Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Home ($99.99) is a Windows-only dictation product designed to increase productivity, alleviate the stress of typing, and ease any other number of problems associated with controlling a computer by hand. The latest version of the product brings improved accuracy and speed to an already-excellent piece of software. It also adds a few new features, such as support for major webmail programs (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.). You can use it to dictate documents and emails, navigate your computer, and control some other basic computer functions, such as Web browsing, all by using your voice.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking learns to detect what you say fairly quickly, and it's quite accurate even the first time you use it. Better still, it improves over time because it learns your language patterns and which words you commonly use. You can further improve its accuracy by giving the program access to your sent emails and documents that you've written, stored both locally and on Google Drive. Dragon can scan those documents and learn even more about your language usage so it can better guess what you're saying when you dictate.

While you'll pay about half as much for the Home version, the Premium version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking ($199) supports a couple of popular programs that aren't included in the less expensive package. Premium also contains a few features that power users might want. Read my full review of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium for a deeper dive, and see the video review below for a summary; I'll outline the differences here.

Home vs. Premium

The biggest difference most users will want to know about between Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium and Home is the lack of support for Excel and PowerPoint (2010 and 2013). If you are intended to use dictation software to create, edit, or control either of those programs, you'll need to spend the extra hundred bucks on Premium. Premium includes both voice command and full text control for Excel, and voice commands in PowerPoint (but not text control).

Premium also keeps transcription records of your voice. In addition, you can play back your own speech while dictating documents, which could be a major consideration for the visually impaired.

Another feature in Premium that's missing from the Home version is the ability to import and export custom vocabulary lists. This could be a deciding factor when it comes to choosing a version for anyone with a history of using dictation and voice-control software.

One smaller feature in Premium that is not in Home is the ability to create custom voice commands to insert frequently used text and graphics.

Highlights in 13

The big news with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 is how much more deeply it integrates with Web tools. The software now includes extended commands and controls for navigating using Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. You can compose and send emails directly in Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Outlook.com using only your voice.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking's voice commands can do an impressive amount of work, easing your hands and fingers from typing and mousing, and the added support for Web browsers is a great update. If you're new to Dragon, just bear in mind that does take focused effort to learn to use this hefty software. And if you're on the fence about whether you need dictation software in the first place, I'd encourage you to explore the included services in Windows 7 and 8 first (just search your machine for Ease of Access).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Home is not exactly an impulse purchase, but it is our Editors' Choice among dictation software programs for Windows. Be sure to consider the differences between Home and Premium in deciding which one you need because only the latter supports Excel and PowerPoint.

Best Productivity Picks

• The Best Business Messaging Apps for 2020
• The Best To-Do List Apps for 2020
• The Best Project Management Software for 2020
• The Best Note-Taking Apps
• More Productivity Reviews
• More from Nuance

Further Reading

• 10 Cheap and Easy Ways to Level Up Your Home Office
• How to Take Better Breaks to Boost Your Productivity
• How to Use Microsoft's OneDrive to Fetch Files on Another PC
• Microsoft 365 Now Available for Consumers
• 10 Trello Tips Guaranteed to Make You More Productive