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Free ToolRuns in Your Browser · Audio Never Uploaded

Free Legal Dictation in Your Browser

Dictate a memo, a client letter or case notes and get clean text with section symbols and case names. The speech model runs on your computer, so the recording never goes to anyone's server.

What this legal dictation tool does

This is free legal dictation that runs entirely in your browser: click Start, speak, and the text appears in the box, with no account and no upload. The first visit downloads open-source (about MB) into your browser. After that, every word is transcribed on your own computer.

Most online dictation, including Word's Dictate button and the Chrome speech API, sends your voice to a cloud speech service. That is a fair question to ask about a privileged memo. Here the answer is simple: the audio stays in the tab that recorded it.

It understands legal formatting you say out loud: "section symbol" types §, "paragraph symbol" types ¶, and "Smith versus Jones" becomes "Smith v. Jones". Copy the result into Word, Outlook or your practice-management system.

Key Takeaways

QuestionAnswer
CostFree, no signup, no word limit
Where the audio goesNowhere: transcribed in your browser, never uploaded
Speech model (open source), about MB, downloaded once
Legal formatting§ and ¶ by voice, "v." in case names, spoken punctuation
LengthUp to NaN minutes per take, as many takes as you like
LanguageEnglish
OutputEditable text box, copy or download .txt
Not includedCustom vocabulary, dictation into other apps
  1. Click "Start dictating" and allow the microphone. The model download starts at the same moment, so you can begin speaking straight away.
  2. Speak a paragraph or two, the way you would to an assistant. Say "new paragraph" between paragraphs and "section symbol" before a section number.
  3. Click "Stop and transcribe". The take is transcribed on your computer and added to the box. The first take waits for the model download to finish.
  4. Correct names and terms in the box, then dictate the next take. Each new take is added to the end of the text.
  5. Copy the text into Word, Outlook or Clio, or download a .txt file. The text is not saved anywhere, so copy it before you close the tab.

Where your dictation goes (and doesn't)

Your microphone feeds a recorder in this tab. When you stop, the recording is converted to the 16 kHz audio Whisper reads and handed to a background worker in the same tab, which runs the model with WebAssembly. The text comes back to the box. The two network requests the page makes are for the model files and the library, and they happen before you say anything.

Whisper adds commas and full stops to natural speech on its own. Say a command when you want a mark in a particular place, or for symbols speech can't imply. Turn off "Spoken punctuation" if you want the words kept as spoken.

SayYou get
"new paragraph"blank line
"new line"line break
"comma",
"period / full stop".
"colon":
"semicolon";
"question mark"?
"exclamation point"!
"open paren / close paren"( )
"open quote / close quote"“ ”
"hyphen"-
"em dash"—
"ellipsis"…
"section symbol"§
"paragraph symbol"
"Smith versus Jones"Smith v. Jones

You say: "Memo to file new paragraph the client called on Tuesday comma concerned that the cure period under section symbol 7.2 of the lease had expired full stop In Smith versus Jones comma the court read a similar clause narrowly full stop"

You get "Memo to file", a paragraph break, then: "The client called on Tuesday, concerned that the cure period under § 7.2 of the lease had expired. In Smith v. Jones, the court read a similar clause narrowly." "Cure period" stays a phrase, because "period" after "cure" is a noun. Whisper may still mishear a name, so read the text before you use it.

A browser tool is the cheapest way to dictate a memo privately. It is not the most convenient way to dictate all day. Here is where it sits against the software lawyers usually weigh. Prices are from each vendor or reseller page, checked October 2026.

OptionPriceWhere speech is processedLegal vocabularyTypes into
This pageFreeYour browserNo custom vocabularyThis page's text box
Voibe DictationFree plan (2,000 cloud words a week); $9.90/mo, $99/yr or $199 lifetimeOn the Mac (Apple Silicon) or zero-retention cloudDictionary; imports a Dragon vocabulary exportAny app, Mac and Windows
Dragon Legal v16About $800 one-time (retail)On the PCBuilt-in legal vocabularyWindows apps only
Dragon Legal Anywhere$780/yr (reseller, 1-year term)Nuance cloud on Microsoft AzureBuilt-in legal vocabularyWindows and virtual desktops
Word DictateWith Microsoft 365; free in Word for the webMicrosoft's cloud speech serviceNo legal vocabularyWord only

Voibe Dictation annual ($99) costs $681 (87.3%) less than a year of Dragon Legal Anywhere at $780, and lifetime ($199) is about $600 (75%) less than Dragon Legal v16 (every tier is in our Dragon pricing guide). Reseller partners report that Dragon Legal Anywhere reaches end of sale on December 31, 2026; Nuance's own page shows no notice yet, and our Dragon Anywhere end-of-life guide covers what to do before renewal. For a full ranking, see the best dictation software for lawyers and why one lawyer left Dragon.

What a browser tool can't do for a law practice

  • It doesn't know your matters. There is no custom vocabulary, so party names, Latin phrases and local court abbreviations need correcting by hand.
  • It types into one box. You copy and paste into Word or your case-management system, rather than dictating straight into the document.
  • It is English only and uses a small model. A small model is what makes a MB download practical; larger models run in desktop apps.
  • It keeps nothing. That is the point, but it also means no history: close the tab and the text is gone.

The Voibe app fills those gaps. It dictates into any app with a hotkey, its Dictionary learns party names and statute shorthand (paste in a Dragon Vocabulary Center export), Memory expands a spoken shortcut into a signature block or standard clause, and it works with a Philips SpeechMike. On Apple Silicon Macs it runs Whisper on the Mac itself; on Windows and Intel Macs it uses Voibe's zero-retention cloud, where audio is deleted the moment transcription completes. A BAA is available on request.

