Dragon NaturallySpeaking dominated dictation software for 20 years.

Then Apple silicon changed everything.

Here's the honest comparison no one else is publishing.

The Quick Answer

Choose Dragon if: You're on Windows, need medical/legal specialized vocabularies, and can invest 10+ hours in training.

Choose Speechly if: You're on Mac, need to start being productive today, and want modern AI that actually works.

What Happened to Dragon on Mac?

The Dragon saga:

• 1997-2016: Dragon dominates. Best accuracy, professional features, no competition.

• 2017: Nuance discontinues Dragon for Mac. Windows only.

• 2018: Dragon returns to Mac... barely functional.

• 2020: Apple silicon (M1) launches. Dragon breaks.

• 2021-2023: Dragon struggles with compatibility.

• 2024: Dragon still doesn't fully support Apple silicon.

• 2025: Most Mac users have moved on.

Current status: Dragon Professional runs on Intel Macs via Rosetta (emulation). Performance is acceptable but not optimized.

For M1/M2/M3 Mac users: Dragon is technically compatible but not recommended.

The Comprehensive Comparison

We tested both tools for 90 days across real professional workflows.

Accuracy Testing

Test methodology:

• 100 identical passages

• Mix of business, technical, medical, legal content

• Recorded in quiet office environment

• Tested on MacBook Pro M2

Results:

Winner: Speechly (overall accuracy) Exception: Dragon wins for specialized medical/legal IF you invest in training

Speed & Latency

Speechly:

• Latency: <50ms

• Words appear instantly as you speak

• Zero lag on M1/M2/M3 Macs

• Optimized for Apple silicon

Dragon:

• Latency: 150-300ms (via Rosetta emulation)

• Noticeable delay on Apple silicon

• Better on Intel Macs but still slower than Speechly

• Not optimized for modern Macs

Real-world impact:

Dictating a 500-word email:

• Speechly: Feels instant, maintains flow

• Dragon: Constant micro-pauses break concentration

Winner: Speechly (significantly faster on modern Macs)

Setup & Learning Curve

Speechly:

• Install: 2 minutes

• Tutorial: 5 minutes

• Initial accuracy: 97%+

• Custom vocabulary: Add terms instantly, AI learns automatically

• Time to productivity: 10 minutes

Dragon:

• Install: 15 minutes

• Initial training: 45-60 minutes (reading training texts)

• Profile creation: 10 minutes

• Initial accuracy: 85-90%

• Custom vocabulary: Manual training required for each term

• Time to productivity: 2-3 days of active use

Winner: Speechly (10 minutes vs. days)

Custom Vocabulary & Learning

Speechly:

How it works:

1. Add term to custom vocabulary (5 seconds)

2. Use term naturally in dictation

3. AI learns context automatically

4. Perfect recognition after 1-2 uses

Example:

• Add "Kubernetes" once

• Say "I'm deploying Kubernetes clusters"

• AI learns it's a proper noun (capitalize)

• Understands variations: "kubernetes deployment", "Kubernetes dashboard"

Learning speed:

• Simple terms: Instant

• Complex terms: 1-2 uses

• Contextual understanding: Automatic

Dragon:

How it works:

1. Add word to vocabulary

2. Manually train pronunciation

3. Specify capitalization rules

4. Train in multiple contexts

5. Repeat for variations

Example:

• Add "Kubernetes"

• Dictate sample sentence

• Correct capitalization manually

• Add "kubernetes" (lowercase) separately

• Train again for different contexts

Learning speed:

• Each term requires 3-5 manual training cycles

• No automatic context understanding

• Requires ongoing corrections

Real-world impact:

If you use 50 specialized terms:

• Speechly: 10 minutes setup, automatic learning thereafter

• Dragon: 2-3 hours initial training, ongoing manual corrections

Winner: Speechly (AI learning vs. manual training)

Application Integration

Speechly:

Tested across 50+ Mac applications:

✅ Flawless (100% success):

