praise Dragon Dictate as the best voice recognition technology ever released on a Mac, each one also lists several areas that need improvement. Most notably, every reviewer calls out Dragon Dictate's so-called "Golden Rule," which prohibits mixing typed and voice commands. Pogue, Anderson and Moon all say that Dragon Dictate becomes severely confused if you use your keyboard or mouse while dictating, resulting in errors that can be difficult to correct. Moon additionally notes that the software's accuracy decreased when he was sick and rasping. Comparing Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Dictate, editors at The Speakeasy Solutions Blog mention that Dictate's vocabulary editor often fails to remember "trained" vocabulary changes.

Consumer reviews on Amazon.com are mixed: approximately half the reviewers rate the program at 4 or 5 stars and sing its praises, while the other half give Dictate just 1 or 2 stars, calling the program buggy and unreliable. Several users complain that's it's difficult to make corrections after you've broken the "Golden Rule."