Letterly Review: The Voice-to-Text Writing App, Plans and Cost

Dana writes a newsletter for a living, and her best paragraphs arrive while she's walking to the train. She's tried talking into her iPhone's Notes app, and what comes back is one long block with every "um" left in. A friend told her Letterly turns a ramble into a clean draft. (Dana is a composite, not a real person.)

Luis heard the same tip for a different reason. He sells heat pumps, carries a Samsung, and spends 45 minutes at a kitchen table with each homeowner. He wants that conversation written up, not his own thoughts. (Luis is a composite too.)

Letterly is a voice-to-text writing app for iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and the web. You speak, it transcribes, and then it rewrites what you said into a note, an email, a list or a post. It has a free plan, but a small one: 10 notes of up to 3 minutes each.

This Letterly review is built from the app's own home page, help center, changelog, terms, App Store listing and Google Play listing, all read on November 11, 2026, with links. We didn't run a hands-on test, and we say where the vendor's own pages disagree with each other.

One disclosure: ParrotNotes publishes this blog, and ParrotNotes is our app. It isn't a dictation keyboard and doesn't try to be one. It appears in the alternatives for readers like Luis, whose recordings are long conversations with someone else. If that's you, try ParrotNotes free and come back for the Letterly facts.

Letterly review in short

Letterly fits you if most of what you record is your own voice (ideas, drafts, messages, journal entries), you want the same app on your phone and your computer, and you're happy to pay after a 7-day trial. Pro lifts recordings to 90 minutes and opens every rewrite style.

Look elsewhere if you want a free plan you can live on, you want the price in writing before you install anything, or most of what you record is a long conversation that needs a summary and action items for someone else.

What the Letterly app does on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows

Letterly is sold on the App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft Store under the name Anton Lebedev, with an address in València, Spain. The App Store listing asks for iOS 16, macOS 13 or watchOS 10 or later. The Microsoft Store asks for Windows 10 version 18362 or higher.

The help center splits the app into three modes. They're three different jobs, so it's worth knowing which one you'd actually use.

Dictation: speak into another app

Dictation types for you inside other apps. The Dictation help page lists Messages, WhatsApp, Mail, Gmail, Notes, Slack and ChatGPT. How you start it depends on the device:

• iPhone: switch to the Letterly Keyboard with the globe icon and tap the microphone. iOS opens Letterly briefly and sends you back.
• Android: tap a floating Dictation Bubble.
• Mac and Windows: press F5 or click a floating bar.

A single dictation can run up to 15 minutes on Pro. After the text lands, a Rewrite button can reshape it, and since October 2026 the iPhone keyboard takes spoken edits such as "make it shorter."

Record myself: a ramble in, a clean note out

This is the mode Letterly started with. You record in the app, it transcribes, and you pick a rewrite option. The Rewrite options page names Raw Transcript, Slightly, Magic and Significantly, plus formats such as List, Structured, Email, Journal Entry and Meeting Takeaways. The App Store description counts "25+ premade rewrite styles," and you can build your own.

Every rewrite is saved as a separate version, so the original transcript stays untouched. Pro adds a quick-record app for Apple Watch.

Meeting mode: a transcript split by speaker

Turn on Multi-speaker and Letterly splits the transcript into Speaker 1, Speaker 2 and so on. The help center is plain about the limit: it "does not know who the people are," so the labels stay generic. A summary comes from any summary rewrite option.

Letterly records through the microphone. Its help center says no app can record a phone call directly on iOS or Android, and that for Zoom or Google Meet you put the phone nearby and use speakers. It also tells you to ask before you record. That's the right advice: laws differ by state and country, and our list of one-party consent states is general information, not legal advice.

If you only need dictation and nothing else, our roundup of the best dictation apps covers the free built-in options first.

Letterly free plan: what you get without paying

Here is what the help center's What plans are there? page lists, as of November 2026.

Both plans include translation, multi-speaker, the Dictionary, text replacements, export, share, audio download, integrations, the Letterly MCP and the Shortcuts app.

