The Company That Made "Dragon" Doesn't Really Exist Anymore

I had to look up who actually owns Dragon speech recognition software last week. The answer is more complicated than it should be, and it explains why Dragon feels frozen in time while AI dictation has leaped forward.

Nuance Communications created Dragon speech-to-text in 1997. They dominated the dictation market for 25 years. Then Microsoft bought Nuance in 2022 for 20 billion dollars, and everything got weird.

Dragon still exists. Nuance technically still exists as a Microsoft subsidiary. But the Nuance that built Dragon into the industry standard? That company is gone, absorbed into Microsoft's enterprise AI strategy.

This matters if you're trying to decide whether to buy Dragon or switch to something else. You're not buying from Nuance anymore. You're buying from Microsoft, and Microsoft's priorities are very different.

What Nuance Dragon Actually Means in 2026

When people search for "Nuance Dragon speech to text," they usually mean one of several different products that Nuance sold under the Dragon brand:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking (consumer and professional versions). Desktop software for Windows. One-time purchase of 200 to 700 dollars depending on edition. This is what most people think of as "Dragon."

Dragon for Mac. Desktop software for macOS. 300 dollars one-time purchase. Less feature-rich than the Windows version and hasn't had a major update in years.

Dragon Medical. Healthcare-specific version with medical vocabulary. Windows only. Around 1,500 to 5,000 dollars.

Dragon Legal. Attorney-specific version with legal terminology. Windows only. Around 700 dollars.

All of these are now Microsoft products. Nuance's name is still on them, but that's increasingly just branding.

Why Microsoft Bought Nuance (And It Wasn't For Dragon)

Microsoft paid 20 billion dollars for Nuance. That seems insane for a company whose flagship product is 300-dollar dictation software, right?

Microsoft didn't buy Nuance for Dragon. They bought Nuance for healthcare AI and enterprise conversational AI. Nuance had contracts with major hospital systems and ambient clinical intelligence technology.

Dragon was a legacy product that came along with the acquisition. It generates revenue, it has users, so Microsoft keeps it alive. But it's not the focus.

You can tell because Dragon development has essentially stopped since the acquisition. Dragon 16 came out in 2022, right around the acquisition. Version 17 exists but is basically 16 with minor bug fixes. No major new features. No integration with Microsoft 365. No AI improvements despite Microsoft being all-in on AI.

Dragon is in maintenance mode. It works, it's not going away immediately, but it's not the future of Microsoft's speech recognition strategy.

How Dragon Speech to Text Actually Works

Dragon uses acoustic models and language models trained on recorded speech data. It's sophisticated technology, but it's fundamentally rule-based.

When you first install Dragon, it requires 20-30 minutes of training where you read text aloud. Dragon is learning the specific acoustic patterns of your voice. After that, it continuously adapts as you correct its mistakes, building a personalized voice profile.

This approach was cutting-edge in 1997. It's antiquated in 2026.

Dragon's advantage is that it processes speech locally on your computer. No internet required, no cloud servers, complete privacy. For medical, legal, or confidential business use, that local processing is valuable.

Dragon's disadvantage is that it doesn't benefit from the massive training data that cloud-based AI models use. Every Dragon user starts from scratch with their own voice training.

Dragon vs. Modern AI Speech to Text

I used Dragon NaturallySpeaking from 2015 to 2024. I switched to Dictation Daddy in late 2024. I have obvious bias (I built it), but the differences are significant:

Dragon accuracy after months of training: 95-97 percent.
Dictation Daddy accuracy immediately: 96-98 percent. Higher accuracy, zero training required.

Dragon punctuation: Say "period comma new paragraph" constantly out loud.
Dictation Daddy punctuation: Automatically added. Punctuation, new lines, and paragraphs added intelligently without voice commands.

You can still use formatting commands like "new line" or "comma" when needed, but the AI handles most formatting automatically. False starts and self-corrections are handled naturally - the AI understands when you restart a sentence.

Dragon handles technical terms: After you train it on each term, correcting it repeatedly for weeks.
Dictation Daddy handles technical terms: Immediately, no training required. Medical terms, legal jargon, industry vocabulary all work from day one.

Dragon cost: 200-700 dollars one-time purchase.
Dictation Daddy cost: Under 100 dollars per year for all platforms (Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, Chrome extension). The apps don't sync between devices, but you have dictation wherever you're working.

Dragon works offline: Yes, local processing.
Dictation Daddy requires internet: Yes, cloud AI processing. For enterprises needing SOC2 or HIPAA compliance, there's a dedicated plan.

When Nuance Dragon Still Makes Sense

Despite being legacy technology in maintenance mode, Dragon makes sense for specific situations:

You need offline dictation. Rural areas, secure facilities, unreliable internet.

You handle highly confidential information that can't be cloud-processed. Medical records, legal documents, classified business information.

You're already deep in the Dragon ecosystem. Years of training invested, thousands of custom vocabulary entries, macros you've built. Switching cost is high.

Those are increasingly niche use cases. For most users, AI dictation is more accurate, more convenient, and requires zero training.

The Support and Updates Question

Nuance used to release major Dragon updates every 12-18 months. New features, accuracy improvements, Windows compatibility updates.

Since the Microsoft acquisition, updates are infrequent and minor. Dragon 17 exists but is barely different from Dragon 16. There's no Dragon 18 on the horizon.

Microsoft hasn't announced Dragon is discontinued. They also haven't announced any development roadmap or future plans. It's in this weird limbo where it exists and is technically supported, but clearly isn't a priority.

If you buy Dragon today, you're buying it for what it does now, not what it might do in the future. Expect bug fixes for Windows compatibility, don't expect major feature additions or AI improvements.

What I Actually Use Instead of Nuance Dragon

After nine years with Dragon, I switched to Dictation Daddy because I couldn't face retraining Dragon from scratch when I upgraded computers in 2024.

The AI achieves higher accuracy (96-98 percent) than Dragon after Dragon's months of training. No setup time, no voice training sessions, no correcting technical terms repeatedly until it learns them.

Automatic formatting means I focus on content instead of saying "period comma new paragraph" constantly. The AI adds punctuation naturally. When I need specific formatting, I can say "new line" or "comma," but most formatting just happens correctly.

Available on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, and Chrome extension for under 100 dollars per year. That's less than Dragon's one-time cost, and it works across all my devices.

For enterprises needing enhanced security, there's a dedicated plan with SOC2 and HIPAA compliance options.

The Uncomfortable Reality

Nuance Dragon was the gold standard for 25 years because it was the only good option. That era is over.

The company that built Dragon doesn't really exist anymore. Microsoft owns the technology and keeps it alive but isn't developing it. Dragon is legacy software that works but isn't improving.

Meanwhile, AI dictation moved forward with higher accuracy, zero training requirements, automatic formatting, and immediate handling of specialized terminology.

Dragon still makes sense for offline local processing and confidential work. For everyone else, the market has better options that didn't exist five years ago.

Last updated: January 13, 2026, verified with current Microsoft/Nuance product lineup and Dragon development status