Looking for a Dragon alternative? Retext adds on-device voice dictation to a native Mac text expander.
Retext is a good Dragon alternative if you want transcription on your Mac by default, push-to-talk on right Option, and your snippets in the same app.
Dragon still leads on Windows for deep voice commands, macros and transcribing single-speaker recordings, and it has editions for legal and medical work. Nuance's current pages list no Mac product. Retext is a native Mac app: hold right Option to dictate, transcribed on-device by Apple's speech engine, with snippets you can insert by voice (beta).
Local by default: your audio is transcribed on your Mac
No audio or transcripts are sent to Retext's server
Polish (beta) runs on your Mac with Apple Intelligence, never in the cloud
Hands-free mode (beta) pauses itself in password fields and password managers
Your text expander and your dictation in one app
| Feature | Retext | Dragon |
|---|---|---|
| Voice Dictation | ||
| AI Cleanup & Rewriting | Beta | Not available |
| Audio File Transcription | Not available | |
| Privacy & Local Storage | ||
| Snippet Expansion | ||
| Team Sharing | ||
| Cross-Platform |
| Product | Pricing Model | Price | Free Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retext | Freemium | Dictation and polish on your Mac come with every plan. See the pricing page. | Dictation and polish on your Mac, plus 5 snippets |
| Dragon | Per Seat | No public price; Nuance sells Dragon Professional v16 and its cloud products through sales and volume licensing |
Migration difficulty: medium
Dragon's custom words and auto-texts live in its own profile format. Recreate your auto-texts and boilerplate as Retext snippets, then insert them by typing a trigger or by saying "insert snippet" and the name (a beta voice command).
Retext adds on-device voice dictation to a native Mac text expander. Dragon still leads on Windows for deep voice commands, macros and transcribing single-speaker recordings, and it has editions for legal and medical work. Nuance's current pages list no Mac product. Retext is a native Mac app: hold right Option to dictate, transcribed on-device by Apple's speech engine, with snippets you can insert by voice (beta).
Nuance discontinued Dragon for Mac in 2018 and hasn't replaced it; Pricing isn't published; The iOS app no longer sells or renews subscriptions.
No. No public price; Nuance sells Dragon Professional v16 and its cloud products through sales and volume licensing.
Yes. Retext's free plan includes dictation and polish on your Mac, plus 5 snippets. Dictation and polish on your Mac come with every plan. See the pricing page.
Dragon is the better choice for windows users in legal, medical or public safety work, organizations that manage vocabulary centrally and command-and-control of a Windows PC by voice.
Dragon's custom words and auto-texts live in its own profile format. Recreate your auto-texts and boilerplate as Retext snippets, then insert them by typing a trigger or by saying "insert snippet" and the name (a beta voice command).
Download Retext, turn on Voice Dictation in Settings, and hold right Option to talk.
Sources
Dragon, checked October 28, 2026: Dragon product lineup · Dragon Professional (Windows) · Dragon Anywhere Mobile · The Register on Dragon for Mac ending (2018)
Prices and features change. Check each vendor's site before you buy.