Typeless is the widest-reach dictation app in this research — macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android, with a real IME keyboard. It's closed source, $12–30/mo past a free cap, and its "on-device" marketing doesn't match what independent reviewers found.
Typeless ships on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android — including a real Android IME keyboard (com.typeless.mobile), which is more platform reach than any single competitor covered in this research. Its free tier caps at 8,000 words/week; Pro is $12/mo billed annually or $30/mo monthly. It's closed source.
The specific claim worth scrutinizing: Typeless's marketing ("Zero cloud data retention," "On-device history storage") reads as local processing, but multiple independent reviewers report it's cloud-only with no on-device mode. Those reviews come from competitor-adjacent blogs, so treat the specific permission-audit claims in them as plausible, not verified — but Typeless's own pricing page and homepage genuinely never state where transcription actually runs, which is itself the finding. On a dropped connection, cloud-only means dictation stops.
Typeless's marketing copy — "Zero cloud data retention," "On-device history storage" — is the kind of language that reads as local processing without actually stating it. This research found multiple independent reviews (competitor-adjacent blogs, so weight accordingly) reporting Typeless is cloud-only with no on-device transcription mode at all. What's independently verifiable without trusting those reviews: Typeless's own pricing page and homepage never state where transcription runs, for a product actively marketed on privacy language. That absence, on its own, is worth knowing before you rely on it for anything sensitive.
"Works on a plane" is a real, demonstrable, screenshottable claim Typeless cannot make if the cloud-only reports are accurate — dictation would simply stop with no connection. OpenWispr can make that claim because there's no cloud path to lose.
Typeless covers macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android — more platforms than OpenWispr today — and its Android IME keyboard is a deeper integration than an accessibility-based insert, working inside any text field the same way a normal keyboard app does.
If you specifically need iOS or Windows dictation right now, or want a keyboard-level Android integration rather than an overlay, Typeless covers both and OpenWispr doesn't yet.
Open source and entirely on your device. Install from Google Play on Android, or download the macOS app from GitHub Releases — no account, no sign-up.