Stop Renting Basic Dictation
Subscriptions make sense for hosted services. Basic desktop dictation should not have to be rented forever. Command Dictate runs locally on your Windows PC. Free is unlocked Whisper-based dictation; Pro upgrades to the NVIDIA Parakeet engine with Freehold activation.
Command Dictate Free is unlocked. No trial, checkout, activation, account, or license certificate.
Free is unlocked. Pro is paid.
Monthly billing turns simple tools into permanent expenses. You keep paying just to keep the workflow available, even when the job is basic: press a hotkey, speak, and put words into a text field.
Command Dictate works differently. The app runs locally on your Windows PC and does not depend on a hosted dictation account. Free is unlocked local Whisper-based dictation. Pro is the paid local edition, running the NVIDIA Parakeet engine.
Compare it in your real workflow against whatever you use now, then choose Free or Pro based on the engine you need.
Pro activation is handled through Freehold. Command Dictate Free does not require checkout, activation, or a license certificate.
Unlocked local Whisper-based dictation. No monthly renewal.
Paid local edition on the NVIDIA Parakeet engine, with Freehold activation.
No monthly dictation service is required.
Ownership without a cloud account.
Command Dictate Pro uses Freehold activation for the paid local edition. Command Dictate Free is unlocked and does not require activation.
Freehold is NetaGig's approach to paid product activation without requiring an online account to maintain.
That ownership model fits the product. Command Dictate is practical desktop software, not a rented web service. Local dictation, no subscription, no forced cloud processing.
If you have questions about Pro activation or licensing, support is available at support@netagig.com.
One-time vs. forever-billing.
Dragon Anywhere and Otter.ai bill you every month for as long as you use them. Command Dictate Free is $0 and Pro is a one-time purchase: $99, or $49 when you invite one friend. Buy it once, keep it.
| Product | Price | Processing | Works offline | Snippets | Inserts in place | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Command Dictate Free | $0 | Local | Yes | Yes | Yes | Windows |
| Command Dictate Pro | $99 one-time * | Local | Yes | Expanded | Yes | Windows |
| Dragon Professional v16 | $699 one-time | Local | Yes | Voice commands | Yes | Windows |
| Dragon Anywhere | $14.99 / mo | Cloud | No | Auto-texts | In-app | iOS / Android |
| Windows Voice Typing (Win+H) | Free | Cloud | No | No | Yes | Windows 11 |
| Windows Speech Recognition | Free | Local | Yes | No | Yes | Windows (deprecated) |
| Voice Access | Free | Local | Yes | No | Yes | Windows 11 |
| Google Docs Voice Typing | Free | Cloud | No | No | Docs only | Chrome / Docs |
| Otter.ai Pro | $16.99 / mo | Cloud | No | No | No | Web / iOS / Android |
| OpenAI Whisper (self-hosted) | Free (open source) | Local | Yes | No | Varies | Any (DIY setup) |
* Command Dictate Pro is a one-time $99; a $49 founder price unlocks when you invite one friend. OpenAI Whisper is an open-source model, not a ready-made Windows dictation app. Command Dictate Free runs Whisper packaged into one. Competitor names, pricing, and details are as of June 2026 and may change. Check each vendor for current terms.