This is an awkward comparison to write, because the rival is free and already on your computer. So we are going to do it the other way round from usual: first, all the reasons why you should use Windows dictation before paying us a single euro. And then, the specific line beyond which it stops being worth your while.
In short: Win+H (free) and Word (with Microsoft 365) are enough for short notes, but they don't learn vocabulary or process the audio on your computer. ablalo is for long documents in Spanish on Windows and Mac: it learns your names and acronyms, processes your voice on your computer and costs 22 to 29 euros a month plus VAT.
Start with the free option. Seriously.
If you have never dictated, don't buy anything. Try what you already have first:
- Windows: press Win+H in any text field, in Windows 10 or 11. A dictation bar appears and what you say is typed where the cursor is (your email, the browser, a form).
- Word with Microsoft 365: there is a Dictate button on the Home tab. It works somewhat better than the system one and lives inside Word.
- Mac: the system dictation is turned on in System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation, and you start it with the Microphone key or with the shortcut you choose (for example, pressing the fn key twice).
Spend two days dictating your emails with that. You will discover two things: that speaking is much faster than typing (it is, about four times faster) and that dictating is a skill you learn. For the first few hours you sound odd and you stumble. After that it stops happening.
If after those two days you realise dictating isn't for you, congratulations: you have saved the money and we have saved you the subscription. If it is for you, keep reading, because the free option is going to fall short and it is worth knowing where.
Where free dictation breaks down
1. Punctuation in long texts
For a three-line message, automatic punctuation does the job. In a two-page document, it doesn't. You end up in one of two places: either you keep saying «coma» (comma), «punto y aparte» (new paragraph), «abrir comillas» (open quotes) out loud (and then you are not dictating, you are typing with your mouth), or you dictate in one go and then re-punctuate the whole paragraph by hand.
Both ways cost time, and it is exactly the time you came to save.
2. You cannot teach it a single word
This is the hard limit, and there is no fix for it inside the free tool. Neither Win+H nor Word dictation lets you add vocabulary. That means Etxebarría, Aguirregomezcorta, the name of your client's company, ERE (a Spanish collective redundancy procedure), IRPF (Spanish personal income tax), excepción de litispendencia (the lis pendens plea) or the cadastral reference will come out wrong today, tomorrow and a year from now. The same five errors in every document, corrected by hand every time.
3. You get what you say, not what you meant to say
When we talk we say «eh», «o sea», we repeat ourselves and correct ourselves mid-sentence. Literal dictation gives you all of that back as it was. Cleaning it up is another editing pass on top of the text.
4. They only transcribe what you dictate live
Neither Win+H nor Word dictation processes a recorded file. If you have the recording of a hearing, a witness statement or a client meeting and you need the text, system dictation has no way of doing it: either you listen to it and type it, or you upload it to a cloud transcription service (which, with the recording of court proceedings, is a decision worth thinking about twice).
Word also has a separate feature, Transcribe, which does accept audio files, but it uploads them to Microsoft's cloud and has a limit of 300 minutes a month with a standard Microsoft 365 subscription. We explain it in how to transcribe audio to text in Word.
5. Word ends where Word ends
Word dictation is the better of the two free options, and it only exists inside Word. In your email, in the browser, in your case management software or when writing a comment on a PDF, you don't have it. And a good part of a law firm's day happens outside Word.
The comparison, in a table
| Win+H | Word | ablalo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Included with M365 | 22 to 29 euros/month + VAT |
| In any program | Yes | Word only | Yes |
| Punctuation in long texts | Limited | Partial | Automatic |
| Removes filler words and repetitions | No | No | Yes |
| Your own vocabulary | No | No | Yes, whatever you add |
| Legal terms built in | No | No | 30,000+ |
| Cite articles as you dictate them | No | No | Yes, official text |
| Tone by type of document | No | No | Yes |
| Translation as you dictate | No | No | 100+ languages |
| Transcribe recordings | No | Separately, with Transcribe, in the cloud | Yes, locally |
| Audio processed on your computer | No | No | Yes |
Behaviour observed in Spanish with long professional texts; features according to Microsoft's help, checked on 12 October 2026 (the sources are at the end). Microsoft updates its dictation features frequently; what is described here may change.
The sums, with numbers
A lawyer types at about 40 words a minute. Speaking, they comfortably reach 160. A 2,000-word brief is about 50 minutes of typing against just over 12 dictating it (the full sums are in how much time you save by dictating).
But that four-to-one advantage only exists if the text comes out usable. If you dictate in 12 minutes and then spend 20 punctuating, fixing surnames and deleting filler words, you have taken 32 instead of 50. That is still better than typing, but you have lost more than half of what you had gained along the way.
The specific line: free dictation pays off as long as correcting takes you less than the monthly fee translated into your rate. If your hour is worth 60 euros and you lose twenty minutes a day re-punctuating and fixing names, that is about seven hours a month. The subscription is 22 euros plus VAT. The sums stop being close a good deal sooner than it seems.
Where the free option wins, honestly
- It costs nothing and there is nothing to install or decide.
- It is enough for notes, messages and short emails. If that is all you dictate, stay there.
- It adds no providers. A law firm that already has its compliance set up with Microsoft doesn't add a third party to the list.
- It is on any computer, including a borrowed one or the one at the court.
So, which one?
- Win+H or Word, if you dictate notes and the odd email, if your texts are short and if you don't repeat proper names or terminology.
- ablalo, if you draft long documents in Spanish, if the same surnames and acronyms go wrong every week, if you work outside Word for a good part of the day and if what you want is a draft that comes out ready to review instead of ready to correct.
And if you are unsure, the honest answer is still the one at the beginning: try Win+H for two days first. Then try ablalo for 14 days, without a card, with the same documents. You will measure the difference, not us.
Sources: Microsoft, Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC, Dictate your documents in Word and Transcribe your recordings; Apple, Dictate messages and documents on Mac. Checked on 12 October 2026.
How to turn on each Microsoft dictation tool and what each one handles is covered in how to dictate in Word in Spanish (and where it falls short). The full picture of the market is in the best dictation software for lawyers.
Frequently asked questions
How do you turn on Windows dictation?
With the Win+H shortcut in Windows 10 and 11. A dictation bar appears and what you say is typed into the field where your cursor is, in almost any program. Word also has a dictation button of its own on the Home tab if you have Microsoft 365.
Does Windows dictation punctuate on its own in Spanish?
It has automatic punctuation, but in Spanish and in long texts it is limited: you commonly end up saying the punctuation marks out loud or re-punctuating the paragraph afterwards. Nor does it let you add your own vocabulary, so proper names, acronyms and uncommon legal terms go wrong again and again.
When is it worth paying for dictation?
When the time you spend correcting what you dictate costs more than the tool. If your billable hour is worth more than the monthly fee, getting back one hour a month is enough for the sums to work; people who dictate every day usually get back quite a lot more in the first week.