Philips SpeechLive Alternative for Attorneys and Small Law Firms
Stenograph is a Philips SpeechLive alternative for attorneys who now write most of their own drafts and want finished text at the cursor rather than a recording in a queue. You speak in Word, Outlook or your document system, and the letter, memo or email appears already shaped, with client and matter names spelled from your firm dictionary. SpeechLive is a strong choice for firms that route dictation to secretaries or a typing service. If most of your recordings never reach a typist anymore, compare the two below.
Dictate a few sentences and see the finished text
Try Stenograph on your own voice
Record up to 30 seconds, or pick a ready-made recording, and see clean, formatted text with your terms.
This browser cannot record audio. Pick a ready-made recording below to see the formatted result.
Up to 10 words or names, separated by commas. Stenograph spells them exactly as you type them.
More options
Your clip is transcribed and formatted on our servers, and the audio is deleted right after processing. Your words are never used to train AI models.
Stenograph needs your microphone to record. Your browser asks once, and the microphone is on only while you speak.
- Uploading
- Recognizing speech
- Applying your terms
- Formatting
The one-time demo for this browser is complete. Choose a plan to keep dictating with your own terms in every app.
See pricingWhy law firms look for a SpeechLive alternative
SpeechLive is a mature cloud dictation workflow from a company with decades in the dictation business, and firms that use it for routing recordings usually like it. The reasons to compare are about how the work in a small firm has shifted.
- The price is built from pieces. On SpeechLive's US pricing page the workflow plans start at 12.90 USD per user per month billed yearly, and automatic transcription and speech recognition are an add-on at 25.90 USD per user per month on Pro and Enterprise. A firm has to add up modules before it knows the real number.
- Basic records but does not recognize. The Basic workflow plan covers app recording and file upload only, with no automatic transcription or speech recognition, so an attorney who wants text has to move up a tier and add the module.
- The legal bundles are priced per year. Speech Recognition Legal is listed from 43.80 USD per user per month and the Legal AI Assistant bundle from 54 USD per user per month, billed annually, with that bundle shown as an introductory 2026 price that rises to 76.80 USD in 2027.
- Attorneys type their own drafts already. When a lawyer writes most emails and short letters directly, a record, assign and wait workflow adds a step instead of removing one.
- Human transcription is pay as you go. SpeechLive's English transcription service starts at 1.39 USD per minute with 24 hour turnaround, which adds up for a firm with daily dictation.
Philips SpeechLive compared with Stenograph
SpeechLive figures come from its public US pricing page, checked in October 2026, excluding tax. Prices change, so confirm on their site before you decide. Stenograph is our product and is not affiliated with Philips or Speech Processing Solutions.
| Philips SpeechLive | Stenograph | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Firms that record dictation and assign it to secretaries, teams or a transcription service | Attorneys and small firms that draft their own documents and want formatted text at the cursor |
| Entry price | Basic workflow 12.90 USD per user per month billed yearly, recording and upload only | Solo 24 USD per month billed yearly, or 49 USD month to month, speech recognition included |
| Speech recognition | Add-on at 25.90 USD per user per month on Pro and Enterprise, or the Speech Recognition Legal bundle from 43.80 USD | Included on every plan, with a legal vocabulary and personal and shared firm dictionaries |
| AI drafting | Legal AI Assistant bundle from 54 USD per user per month billed yearly, 76.80 USD from 2027 | Letter, memo, email and list shapes applied while you speak, filler words removed, on every plan |
| Workflow and tracking | Task assignment to users and teams on Pro, task tracking and third party connections on Enterprise | No secretary queue; usage report by member on Team and Enterprise |
| Human transcription | Pay as you go, English from 1.39 USD per minute, more for several speakers | Not offered; upload recordings for AI transcripts with speakers and timestamps |
| Recorded audio | Mobile app, web recorder and file upload, with storage per plan | Upload recordings, export transcripts to Word, PDF, TXT or SRT; meetings recorded on your device with no bot |
| Devices | Web, mobile app, desktop software, works with Philips dictation hardware | Mac and Windows apps, Chrome extension, iPhone and Android keyboard |
| Trial | Two weeks, 200 speech recognition minutes per user, up to 10 users | Live demo in the browser before you buy |
What changes when attorneys stop sending recordings
The waiting moves out of the day. With a routed workflow an attorney records a letter at 9:30, a secretary or a transcriptionist types it when the queue allows, and the draft returns for review in the afternoon. With Stenograph the attorney presses a hotkey in Word, speaks the letter and reviews it while the matter is still fresh. The draft comes in paragraphs with a greeting and a sign off, and the opposing party's name is spelled the way it is in your dictionary.
- Clients, matters, judges, courts and defined terms come from the firm dictionary, so the draft does not need a spelling pass.
- Spoken commands such as "new paragraph", "make that a numbered list" and "more formal" work during dictation.
- The same dictionary applies on the phone keyboard, so a file note dictated in the car reads like one dictated at the desk.
