SnailText vs Windows Voice Access

Windows Voice Access vs SnailText — an honest comparison

Voice Access is free, runs offline, and beats us outright at hands-free control of Windows. It also covers 7 languages and needs Windows 11 22H2 - no Russian, Portuguese, Dutch or Polish, and nothing on Windows 10. SnailText covers all of those.

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Updated September 30, 2026 · About Windows Voice Access

At a glance

The eight things that actually differ.

SnailText and Windows Voice Access compared across eight dimensions
Dimension	SnailText	Windows Voice Access
Cost	$7.49/mo · $89/yr	Free, built into Windows 11
Runs offline	Yes, after the model downloads once	Yes, after the language downloads once
Languages you can dictate	99 via Whisper	7 languages, 15 locales
Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish	All supported	None of them
OS requirement	Windows 10 and 11, plus macOS	Windows 11 22H2 or later
Controls the whole OS by voice	No — dictation only	Yes, clicks, scrolling, navigation
Built for accessibility	Useful for it, not designed for it	Yes, that is its purpose
Works on Mac too	Yes, same hotkey and workflow	No

= SnailText wins this row, = Windows Voice Access wins. Rows without a check are honest washes.

Their side

When Voice Access is the right answer

If you dictate in English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese or Italian, and you are on Windows 11 22H2 or later, start with Voice Access. It is free, it is already installed, it runs on your own machine, and it does not ask you for an account. We would rather you tried the free thing already sitting on your computer than paid us to duplicate it.

It is also the better tool, not merely the cheaper one, if what you need is hands-free control of the computer rather than text entry. Voice Access was built as an accessibility feature: it moves the pointer, clicks, scrolls, switches apps and navigates the desktop. We do none of that, and we are not trying to. If a repetitive strain injury or a mobility impairment means you need to drive Windows without a keyboard and mouse, Voice Access is the right starting point, and adding a dictation tool is a refinement rather than a replacement.

Our side

When SnailText is the better fit

The clearest case is language. Microsoft lists 15 locales across 7 languages for Voice Access. If you write in Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Korean, Ukrainian, Czech, Swedish or Turkish, the feature simply does not cover you - there is no setting to enable, nothing to download, no workaround. SnailText runs Whisper, which handles 99 languages, and you pick yours from a list.

The second case is which Windows you are on. Voice Access requires Windows 11 version 22H2 or later. On Windows 10 there is no built-in offline dictation from Microsoft at all: Windows Speech Recognition, the tool Voice Access replaced, is on Microsoft's deprecated list.

The third is if you use both Windows and a Mac. Voice Access is Windows-only, so a second machine means a second set of habits. SnailText is the same hotkey and the same behaviour on both.

Both of us run on your machine, and that is worth saying

A lot of comparison pages in this category argue that the built-in tool sends your voice to a server and the paid tool does not. For Voice Access that is false, and we are not going to pretend otherwise to make ourselves look better.

Microsoft's documentation says it directly: Voice Access "enables everyone to control their PC and author text using only their voice and without an internet connection". You need a connection once, to download the language files, and after that it works whether you are online or not.

SnailText works the same way for the same reason - the speech model runs locally and the audio is processed in RAM. So on privacy the two of us are genuinely comparable, and if privacy is your only concern, the free option already meets it. The differences that matter are elsewhere.

The language gap is the real difference, and it is checkable

Microsoft publishes the Voice Access language list: six English locales, two Spanish, German, two French, two Chinese, Japanese and Italian. Fifteen locales, seven languages.

That leaves out most of Europe. No Russian, no Portuguese, no Dutch, no Polish, no Czech, no Ukrainian, no Swedish. No Korean. No Turkish. For anyone whose working language is on that list of absences, the comparison is not close - one tool supports the language and the other does not.

SnailText runs Whisper, which covers 99 languages. Accuracy varies by language, and we document that page by page rather than claiming uniform quality - some are excellent and some are middling, and we say which is which. But the option exists, which on Voice Access it does not.

Windows 10, and what Microsoft left behind

Voice Access is available in Windows 11 version 22H2 and later. If you are on Windows 10, you do not have it.

What Windows 10 has is Windows Speech Recognition, and Microsoft has put that on its deprecated features list, with the deprecation announced in December 2023 and Voice Access named as its replacement. Deprecated is not the same as removed, and it still runs, but it is a tool the vendor has stopped investing in.

That leaves Windows 10 users with no current offline dictation from Microsoft. SnailText runs on Windows 10 and Windows 11, which for that group is the whole argument.

FAQ

Common questions about Windows Voice Access.

Does Windows Voice Access work offline?

Yes. Microsoft states it directly — Voice Access lets you control your PC and author text "without an internet connection". You need a connection once to download the language files during setup, and after that it works offline, exactly as SnailText does.

Which languages does Voice Access support?

Microsoft's list is 15 locales across 7 languages: six English locales (US, UK, India, New Zealand, Canada, Australia), Spanish for Spain and Mexico, German, French for France and Canada, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Italian. There is no Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Korean, Ukrainian, Czech, Swedish or Turkish. SnailText runs Whisper and supports all of those, and it also runs on Windows 10, which Voice Access does not.

Can I use Voice Access on Windows 10?

No. Voice Access requires Windows 11 version 22H2 or later. Windows 10 has the older Windows Speech Recognition instead, which Microsoft added to its deprecated features list in December 2023, naming Voice Access as its replacement. It still works, but it is no longer being developed.

Is SnailText more accurate than Voice Access?

We have not benchmarked the two against each other, so we are not going to claim it. Microsoft does not publish accuracy figures for Voice Access, which makes an honest head-to-head impossible. What we can say is which speech model we run and what the published error rates are for it, language by language. Accuracy claims without a benchmark behind them are worth nothing from either side.

Should I pay for dictation if Voice Access is free?

Pay for SnailText if your language is not among Voice Access's seven - Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Korean, Ukrainian, Czech, Swedish and Turkish are all missing from it - or if you are on Windows 10, or if you also work on a Mac and want one tool across both. Otherwise, if you dictate in English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese or Italian on Windows 11 22H2 or later, try Voice Access first: it is free and already installed.

Does SnailText control Windows by voice like Voice Access does?

No. Voice Access drives the whole operating system — clicking, scrolling, switching windows, navigating the desktop. SnailText only turns speech into text and pastes it where your cursor is. If you need hands-free control of the computer itself, Voice Access is the right tool and we are not a substitute for it.

Verdict

Voice Access is free, runs on your own machine, and is better than us at hands-free control of Windows. If you dictate in one of its seven languages on Windows 11 22H2 or later, use it — we would rather say that than sell you something you do not need. Where it leaves people behind is language and OS reach: no Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Korean, Ukrainian, Czech, Swedish or Turkish, and nothing at all on Windows 10. That is where we come in, along with working the same way on a Mac.

Download for Mac Or for Windows →

Free to start. Pro from $7.49/mo · $89/yr. Works offline.

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