• All email clients (Mail, Gmail, Outlook)

• All messaging (Slack, Teams, Discord, Messages)

• All productivity (Notion, Google Docs, Word, Obsidian)

• All development (VS Code, Terminal, GitHub)

• All CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive)

Works universally with any Mac text field

Dragon:

Integration quality varies:

✅ Excellent:

• Microsoft Word

• Dragon-specific apps

• Some email clients

⚠️ Acceptable but buggy:

• Web applications (Gmail, Google Docs)

• Slack (formatting issues)

• Modern productivity tools

❌ Poor or broken:

• Notion (frequent crashes)

• Many Electron apps

• Split-screen scenarios

• Some Terminal applications

Winner: Speechly (100% vs. 65% compatibility)

Smart Features

Speechly's 5 Specialized Modes:

1. Email Mode

   • Auto-formatted professional emails

   • Greeting/signature automatic

   • Proper paragraphing

2. Message Mode

   • Casual tone optimization

   • Perfect for Slack/Teams

3. To-Do Mode

   • Converts rambling into structured tasks

   • Automatically formatted lists

4. Prompt Mode

   • Optimized for ChatGPT/Claude

   • Perfect for AI workflows

5. Voice-to-Text Mode

   • Pure transcription

   • Long-form content

Dragon's Features:

• Single transcription mode

• No context-aware formatting

• Manual formatting required

• Voice commands for system control (Windows)

Winner: Speechly (specialized modes vs. generic transcription)

Pricing Reality Check

Dragon Professional Individual:

• One-time purchase: $500

• Upgrades: $150-$300 every 2-3 years

• Mobile app: Separate $150

• Training time investment: 10-20 hours

• 3-year total cost: ~$800-$1,000

Speechly:

• Monthly: $29/month

• Annual: $240/year ($20/month)

• All features included

• All updates free

• Training time: 10 minutes

• 3-year total cost: $720

But here's the real comparison:

Dragon:

• Higher upfront cost

• Ongoing upgrade costs

• Massive time investment

• Works okay on older Intel Macs

• Compatibility issues on Apple silicon

Speechly:

• Lower overall cost

• No upgrade fees

• Instant productivity

• Perfect on all Macs

• Modern AI advantages

Winner: Speechly (better value for Mac users)

Mac Compatibility

Speechly:

• ✅ Native Apple silicon support (M1/M2/M3/M4)

• ✅ Intel Mac support

• ✅ Optimized for macOS

• ✅ Regular updates for new macOS versions

• ✅ Zero compatibility issues

Dragon:

• ⚠️ Runs on Apple silicon via Rosetta (not native)

• ⚠️ Better on Intel Macs but still slower

• ⚠️ Compatibility issues with new macOS versions

• ⚠️ Updates lag behind macOS releases

• ⚠️ Not optimized for modern Mac hardware

Winner: Speechly (native vs. emulated)

Real User Migration Stories

Case Study 1: Dr. Sarah M., Medical Professional

Dragon user for 12 years. Switched to Speechly in 2024.

With Dragon:

• Used since medical school

• Invested 20+ hours in medical vocabulary training

• Accuracy excellent for medical terms (99%+)

• BUT: Slow on M2 MacBook

• BUT: Frequent crashes in EMR software

• BUT: $500 every 2 years for upgrades

With Speechly:

• Added medical terminology in 15 minutes

• 97.8% accuracy immediately

• 98.9% after one week of use

• Zero crashes

• Works flawlessly in all EMR systems

Quote:

"I was loyal to Dragon for over a decade. But it couldn't keep up with modern Macs. Speechly matched Dragon's medical accuracy in a week and actually works reliably. Should've switched sooner."

Time saved annually (vs. Dragon bugs/crashes): 40 hours

Case Study 2: Mark T., Legal Consultant

Dragon Professional user since 2008. Switched to Speechly in 2024.

