Comparer
HoldToType vs Windows voice typing
Windows already has dictation built in: voice typing on Win+H, and Voice Access on Windows 11. Both are free and need no install. Here is what they do well, what they send to Microsoft, and where a program of your own makes a difference.
Mis à jour · Vitalii Yemets
Who each one is for
Stay with the built-in tools if
you dictate a few sentences a day in one of the languages they cover, you are fine with your speech going to Microsoft's cloud, and you do not need a dictionary of your own names. Voice Access is also the right choice if you want to run the whole PC by voice: open windows, click, scroll.
HoldToType suits you if
you dictate every day and want it to stay on your computer, you need names and terms recognised the way you spell them, you want text that appears while you speak, or you write in a language Voice Access does not cover. It only dictates; it does not drive the mouse.
Side by side
Free
Free with Windows 10 and 11
Free with Windows 11
Nowhere: to a model on your disk
To Microsoft's Azure Speech service
Stays on the device
Yes, always
No, it needs a connection
Yes, after a language pack download
99 with Whisper; narrow models for 25 European languages and Russian
43
Six: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese
Hold Ctrl+Win, let go to paste
Press Win+H, talk until you stop it
A wake phrase or a key, then talk
Yes, with Nemotron 3.5
Yes
Yes
Yes: words, names, replacements
No
Not documented
A local model with your prompts
Automatic punctuation, optional
Automatic punctuation and a profanity filter
No
No
Yes: windows, mouse, clicks, scrolling
Into 7 languages
No
No
MIT
No
No
Yes
Yes, in any text field
Yes
Yes, a folder
Built in
Built in
Windows details from Microsoft's support pages for voice typing and Voice Access, read on 9 September 2026.
What you give up when you switch
- Nothing to install. Win+H is already there on every Windows 10 and 11 machine. HoldToType is a download, and Windows warns once because the build is not signed yet.
- Controlling the PC. Voice Access can open apps, click buttons and scroll by voice. HoldToType only types what you say.
- Chinese and Japanese on the device. Voice Access covers them offline; among HoldToType's models Whisper covers them, at Whisper's speed.
- A cloud you do not have to run. Voice typing's recognition for 43 languages comes from Azure, and it is good; you pay for it with the audio.
What you get
- Your voice stays home. Win+H sends every phrase to Azure. HoldToType runs the model on your processor, and its log counts zero network requests per dictation.
- Your own words. A dictionary of names and terms, replacements, voice commands you define. The built-in tools have none of that.
- Any language, offline. Voice Access works offline in six languages; HoldToType in 99, with faster narrow models for 25 European languages and for Russian.
- Push to talk. Hold two keys, speak, let go. No mode to switch on and forget running.
- Text cleaned up on your disk. A small model takes out fillers and fixes punctuation, with prompts you can edit.
- Translation. Speak in one language and get the text in another.
How to move from Win+H to HoldToType
- Download the installer from the download section. Keep Win+H; nothing conflicts.
- Pick a model in the wizard, or read which model for which language.
- Hold Ctrl+Win instead of pressing Win+H, and let go to paste. Change the keys under Shortcuts if you like.
- Add the names Win+H kept getting wrong to the dictionary.
- If you relied on automatic punctuation, most models here punctuate by themselves; for Whisper, turn on post-processing.
Questions
Does Win+H work offline?
Not on its own: Microsoft's page says voice typing needs an internet connection and uses online speech recognition. Windows 11 has a separate on-device option, Voice Access, in six languages.
Can I keep Win+H and HoldToType?
Yes. Win+H is a Windows feature and stays where it is; HoldToType only adds its own hotkey.
Is HoldToType more accurate than Win+H?
It depends on the language and the model you pick. For names and jargon it is, because you can teach it. For everyday English the two are close.
Try it next to Win+H
Install, hold Ctrl+Win, say the sentence you just gave Win+H. The difference is where it went.