What is Dragon?
Dragon is Nuance’s dictation software, now owned by Microsoft. The current version, Dragon Professional 16, is built for Windows 11 (and works on Windows 10); the Mac version was discontinued. Nuance doesn’t publish its price: you go through a reseller or its sales team.
Its strength is control: voice commands to drive Windows and Office, custom vocabularies, macros, and professional editions (Dragon Medical for healthcare, Dragon Legal). Dragon Anywhere, a separate app, dictates on phones by subscription.
What Dragon does well
- Voice commands to drive Windows, Word and Outlook, and spoken punctuation (“comma”, “period”).
- Custom vocabularies and macros, shareable across a team.
- Professional editions for healthcare and legal.
- A one-time license, no subscription (Dragon Professional).
Dragon vs Keypop: the comparison
| Criterion | Dragon | Keypop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About $700, license (resellers) | Pro from €5.99/month excl. VAT |
| Free version | No | Unlimited dictation on your PC |
| Your voice | On the PC | Stays on your PC |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
| Systems | Windows only | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| AI punctuation and formatting | Spoken punctuation | Yes, even free |
| Fixes “5pm… no, 6pm” | By voice command | No, not yet |
| Dictation → email or list | No | Yes (Tab) |
Nuance doesn’t list the price of Dragon Professional 16; US resellers sell it for around $700 ($677.99 at CDW), and professional editions cost more. Its page doesn’t say where voice processing happens; the desktop version dictates without internet.
Checked on 1 November 2026 on the Dragon and Keypop websites. Keypop prices exclude VAT; Dragon prices are as displayed. Plans change: check before you subscribe.
When to keep Dragon
- You control your computer by voice: open, select, format, navigate.
- You dictate punctuation out loud and you’re used to it.
- Your work relies on a specialised edition (Dragon Medical, Dragon Legal).
- Your company already has licenses and shared vocabularies.
When Keypop suits you better
- You want to dictate emails and documents without a $700 license.
- You’re on Mac or Linux.
- You want punctuation to happen on its own, without saying “comma”.
- You want your dictation to become an email or a list in one keystroke (Tab), and the same bar to fix, rephrase or translate (Alt + K).
What Keypop doesn’t do
- Keypop doesn’t catch your self-corrections yet: “Thursday, no sorry, Friday” stays as you said it. You can follow up with Rephrase, but it isn’t automatic.
- Saying “comma” or “period” out loud doesn’t work yet: Keypop punctuates on its own, from your voice.
- In a noisy open-plan office, on-device dictation can pick up voices around you. A headset fixes most of it; the Pro plan dictates in the cloud, in France, and ignores background voices better.
- You need to install it (about 4 GB to download, once): Windows 10 and 11 with at least 8 GB of memory, Apple silicon Macs, or Linux. There is no phone app.
Try Keypop, or switch from Dragon
- Download Keypop for Windows, Mac or Linux from the free dictation page, and create your free account with your email. The AI downloads once, about 4 GB.
- Put your cursor where you want to write, press Alt+M (⌥ + M on Mac) and speak. Enter inserts the text; Tab turns it into an email or a list.
- Coming from Dragon? Fill in your job, company and website in Settings → Profile, and keep Dragon if you drive Windows by voice: Keypop doesn’t do that.
Sources
Every fact about Dragon comes from its official pages, checked on 1 November 2026.
