9.2/10 (Deducted 0.8 points for complex installation and browser extension fragility). Disclaimer: As of 2025, Nuance (a Microsoft subsidiary) no longer sells Dragon Professional Individual 15. New purchases should buy Dragon Professional 16. This article is for existing users of 15.61.200 and historical reference.

| Feature | Dragon 15.61.200 | Dragon Professional 16 | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Pricing | One-time ($300-500) | Subscription ($15/mo or $150/year) | | Cloud sync | No (USB/network only) | Yes (Roaming via Nuance Cloud) | | Microsoft Teams integration | Basic | Native commands ("Mute mic," "Raise hand") | | AI text generation | No | Yes (Dragon 16 includes generative text snippets) | | Offline mode | Full | Full (surprisingly) |

Caution: Do not enable "Send anonymized data to Nuance" if you work with classified or HIPAA-protected data, as even anonymized metadata can sometimes be triangulated. Nuance Dragon Professional Individual 15.61.200 is not the newest software on the block, but it represents the last great perpetual license speech recognition engine. In an era of subscription fatigue, this build offers offline reliability, deep customization, and professional-grade accuracy that free tools cannot match.