Speech to Text Keyboards for Android and iPhone
A speech to text keyboard lets you talk instead of typing, and an AI keyboard cleans up what comes out: punctuation, grammar, tone. Your phone already has the first half for free. This page compares what the built-in keyboard does, what the three paid options add on top, and how to tell which half of the problem you actually have.
For most people the free keyboard is enough. Gboard, the Samsung keyboard and Apple's keyboard all dictate, in every app, with no account and no limit. If your messages are short, stop here and keep your money.
Pay only for the formatting. The three paid keyboards below sell the same thing in different wrappers: text that arrives punctuated and readable, instead of a stream of words you fix by hand.
The three paid options against the free one
Prices and limits read off each vendor's own site on 27 August 2026.
| Tool | What it is on the phone | Punctuates for you | Languages | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gboard, Samsung keyboard, Apple keyboard | The keyboard already installed | Only on a Pixel 6 or newer | Depends on the keyboard and the language packs you install | Free, no limit |
| CleverType | A replacement keyboard for Android and iOS | Yes, as part of its text clean-up | 40+ for typing | Free keyboard, premium subscription priced inside the app |
| Grammarly Keyboard | A replacement keyboard for Android and iOS | Yes, but English only | English, five regional variants | Free tier, Pro around $12 a month billed yearly |
| Wispr Flow | A keyboard on iPhone, a floating button on Android | Yes | 100+ | Free tier, then $15 a month, or $12 billed yearly |
What your phone already does for free
Every Android phone ships with a keyboard that takes dictation: Gboard on most devices, the Samsung keyboard on Galaxy phones, and Apple's keyboard on the iPhone. Tap a text field, tap the microphone, talk. It works in every app, because dictation belongs to the keyboard and not to the app you are writing in, and it costs nothing. Our how to voice type on Android guide has the exact steps for each of the three keyboards.
The weakness is always the same, and it is worth being precise about it: the built-in engines transcribe literally. Punctuation, capital letters and filler words stay your problem, unless you own a Pixel 6 or newer, where Google's advanced voice typing adds the marks by itself. Our punctuation guide covers which phone has which behaviour and the words Gboard understands. And if the microphone key is missing or dictation dies after one word, that is a fault to fix rather than a reason to buy anything: see the voice typing not working guide.
CleverType: an AI keyboard that rewrites as you type
For whom: people whose problem is the wording, not the dictating.
CleverType is a full keyboard replacement for Android and iPhone built around text processing: one-tap grammar fixes, tone changes (professional, casual, polite), translation, and AI assistants available from the keyboard itself in any app. Voice input is included, but the text tools are the reason to install it. The core keyboard is free; the AI features run on a premium subscription whose price is shown inside the app. If your pain is not dictation but messages that need to sound right, work chats and emails written on the go, this is the closest match.
Grammarly Keyboard: the safe choice, if you write in English
For whom: English writers who want one familiar checker everywhere.
The Grammarly Keyboard for Android and iPhone brings the company's well-known writing checker into every app: spelling, grammar and clarity suggestions appear above the keys as you type, and dictated text goes through the same pass. It is free to use with optional paid features, and it is polished and stable. The one hard limit is decisive: it works in English only, in five regional variants. If you write in any other language, it has nothing to offer you.
Wispr Flow: dictation that follows you everywhere
For whom: people who dictate a lot, in more than one language, on more than one device.
Wispr Flow approaches the problem from the dictation side. On the iPhone it installs as a keyboard; on Android it is not a keyboard at all but a floating microphone button that sits on top of whatever keyboard you already use, so you keep Gboard and add clean dictation on top. It supports 100+ languages, strips filler words, punctuates automatically, and the same account works on Mac and Windows. The free plan is 2,000 words a week on a computer and 1,000 on the iPhone; on Android it is currently unlimited, which the vendor describes as a launch arrangement rather than a promise. It needs an internet connection, because recognition happens on their servers. Our Wispr Flow review goes through the real prices, the free plan's second limit and the discounts that genuinely exist.
How to choose
Three questions settle it.
- What language do you write in? English only makes Grammarly the low-risk pick. Anything else rules it out and leaves CleverType or Wispr Flow.
- Is your problem typing or dictating? For better writing, an AI keyboard. For speaking instead of typing, a dictation tool. Buying the wrong half is the usual mistake here.
- Do you want to replace your keyboard? Replacing means a one-time setup and a few days of relearning where the keys are. On Android, Wispr Flow's overlay avoids the switch entirely, which also makes it the easier thing to try and to undo.
Two more things are worth checking before you pay. If you write on a computer as well, the same account often covers both, and the desktop is where dictation saves the most time: see dictation apps for Mac, Windows and Linux. And if typing is painful or slow rather than merely annoying, the choice is a different one, weighted towards the size of the button and automatic punctuation: our speech to text for dyslexia, tremor and painful typing page covers it.
Before you install anything
Most complaints about phone dictation are about the free tool being misconfigured, not about it being bad, and a paid keyboard inherits the same phone settings. Three guides cover the whole of it: turning voice to text on, fixing dictation that stopped working, and getting punctuation and capitals right. If your goal is specifically messaging, our guide to dictating in WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram shows why the messenger has nothing to do with it.