Comparison
The most obvious alternative is the one already on the machine. For a short note it is enough. For a clinical letter on a practice network it is not.
As of 19.09.2026
Windows has voice typing under Windows key and H; macOS has Dictation. Both cost nothing and are there already. Microsoft states plainly, though, that voice typing needs an internet connection, and macOS Dictation stops after 30 seconds of silence. Neither formats German clinical text, knows your vocabulary, understands a foot pedal, or throws away an invented word. MediSync Dictate does, runs with no network at all through MediSync Local, and its free plan also costs nothing.
The first point is in Microsoft's own help: voice typing needs an internet connection. On a practice network that deliberately has no way out, the feature is therefore unusable. MediSync Local needs neither network nor account.
The second point is what the text is afterwards. Both systems write what they hear, which means a hundred and forty over ninety stays spelled out, dosing schedules become strings of words, and units land sometimes and sometimes not. Smart Dictation is trained on exactly those places.
The third point is safety in the narrow sense. A model that adds a word or loses a number is not inconvenient in patient documentation, it is dangerous. Dictate throws those results away and writes the raw text instead. Then come the foot pedal, your own vocabulary, and a processor agreement when the practice is asked for one.
MediSync Local recognises and formats on the machine, with no network and no account. For closed networks there are licence keys.
140/90 rather than spelled out, 1-0-1 rather than a string of words, units and abbreviations correct, paragraphs in the right places.
No added word, no lost number. Otherwise the raw text stands.
Enter terms and abbreviations once, say a keyword, get the snippet. Import from Dragon, Wispr Flow and Office.
Hold, speak, release, or tap once for hands-free. No time limit and no cut-off after a pause for thought.
Processor agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, security measures and an operating concept, rather than an operating system's general terms.
| Feature | MediSync | Windows and macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Without internet | MediSync Local, no network and no accountIn a closed practice network this line decides it. | Windows requires an internet connection; macOS processes general dictation on the device |
| What you pay | €0 on the free plan, €10 net a month for Pro | Included in the operating system |
| Medical formatting | Smart Dictation: blood pressure, doses, units, paragraphs | Not published |
| Guard against invented words | Yes; otherwise the raw text stands | Not published |
| Your own vocabulary | Terms, abbreviations and snippets, imported from Dragon, Wispr Flow and Office | Not published |
| Foot pedal and dictation microphone | Supported | Not published |
| Pausing mid-dictation | You hold the key for as long as you like | macOS stops dictation after 30 seconds of silence |
| Languages | 25 European, formatting in German | Windows lists more than 40; macOS is not available in all languages and regions |
| A contract for a practice | Processor agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, security measures and an operating concept | The terms of the operating system |
| Closed networks | Licence keys for machines with no internet | Not published |
Every price is in the currency the vendor publishes it in. We do not convert dollars into euro: the rate moves, the table does not.
The machine has no internet or may not have any; German clinical text has to be formatted correctly; nothing may be invented; you use a foot pedal or dictation microphone; or your practice needs a processor agreement.
Yes. Microsoft's help page names an internet connection as a requirement, along with a working microphone and a cursor in a text box.
Apple writes that voice inputs and transcripts for general text Dictation are processed on the device and not sent to Siri servers, and that you can check this in settings. The dictation stops after 30 seconds of silence.
Because Dictate Free also costs nothing and dictates locally without limit. The difference is not the price, it is the formatting, the guard, the vocabulary and running with no network.
The text lands where your caret is: the PVS, the KIS, Outlook, Word, the browser. If there is no caret, it waits in the clipboard.
Every figure about the other vendor comes from their own page or from a reseller's. Next to each one is the date we read it.