- Your assistant spends the hour on filings, calendars and client calls instead of typing routine correspondence.
What stays with your support staff
Long recorded interviews with poor audio, documents built from firm templates and anything a secretary checks before it leaves the office can stay with people. Stenograph transcribes recordings you upload, with speaker labels and timestamps, but it does not track a dictation through a typing queue. If that tracking is the heart of your practice, SpeechLive keeps it.
What a five attorney firm pays in a year
Take a firm of five attorneys who all want speech recognition and AI drafting. On SpeechLive's Legal AI Assistant bundle at the introductory 54 USD per user per month billed yearly, that is 270 USD a month, or 3,240 USD for the year before tax, and the listed price for 2027 is 76.80 USD per user. On the Pro workflow with the speech recognition add-on, it is 17.90 plus 25.90 USD, or 43.80 USD per user, which is 2,628 USD a year for five people, and any human transcription comes on top per minute. Stenograph Team is 149 USD a month billed yearly for up to five people, 1,788 USD a year, with speech recognition, formatting, a shared firm dictionary and 3,000 transcription minutes a month included.
- Five attorneys on SpeechLive Legal AI Assistant: about 3,240 USD a year at the 2026 price.
- Five attorneys on SpeechLive Pro plus speech recognition: about 2,628 USD a year, transcription service extra.
- Five attorneys on Stenograph Team: 1,788 USD a year, one invoice.
How to move a small firm off SpeechLive in one week
-
1
Start with the attorneys who type their own drafts
Pick the lawyers whose recordings rarely reach a secretary. They feel the difference on the first day and show the rest of the firm how it works.
-
2
Load the firm dictionary
Create a Team workspace and add active clients, matter names, local judges, courts and the defined terms from your engagement letters. Every member gets the same spelling from the first sentence.
-
3
Run both for a week
Keep SpeechLive for work assigned to support staff. Dictate routine emails, file notes and short letters in Stenograph and count how many go out after a light review.
-
4
Move users by workload
Where most of an attorney's volume now ends at the cursor, move that seat to Stenograph. Keep a workflow seat only for people who still send recordings to a typist.
When SpeechLive is still the better choice
We would rather lose a sale than move a firm to the wrong tool. SpeechLive is the better fit when:
- Secretaries or an outsourced service produce most of your documents from recorded dictation, and that split works.
- You need assignment, priorities and tracking on every recording, with someone managing the queue.
- Your attorneys use Philips handheld recorders or SpeechMike microphones and want the hardware and software from one vendor.
- You want human transcription billed by the minute from the same account.
For attorneys who draft their own work on any device, and for small firms that want one published price with speech recognition included, Stenograph is the shorter path to a finished document.
What the SpeechLive alternative costs
Stenograph publishes every price. Solo is 49 USD per month, or 24 USD per month billed yearly, for one attorney, with 300 transcription minutes a month. Pro is 99 USD per month, or 49 USD billed yearly, with 900 transcription minutes for recorded interviews and calls. Team is 299 USD per month, or 149 USD billed yearly, for up to five people with a shared firm dictionary and one invoice. Enterprise is 999 USD per month, or 499 USD billed yearly, for up to 20 people with SSO, SCIM and an audit log.
Questions firms ask before replacing SpeechLive
What is a good alternative to Philips SpeechLive?
For a small firm where attorneys draft most documents themselves, Stenograph is a good alternative: speech recognition is included on every plan, text goes straight into Word and Outlook, and a shared firm dictionary keeps names right. Firms that depend on routing recordings to typists may prefer another workflow product such as BigHand.
How much does Philips SpeechLive cost?
On the US pricing page, checked in October 2026, SpeechLive workflow plans are 12.90 USD per user per month for Basic and 17.90 USD for Pro, billed yearly, plus 25.90 USD for speech recognition. Speech Recognition Legal starts at 43.80 USD and the Legal AI Assistant bundle at 54 USD per user per month, billed annually.
Does SpeechLive include speech recognition?
Not on every plan. The Basic workflow plan covers recording and file upload only. Automatic transcription and speech recognition are an add-on for Pro and Enterprise, or part of the Speech Recognition Legal and Legal AI Assistant bundles. Stenograph includes speech recognition on every plan, including Solo.
Can I dictate on my phone instead of a handheld recorder?
Yes. Stenograph works as a keyboard on iPhone and Android, so you can dictate an email or a file note into any app with the same dictionary as on your desktop. You can also record an interview on the phone and upload it for a transcript with speaker labels.
Is client information safe with Stenograph?
Audio is processed and then deleted, never stored. Text history is optional, your content is never used to train AI models, and data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Whether this meets your confidentiality duties is your firm's call; the details are on dictation privacy.
Dictate your next client letter yourself
Add your clients and matters to the dictionary, press the hotkey in Word and speak the first paragraph. The draft arrives formatted and ready for your review.