SwiftKey alternative for iPhone
Microsoft SwiftKey is a solid typing keyboard on iPhone, and it is still maintained. Where it falls short is voice: dictation is English only, and your audio goes to Microsoft. If you dictate, in any language, or you want to keep your voice on hardware you control, Diction is built for that.
Diction is a full QWERTY keyboard, written from the ground up, with voice built in. Tap the mic above the keys in any app, speak, and clean text lands at your cursor. You decide where your voice is turned into text: on your iPhone, on your server, or on Diction Cloud.
Side by side
Facts for the iPhone versions, checked October 2026.
| Diction | SwiftKey (iPhone) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free on-device and self-hosted. Diction Cloud is a subscription with a free trial | Free |
| Voice dictation | Yes, in every app | Yes |
| Dictation languages | 99 | English only |
| Where your voice goes | Your choice: your iPhone, your server, or Diction Cloud | Sent to Microsoft |
| Works offline | Yes, with on-device speech | Not documented for iPhone |
| Self-hosting | Yes, open-source server, docker compose up, pair by QR | No |
| Cleans up dictation | Yes: removes filler words, fixes grammar, formats lists | Not documented for iPhone |
| Edit text by voice | Yes: "make it shorter", "translate to Spanish" | Not documented for iPhone |
| Account | None needed for on-device and self-hosted | Optional, Microsoft account for backup and sync |
| Typing autocorrect and suggestions | Yes, computed on your iPhone | Yes |
| Swipe typing | No | Yes |
| App Store privacy label | Data Not Collected | Data Linked to You: Email Address, User ID, Device ID |
Where SwiftKey is the better pick
If you swipe, or you type in a language Diction's keyboard does not cover yet (it has suggestions and autocorrect for English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese), SwiftKey does more for your typing today. If you live in Microsoft's apps, its Copilot and Microsoft account links may suit you.
Where Diction is the better pick
- You dictate, in your language. Diction takes dictation in 99 languages, cleans up filler words and grammar, and can rewrite text already in the field when you tell it to.
- You care where your voice goes. Run speech on the phone with no connection, or on a machine you control. Audio is never stored in any mode.
- You self-host. Point Diction at your server with any OpenAI-compatible speech model, Whisper included, and any LLM you run, Ollama included. Free, no account, no limits.
Try it
Diction is on the App Store. On-device and self-hosted are free forever. Diction facts has everything on one page.