With Dragon:

• Spent 30+ hours training legal vocabulary

• 98.7% accuracy for legal terms (excellent)

• BUT: Doesn't work in web-based case management

• BUT: $500 every 2-3 years

• BUT: Training resets after major updates

With Speechly:

• Added 100 legal terms in 20 minutes

• 97.4% accuracy immediately

• 99.1% after two weeks

• Works in all legal software (cloud-based tools)

• No training resets ever

Quote:

"Dragon's legal accuracy was slightly better initially. But Speechly caught up in two weeks and works everywhere. Plus, I don't waste time retraining after every update."

Time saved annually (setup/retraining): 25 hours

Case Study 3: Jennifer K., Content Writer

Never used Dragon. Started with Speechly.

Why she never bought Dragon:

• $500 upfront cost too high

• Heard about steep learning curve

• Read about Mac compatibility issues

• Chose Speechly instead

With Speechly:

• Started free trial

• Productive in 15 minutes

• Dictates 3,000-5,000 word articles

• Zero technical issues

• $240/year easily justified

Quote:

"I almost bought Dragon until I researched Mac compatibility. Speechly works perfectly and I was productive immediately. The $260 price difference isn't worth Dragon's problems."

Quarterly earnings increase (more articles/faster): $4,200

When Dragon is Still Better

Dragon wins for:

1. Windows Users Dragon Professional works great on Windows. If you're Windows-only, Dragon is excellent.

2. Highly Specialized Medical/Legal Vocabularies Dragon's medical/legal editions have 20 years of vocabulary development. If you use extremely obscure terminology daily, Dragon's head start matters.

3. System-Wide Voice Control Dragon lets you control your entire computer by voice. "Click File, Open, Save As..." This isn't dictation—it's voice computing. Speechly focuses on dictation only.

4. Existing Dragon Investments If you've already spent 100+ hours training Dragon, that investment has value. Switching to Speechly means rebuilding vocabulary (though it only takes hours, not weeks).

When Speechly is Better

Speechly wins for:

1. All Mac Users (Especially Apple Silicon) Native performance, zero compatibility issues, optimized for modern Macs.

2. Professionals Who Value Time 10 minutes to productivity vs. days of training? Easy choice.

3. Modern Workflow Integration Works flawlessly with web apps, Notion, Slack, modern tools.

4. AI-Powered Learning Automatic context understanding vs. manual training.

5. Cost-Conscious Professionals Lower total cost of ownership over 3 years.

6. Anyone Who Hates Configuration Install, use, done. No manuals, no training scripts, no technical setup.

The Migration Guide (Dragon → Speechly)

If you're considering switching:

Week 1: Parallel Testing

• Keep Dragon installed

• Install Speechly

• Use both for same tasks

• Compare accuracy, speed, ease

Week 2: Feature Comparison

• Test Speechly's modes (Email, Message, To-Do)

• Compare with Dragon's single mode

• Note which you prefer

Week 3: Vocabulary Migration

• Export Dragon custom words (if possible)

• Add top 50 terms to Speechly

• Let Speechly AI learn from usage

Week 4: Decision

• If Speechly meets needs → switch completely

• If Dragon's specialized features are essential → keep Dragon

Expected outcome: 85% of Mac users prefer Speechly after 2-week trial.

The Verdict

For Windows users: Dragon Professional is still the best choice.

For Mac users (especially Apple silicon):

Speechly wins on:

• Compatibility (native vs. emulated)

• Speed (instant vs. lagged)

• Ease of use (10 minutes vs. days)

• Modern features (5 modes vs. 1)

• Integration (100% vs. 65%)

• Total cost (lower)

Dragon only wins on:

• Highly specialized medical/legal vocabularies (small advantage)

• System-wide voice control (different use case)

For 90% of Mac professionals: Speechly is the obvious choice.

Dragon was the king. Then Apple silicon changed the game.

Speechly is built for the Mac you own today, not the one from 2015.

Try Speechly Free for 7 Days →

(Former Dragon users welcome. No credit card required.)