Offline dictation for Windows
A lot of dictation on Windows depends on a server. Your voice goes up, text comes back. No connection, no dictation, and every word you say passes through someone else's computer.
Impulse works the other way. The speech model lives on your PC. You hold a key, talk, and the text lands in whatever app has focus: email, Slack, Word, a browser tab, a code editor. Your audio is never uploaded, so nothing breaks when the network does.
The test that settles it
Turn on airplane mode and dictate. A cloud tool stops working. Impulse keeps typing. You can check it yourself in ten seconds.
What Windows already includes
Windows has two built-in voice options, and they behave differently offline:
- Voice typing (Win+H) needs the internet. Microsoft says it "uses online speech recognition, which is powered by Azure Speech services" and that you need to be connected to use it (Microsoft Support).
- Voice access does work offline. It is built into Windows 11 version 22H2 and later, and Microsoft says it works "without an internet connection" (Voice access FAQ). You need a connection once, during setup, to download its language files (setup guide). It is designed to control your whole PC by voice, with dictation as one part of that.
If you are on Windows 11 and want a free offline option, Voice access is worth trying. Impulse is for people who want one simple gesture, hold a key, talk, let go, with filler words removed and punctuation added, on Windows 10 or 11.
Microsoft details checked October 2026.
What runs on your machine
- Speech recognition. NVIDIA's Parakeet model by default, with OpenAI's open Whisper model as a backup. Both run on your CPU or GPU.
- Cleanup. Filler words like "um" and "uh" come out, and punctuation and capitals go in, all locally.
- Your history and stats. Word counts and streaks are stored in a folder on your PC and never synced anywhere.
What does use the internet
Being straight about this matters more than the pitch. Impulse checks your licence key about once a day when you are online. It keeps working for 3 days with no connection at all, and after that it needs to connect once to re-check. You never re-enter the key. If you opt in, it also sends anonymous setup counts like "activated", and optional extras like contact import connect only when you turn them on. None of this carries audio or text. The privacy policy lists every connection the app can make.
Who it is for
- People who write on flights, trains, or bad hotel Wi-Fi
- Anyone whose work does not allow audio to leave the device (private voice typing covers that side)
- People who would rather not rent a subscription for something their own computer can do
Requirements
A 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC. A GPU helps but is not required. Impulse checks your hardware and picks the right model on its own.
Price
$29 once. No subscription, no word limits, and every future update included. If it does not work on your machine, you get a full refund.