Dictalus
For job interviews, presentations, meetings, and English at work
A speaking practice app for the answer that shows up — five minutes late.
The opening in the meeting you let slip by. The question you knew was coming and still fumbled. The heart-pounding dread when every face turns to you. Speaking under pressure is a skill, and skills need reps — so Dictalus gives you a private gym for them: record a short take, get scored on how you actually sounded, fix one thing, run it back.
No install, no card — sign in with your email, allow the mic, and score your first rep in under a minute. 5 free reps a day.
Speech feedback you can actually use
Vague advice in, real numbers out. Every rep is short enough to do in a coffee line and specific enough to learn from. Not recording yet? Start with the free tools — paste a speech into the analyzer or run the on-device live meter in your next meeting.
Measure your pace, fillers, pauses — and now your voice
Words per minute so you know if you're racing. Filler-per-minute so you can hear your crutch words. Pause patterns so you land the point — plus pitch variation and energy, read straight from your audio, so "you sound monotone" finally has a number. One concrete fix per rep, not a lecture.
A live meter for the real meeting
Run it during the meeting itself: a slow/steady/fast pace gauge, pause quality, energy and pitch traces, and a count of the endings that fade out or rise like questions. It runs on your device, and no audio is recorded or leaves your phone. Free in Tools after a 10-second email sign-in.
Track your speaking improvement over time
Trends over days, streaks to keep the habit, and a guided curriculum — from your first hello and small talk to presentations, storytelling, and presence. Industry lenses (Pro) rewrite every lesson's examples for Sales, Healthcare, Consulting & finance, or Academia & research.
Private voice practice, by default
Recording is opt-in and explained in plain language. You decide what happens to your audio — deleted after scoring by default, or kept to listen back (Pro) — we keep only the transcript and your scores, and you can delete those too, any time. No ads. Never sold.
Practice in private. Nail it in public.
Works offline and syncs when you're back. Drills run 30–90 seconds, so the interaction that costs you the most becomes the one you've already rehearsed.
Practice in 90+ languages
Turn on Fast scoring (Pro) and reps in Spanish, German, Mandarin, and 90+ other languages are transcribed and scored for pace and pauses. Filler-word detection is English-first for now.
Rehearse the moment before it happens
Got a real moment coming up? Name it, write your headline, back it with up to three points, land the ask — then rehearse it as a scored rep with your plan on screen.
How Dictalus speaking practice works
Speaking practice for the moments that matter
Same rep loop, different stakes. Pick the situation that costs you the most and train for it directly.
Interview practice
Rehearse the answers you know are coming until the out-loud version matches the one in your head.
10 prompts that work →Presentation & pitch practice
Land your openings and endings, keep your pace steady when the slides are against you.
The 15-minute rehearsal →Everyday meetings & small talk
The hallway hello, the status update, the question that lands on you with no warning.
Better openers →English speaking practice
Non-native speakers polish pace, pauses, and delivery with numbers instead of guesswork.
English at work →Dictalus gives you 5 scored reps every day for free, no card. Orai's trial lasts 7 days and needs a card; Yoodli's free plan is 5 sessions total. Side by side: Dictalus vs Orai · Dictalus vs Yoodli
Speaking coach pricing
Start free, stay free as long as you like. Go Pro when five reps a day stops being enough.
Free for daily practice
- 5 scored reps every day
- Full scorecard — pace, fillers, pauses, one fix
- Guided curriculum, trends, and streaks
Pro for unlimited reps
- Unlimited scored reps
- Everything in Free
- Billed through the App Store, cancel anytime
| Plan detail | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Scored reps | 5 a day | Unlimited |
| Full scorecard, curriculum, trends, and streaks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pre-Game and the live meter | ✓ | ✓ |
| Keep your recordings to listen back | — | ✓ |
| Industry lenses: Sales, Healthcare, Consulting & finance, Academia & research | Business & tech lessons | ✓ |
| Fast scoring, including 90+ languages | — | ✓ |
Less than a single session with a speaking coach — and you can run it every day.
Comparing apps? Dictalus vs Orai · Dictalus vs Yoodli
Kill the “um.” Keep your voice.
For anyone who presents, pitches, interviews, or teaches — and for non-native speakers polishing pace and delivery. If you'd rather practice in private than bomb live, Dictalus is your rep room. It's not speech therapy, and it's not an AI that plays your interviewer. It's short reps and honest numbers. It's also built for one person practicing, not for teams that need manager dashboards.
Do your first rep now
Questions people actually ask
Do I need to install anything?
No. Dictalus runs in your browser at app.dictalus.com — sign in with your email, allow the mic, and do your first rep in under a minute. Prefer your phone? Dictalus is also on the App Store for iPhone.
What does Dictalus actually measure?
Four things on every rep: speaking pace in words per minute, filler words per minute (um, uh, like, you know…), deliberate pauses, and your longest unbroken run. Plus one concrete fix — never a lecture.
What happens to my voice recordings?
You decide what happens to your recordings: by default the audio is deleted the moment scoring finishes, or keep it to listen back (Pro). We keep only the transcript and your scores, and you can delete those too, any time. No ads, never sold. Details in our privacy policy.
Is it really free?
Yes — 5 scored reps every day, forever, with the full scorecard, curriculum, trends, and streaks. Pro ($8.99/month or $59.99/year) removes the daily cap.
Is there a lifetime plan?
No. Pro is $8.99/month or $59.99/year, and you can cancel any time through the App Store. If you'd rather not pay at all, the free tier doesn't expire.
How long until I sound better?
Most people hear the difference in their own recordings within the first week. One short rep most days beats an hour of cramming before the big meeting — it works like the gym, not like a seminar.
Does practicing in an app help in a real room?
That's the idea behind it. Pace, filler words, and pauses are habits you bring into every room, so you can practice them anywhere. For the meeting itself, run the free live meter: it tracks your pace, pauses, and energy on your device while you talk, and nothing is recorded.
How is Dictalus different from Orai or Yoodli?
Dictalus gives you 5 scored reps every day for free, with no card. Orai's Pro trial lasts 7 days and needs a card; Yoodli's free plan is 5 sessions total. Yoodli also has AI roleplay, where an AI plays the other person, which Dictalus doesn't. Side by side: Dictalus vs Orai and Dictalus vs Yoodli.
Why I built Dictalus
I'm Art Morales, a scientist who spent 25 years presenting research and still watched the perfect answer show up five minutes after the meeting ended. Knowing the material was never the problem; delivery is a motor skill, and I had spent zero minutes training it.
Art Morales, founder, Varsalus, Inc. · About · LinkedIn · The longer story