Do the math and the free plan is a sample, not a place to stay. Ten notes at 3 minutes each is 30 minutes of recording. The help center says "up to 10 notes in total," and it doesn't say whether deleting a note gives you a slot back. Twenty phone dictations at a minute each is 20 minutes more.

Picture Dana's first week. She records a 3-minute idea on Monday's walk, two on Tuesday, and by Friday she's used her 10 notes and most of her 10 rewrites. That's enough to judge the Magic rewrite. It isn't enough to write a newsletter with.

There is also a 7-day free trial of Pro on the App Store, Google Play and the web, per the Can I try before buying? page. If you cancel or a subscription ends, nothing is deleted. Your notes stay readable and exportable, and new notes go back to the free limits.

Letterly pricing: what Pro costs

This is the odd part. As of November 11, 2026, Letterly's website and help center don't publish a price. The help center says Pro comes as a monthly, annual or lifetime plan and stops there. The only public numbers we found are the in-app purchases on the App Store listing:

The listing doesn't say which annual or lifetime price is the current one. App Store pages often keep older or regional items, so treat this as a range. You'll see the real price on the trial screen before you're charged. We couldn't confirm the price of the web checkout.

Here's what one year costs at each listed price:

Monthly x 12        ██████████████████████████████████████░░  $239.88
3 months x 4        █████████████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░  $179.60
Annual (high)       ████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  $99.99
Annual (low)        ███████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  $69.99
Lifetime (low)      ████████████████████████████████░░░░░░░░  $199.99
Lifetime (high)     ████████████████████████████████████████  $249.99

Three things follow from those numbers:

1. Monthly is the expensive way in. Twelve months at $19.99 costs $239.88, more than the lower lifetime price.
2. Annual is the sensible default. Even the highest annual item, $99.99, is less than half of a year paid monthly.
3. Lifetime takes two to three years to pay off. At $199.99 against a $99.99 annual plan, it breaks even after two years. Against a $69.99 annual plan, it takes almost three.

One subscription covers iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows and web. Where you buy decides where you cancel: the App Store, Google Play, or Letterly's own portal for web purchases.

What Letterly's own pages say, side by side

We read the vendor's four sources on the same day. Most facts agree. Several don't.

Sources: letterly.app, help.letterly.app, the Letterly changelog, the App Store listing and the Google Play listing, all read November 11, 2026.

The one that matters most is the first row. The home page's "no limits" line describes Pro. On Free, the help center's 10-note cap applies.

The call-recording row is moving. The help center says Letterly hears only what the microphone hears. The changelog entry for Windows version 1.2.0, dated October 8, 2026, says the Windows app now records your computer's audio too, "even with headphones on." We found that claim for Windows only.

What older reviews now get wrong. One hands-on review, last updated in April 2026, lists a 15-minute recording cap, no desktop version and a $99 yearly price. The help center now says 90 minutes on Pro, the app is listed for Mac and Windows, and $99.99 is only one of four annual figures on the App Store. Software directory pages show starting prices that don't match each other either.

None of this is a reason to skip the app. It's a reason to read the plan screen inside the app, not the marketing page, before your trial ends.

Where Letterly falls short

Credit first: one account covers phone and computer, the rewrite library is deep, and the help center is honest about what the app can't do. Here's the other side, by its own pages:

• The free plan runs out fast. Ten notes of 3 minutes is a tryout.
• No published price. You find out in the app or at checkout.
• Speakers aren't named. Meeting mode gives you Speaker 1 and Speaker 2. Voices that sound alike "may end up under the same label."
• No phone call recording. The help center's workaround is speakerphone and a second device.
• Tracking label. The App Store privacy section lists Identifiers under "Data Used to Track You." Letterly's help center also says recordings are never used to train AI models.
• Cancelling has two descriptions. The help center points to a portal or your store account. The terms ask for a written email. Check which applies to you before the trial ends.

