Willow Review (2026)
The fast-improving challenger with the best iPhone keyboard
Top5Apps editorial · Last tested & updated August 12, 2026
Developer
Willow Voice (YC S24)
Free tier
Yes — unlimited on a weaker model
Paid from
$12/mo (annual)
Platforms
macOS, Windows, iOS
What is Willow?
Willow is what a challenger should look like: shipping fast, undercutting nobody on price but out-executing on the details. The one everyone notices is the iPhone keyboard — unlike Wispr's number-row-only implementation, Willow gives you a full keyboard with voice on top, so you can dictate a message and then actually fix a word by hand without app-switching. It sounds small; it's the difference between a demo and a daily driver on mobile.
The fundamentals hold up too: sub-quarter-second text landing, personal dictionary, tone that shifts between Slack-casual and doc-formal, 100+ languages, and a whisper mode for open offices. Willow raised $4.5 million in late 2025 while reporting 50% month-over-month user growth — small numbers next to Wispr's war chest, but the product cadence since has been the fastest in the category. One structural quibble: true zero-retention privacy is a Business-tier feature, which inverts how we'd price principle.
Willow: pros and cons
Pros
- Snappy: text lands in as little as ~200ms (vendor figure), and it feels it
- The best iOS voice keyboard — full keyboard included, so you can edit what you said
- Tone adaptation across email, Slack, docs, and technical tools
- Free tier is unlimited (on the weaker Frontier Mini model)
- SOC 2 / HIPAA / enforced zero-retention available on Business
Cons
- Free tier's model is explicitly the weak one — the real product starts at Pro
- Zero-retention privacy is paywalled at the $28–35/mo Business tier
- Youngest and least-funded of the leaders; no Android yet
Standout features
The iOS keyboard done right
Full keyboard plus voice, so dictation and manual edits coexist. If your dictation life is primarily on a phone, this is the best implementation, full stop.
Speed you can feel
Willow's ~200ms claim matches the experience: text arrives essentially as you finish the thought, which keeps you talking instead of waiting.
Compliance path
SOC 2, HIPAA support, and enforced no-retention mode exist (on Business) — a real option for clinics and legal teams that Wispr's consumer tiers don't match.
Willow pricing
Basic (free) is unlimited dictation on Frontier Mini — the site's own copy calls it the 'weaker' model, and it shows. Pro at $15/month ($12 annual) unlocks the real model, unlimited Scribe, and style memory; Business at $35/month ($28 annual) adds enforced zero-retention, SOC 2, and HIPAA.
Read the free tier as an honest extended demo. The product people rave about is Pro.
Our verdict
Willow is the one to watch — and on iPhone, arguably the one to use today. It needs Android, a kinder privacy tier, and time; but its trajectory is the steepest here, and challengers with this shipping pace have a way of climbing our lists.
Skip it if: You want zero-retention privacy without paying Business prices, you're on Android, or you'd rather bet on the category's established leaders than its fastest mover.
4.3 / 5 — #4 in AI Dictation 2026
Willow: FAQ
What's different about Willow's iPhone keyboard?
It's a full keyboard with voice built in — dictate, then edit by hand in place. Rivals' iOS keyboards are voice-first with minimal editing, which forces app-switching for fixes.
Is Willow's free plan good?
It's unlimited, which is generous — but on the explicitly weaker Frontier Mini model. Treat it as a trial for Pro ($12/month annual), where the real accuracy lives.
Is Willow HIPAA compliant?
On the Business tier ($28–35/month): enforced zero-data-retention, SOC 2, and HIPAA support — one of the few dictation apps with a real compliance story.