Dictation Speed Calculator
Dictation only helps when total time goes down. This calculator compares typing, speaking, and cleanup so you can decide which tasks are worth moving to voice.
Estimate time saved
Adjust the numbers to match your actual writing day.
How to read the result
If dictation saves only a few minutes a week, it may not be worth changing your habit. If it saves an hour or more, choose one repeatable workflow and test it for a week: email replies, meeting recaps, customer notes, AI prompts, or first drafts.
The cleanup percentage matters. A rough spoken draft that needs heavy editing may still be worth it if the idea would otherwise never get written. For exact text, typing often wins.
What to move to voice first
Start with recurring text where precision is not the first step: private notes, follow-ups, customer recaps, issue summaries, outlines, and internal updates. Keep the keyboard for final wording, exact numbers, links, code, and citations.
FAQ
What speaking WPM should I use?
Conversational speech often lands around 120 to 160 WPM, but your usable dictation speed depends on pauses, cleanup, and the type of writing.
Should cleanup time be included?
Yes. Dictation is only faster if speech plus cleanup is faster than typing plus editing.
Which tasks save the most time with dictation?
Rough drafts, recaps, notes, and follow-ups usually save more time than exact code, tables, links, or final legal language.
Where does Unspoken fit?
Unspoken fits Mac users who want local-first capture for the tasks where speaking the rough draft saves meaningful time.
Try private dictation on Mac
Unspoken is built for local-first voice-to-text when you want to speak the rough draft, keep private writing close, and edit in the apps you already use.
Download Unspoken