Client meetings: notes without a bot in the call

Dictation covers what you write. For what clients tell you, Voibe Work takes notes on Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls from your Mac or Windows PC with no bot joining, and records in-person meetings through your computer's microphone. Summary templates suit each kind of meeting, such as client intake, and you can create your own. The audio is processed by open-source models on zero-retention cloud providers and deleted as soon as processing completes; the transcript and summary are saved on your computer, not on Voibe's servers. At recording start, Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes. You are responsible for recording-consent rules where you and the client are; our guide to AI notetaker recording-consent laws covers the state-by-state picture. Voibe Work includes everything in Voibe Dictation and costs $19 a month, $149 a year or $399 lifetime, with a 7-day free trial and no card.

For an occasional memo or a quick test, use this page. If you dictate into Word, Outlook and your practice system every day, use dictation that types into Word and every other app. If the firm runs Windows and wants a built-in legal vocabulary, Dragon Legal is the incumbent. If you have a recorded deposition or hearing rather than live speech, use the free deposition summary tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Privacy and Confidentiality

Is my dictation uploaded anywhere?
No. The speech model runs inside this browser tab on your computer, so the recording is transcribed where it was made and is never sent to a server. The only downloads are the open-source model files from Hugging Face and the transformers.js library from jsDelivr, and those requests carry no audio. The text stays in the box on this page until you copy it or close the tab.
Can I dictate privileged or confidential client material here?
The architecture keeps the audio on your machine, which removes the question of what a dictation vendor stores. Your own duties still apply: ABA Model Rule 1.6(c) asks for reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure, and ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 2024) asks lawyers to understand how an AI tool uses and stores what they put into it. Check your firm's policy and your jurisdiction's rules. This page is not legal advice.
Does it work offline?
It needs the internet to load the page and, the first time, to download the undefined MB speech model. Once the model has loaded, transcription happens on your computer and needs no connection, so you can keep dictating in that tab with Wi-Fi off. Later visits load the model from your browser's cache.
Is this tool covered by a BAA or HIPAA?
There is nothing to cover: no audio or text reaches Voibe or any other vendor from this page. For the Voibe dictation app, which can use Voibe's zero-retention cloud, a BAA is available on request. A BAA is a contract, not a certification.

Using the Dictation Tool

How do I dictate a section symbol or a case name?
Say "section symbol" for §, "paragraph symbol" for ¶, and say case names as you would aloud: "Smith versus Jones" becomes "Smith v. Jones". Leave "Spoken punctuation" on for these. Whisper punctuates natural speech by itself, so you only need to say marks you want in a particular place, like "comma" or "new paragraph".
Why does "period" sometimes stay as a word?
Legal writing uses period as a noun (the notice period, the limitations period), so the tool only turns "period" into a full stop when it ends a sentence and does not follow words like "the", "notice" or "limitations". Say "full stop" if you want a mark every time.
How long can I dictate in one go?
Up to NaN minutes per take, then it stops and transcribes. Shorter takes of a paragraph or two work best: you see the text sooner, and you can correct it before the next take is added.
Which browsers and languages does it support?
Current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on a computer. Phones may struggle with the model's memory use. The model is Whisper base.en, which is English only; for other languages, use the Voibe app, which handles 90+ languages.
How accurate is it on legal terms?
It is a small general-purpose model with no custom vocabulary, so expect to correct some Latin phrases, party names and statute abbreviations. Read the text before you use it. Apps with a custom dictionary, like Voibe's Dictionary or Dragon Legal's legal vocabulary, are built to fix exactly those words.

Compared With Dictation Software

How is this different from the Voibe app?
This page types into one text box. The Voibe app types into any app (Word, Outlook, Clio, a browser form) with a hotkey, learns your names and jargon through its Dictionary, expands spoken shortcuts into boilerplate with Memory, and works with a Philips SpeechMike. It runs Whisper on the Mac itself on Apple Silicon, or on Voibe's zero-retention cloud on Windows and Intel Macs.
Can Voibe take notes in client meetings too?
Yes, with Voibe Work. It takes notes on Zoom, Teams, Google Meet and other calls from your Mac or Windows PC with no bot joining, and records in-person meetings through your computer's microphone. Transcripts and summaries are saved on your computer, and the audio is deleted as soon as processing completes. Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes; you are responsible for recording-consent rules where you and the client are.
Is this a replacement for Dragon Legal?
For an occasional memo, it can be. For all-day dictation it lacks what Dragon Legal sells: a legal vocabulary, voice commands for clauses, and dictation into every program. Dragon Legal v16 is Windows only and retails for about $800. Voibe Dictation covers Mac and Windows for $199 lifetime, about $600 (75%) less.

Sources and References

  1. Whisper base.en ONNX model on Hugging Face (8-bit encoder 23 MB + decoder 54 MB, the files this page downloads)
  2. Transformers.js documentation (running models in the browser with WebAssembly)
  3. OpenAI Whisper (the open-source speech model, MIT licence)
  4. ABA Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (July 29, 2024)
  5. Nuance's Dragon Legal product page (Windows, legal vocabulary) and StartStop's Dragon Legal Anywhere price list, both checked October 2026; every tier is in our Dragon pricing guide, and the end-of-sale timeline in our Dragon Anywhere end-of-life guide
  6. Microsoft's support page "Dictate your documents in Word"; how it works in practice is in our guide to dictating in Microsoft Word
  7. Voibe pricing and Voibe cloud AI privacy

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Dictate straight into Word and Outlook

Voibe types into every app with a hotkey, learns your matters' names, and runs Whisper on the Mac itself on Apple Silicon. Free plan included; BAA available on request.

  • Mac and Windows
  • Dictionary for legal terms
  • Works with a SpeechMike
  • Client-meeting notes with Voibe Work
  • Never used for training
Try Voibe freeKeep dictating here