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. Android from Google Play, macOS from GitHub — no account, no sign-up, just a download.