If you use voice dictation regularly, you already know how frustrating it can be to find something that’s accurate, fast, private, and not locked behind a subscription, especially on Windows.
That’s exactly the problem I was trying to solve.
Why I Needed an Alternative
I’m a Mac user, and on macOS I absolutely love Voice Ink. It’s free and open-source (with a paid one-time purchase license for updates), works offline, and is extremely accurate. The only issue? It’s not available on Windows.
Since I also work on Windows, I went looking for a similar solution.
- "Win + H" the built-in dictation → hit or miss
- Not great if English isn’t your first language
- Accuracy drops fast in real-world usage
I briefly tried Wispr Flow, but even during the trial period, it didn’t feel accurate enough and the subscription model didn’t help.
Enter Handy
I actually discovered Handy thanks to the developer of Voice Ink, Pax. And honestly? It took me less than a few minutes to uninstall Wispr Flow and switch completely.
Handy is:
- Free and open-source (github)
- Fully offline (no internet required)
- Cross-platform (works perfectly on Windows)
- Simple, fast, and gets out of your way
It’s not as feature-rich as Voice Ink, but for Windows, it does exactly what I needed it to do.
If you already use dictation daily, or want to start, Handy is worth installing immediately. Just a solid tool that works.