Luis's problem sits in the middle of that list. His estimates run 45 minutes, so the free plan's 3 minutes won't hold one. Pro would record it, but he'd get "Speaker 1" and "Speaker 2," then have to pick a rewrite to get a summary.

The Letterly fit test: 7 questions

Answer yes or no.

1. Is most of what you record your own voice: ideas, drafts, messages, journal entries?
2. Do you want to dictate straight into other apps, on your phone or your computer?
3. Do you want one app across iPhone or Android and Mac or Windows?
4. Do you care more about a rewritten draft than a word-for-word transcript?
5. Are you fine paying after a 7-day trial, without seeing a price list first?
6. Are your recordings under 90 minutes?
7. Do you rarely need named speakers, action items or a follow-up for another person?

Six or seven yeses: Letterly is built for you, so start the trial and pick annual if you stay. Two or more noes on questions 1, 6 and 7 point to the alternatives below. Dana scored seven. Luis scored two.

Letterly alternatives

Every price below was checked on the vendor's own page on November 11, 2026.

1. AudioPen: the closest match

AudioPen does the same core job: talk, then get a rewritten paragraph in a style you choose. Its free plan also stops at 3-minute recordings. Prime costs $33 for 3 months, $99 a year or $159 for 2 years, with recordings up to 15 minutes each, far shorter than Letterly's 90.

Who it suits: writers who want the price on a public page. Our AudioPen alternatives guide compares it with six other apps.

2. Voicenotes: a free plan with more room

Voicenotes has a "Free forever" plan with up to 30 minutes per meeting, a 14-day meeting history and 3 audio imports a month. Pro is $9 per user a month. Its strength is asking one AI about everything you've recorded.

Who it suits: people who want to keep using a free plan. Our Voicenotes app review has the details.

3. Whisper Memos: voice to email on iPhone

Whisper Memos records a memo on iPhone or Apple Watch and emails you the transcript. It's $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year, "free to try," with 90-minute recordings. There's no Android, Mac or Windows app.

Who it suits: iPhone owners who live in their inbox. See our Whisper Memos review.

If dictating into other apps is the whole point, also read our Wispr Flow review and Typeless review, or try the free dictation tool in your browser.

4. ParrotNotes: for long conversations, on iPhone and Android

Be clear about what ParrotNotes isn't. It's not a keyboard, and it doesn't type into Gmail or Slack for you. For Dana's job, Letterly is the better tool.

ParrotNotes does the other job: recording a conversation with someone else and turning it into something you can act on. It runs on iPhone, Android and Mac, and recording carries on with the screen locked.

What comes back is built for a meeting, not a draft. Every recording gets an AI summary, on the free plan too. AI-powered recordings add action items, key points and sales frameworks (BANT, MEDDIC, SPIN). Pro writes a follow-up email draft for the person you met, and adds speaker identification and 99+ languages with translation.

What it costs (parrotnotes.app/pricing): Free: 100 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, an AI summary on every recording and 5 AI-powered recordings a month. Pro: $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually, for 3,000 minutes a month and recordings up to 3 hours. That's more per year than Letterly's annual items. Recording works offline; transcription and AI need a connection.

Who it suits: Luis, and anyone whose notes come out of a conversation.

Luis recorded his next two estimates on the free plan, each in two parts because free recordings stop at 30 minutes. He read the summary and action list in the van before the next stop. Download ParrotNotes free and try it on your next client conversation, with their consent.

Letterly review verdict

Letterly is a capable voice-to-text writing app with unusual reach: iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and web on one subscription, three modes, and a long list of rewrite styles. For someone who thinks out loud and wants a clean draft, Pro looks like fair value at the annual price.

The free plan is a tryout: 10 notes, 3 minutes each. The price isn't on the website, so read the trial screen with care. The App Store lists $19.99 a month, annual items from $69.99 to $99.99 and lifetime items at $199.99 and $249.99.

Dana started the trial and chose annual. Luis didn't need a writing app at all. Take the fit test first. If you land on the conversation side, get ParrotNotes free for iPhone or Android.