Ottex
Mac, iOS
Choose if
You want dictated emails to follow your saved writing instructions.
Look elsewhere if
You need voice dictation on a Windows computer.
ComparisonEvery claim sourced · verified Oct 2026
Alter vs Aqua Voice: the honest comparison.
Three tools. Different strengths. Find your fit.
Ottex
Alter
Aqua VoiceAll comparisons
FAQ
At a glance
Which one fits your work?
Each tool takes a different approach. Here’s a quick side-by-side to help you choose based on your workflow, platforms, and goals.
Alter
—
Choose if
You want customizable automatic cleanup for dictation on your Mac.
Look elsewhere if
You need dictation on a Windows PC.
Aqua Voice
Mac, Windows, iOS
Choose if
You want saved writing instructions applied automatically to dictation.
Look elsewhere if
You need meeting recordings turned into structured summaries.
The evidence
Pricing
Alter lists Local+ at $29/year and Pro at $240/year; Aqua Voice Pro is $96/year. Ottex Pro is $168/year, with free app access for local models and your own API key (BYOK); provider usage costs extra.
See the evidence — 14 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Alter | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Forever free with local models and BYOK providers. | YesSource: alterhq.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Core app access is uncapped with local models or separately billed BYOK inference; advanced local voice models and speaker identification require an upgrade. | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/vs — checked Oct 20261,000 free words |
| Subscription | $14/moSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included. | $3.5/moSource: alterhq.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Adds advanced local voice models; AI cleanup and meeting reports use local generation or separately billed BYOK models. | $10/moSource: aquavoice.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Includes Custom Instructions and an expanded dictionary. |
| One-time payment | Not applicableSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Application is free | $720 one-timeSource: alterhq.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Permanent access to Alter and future platform upgrades. | NoNo one-time payment plan |
| Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026OpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/how-to — checked Oct 2026Users add provider API keys in settings. | No public claim |
| Education discount | NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Same pricing for everyone. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/references — checked Oct 2026Students and academics can request a discount using a university email; discounted monthly and annual prices and percentage are not published. | YesSource: aquavoice.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Students with eligible school emails receive 70% off: Pro costs $3/month monthly or $2.40/month billed annually, and Max costs $9/month monthly or $7.20/month billed annually; accepted domains include .edu, .ac.uk, .ac.jp, .ac.kr, and .ac.in. |
The evidence
Platforms
Aqua Voice supports Windows, Mac and iOS. Alter requires macOS 15 or later and is currently in beta; Ottex supports Mac and iOS, without Windows.
See the evidence — 4 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Alter | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | No public claim | Mac, Windows, iOSSource: aquavoice.com/guide — checked Oct 2026Some platforms in beta/waitlist |
| Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Native Swift app, ~50MB RAM. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/references — checked Oct 2026Alter is a native macOS application. | No public claim |
The evidence
Meetings & team memory
Alter and Ottex record without bots; Aqua Voice cannot record meetings. Ottex offers an experimental, opt-in camera recording watermark; Alter has none, and recording notices in meeting chat or calendar are unverified for both.
See the evidence — 21 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Alter | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026With speaker separation. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/getting-started — checked Oct 2026Meetings can be recorded manually or through configurable automatic capture. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026System-audio capture, no bot joins the call. | YesSource: alterhq.com/meetings — checked Oct 2026Capture uses Mac audio without a bot joining the call. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Camera recording watermarkShow recording in your camera video | PartialExperimental macOS virtual camera adds an Ottex icon to video; install/enable the extension, select it and turn video on. Guide covers Meet in Chrome and Zoom desktop; effects may obscure it. | NoSource: alterhq.com/meetings — checked Oct 2026Capture is documented as invisible to attendees, without visible meeting-platform indicators. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Participant noticesRecording notices in chat or calendar | No public claim | No public claim | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Speaker separation | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | PartialSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Paid voice options identify speakers; saved local voiceprints recognize previously named voices. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Calendar detection | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Calendar-based meeting detection. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Alter detects meetings in Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and other conferencing apps. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Cross-meeting search | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Transcript search covers titles, content, speakers, and summaries across meetings. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Shared team memory | PartialSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Public share links, not a full team workspace. | No public claim | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
The evidence
From meeting to finished work
Alter drafts follow-up emails and can push summaries to a CRM; Aqua Voice cannot summarize meetings. Ottex offers structured transcript document templates, reusable transcript-chat prompts, and CRM and ticket drafts.
See the evidence — 16 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Alter | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting template libraryTurn a transcript into a structured document | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Choose a ready-made document template to extract relevant information from a meeting transcript into a structured document, such as a product review or client-call report. | No public claim | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Meeting-transcript document templates are not supported. |
| Transcript chat prompt libraryReady-made prompts for AI chat about meetings | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Use ready-made reusable prompts in AI chat to ask questions, analyze discussions and extract information from meeting transcripts. | No public claim | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Reusable prompts for chat over meeting transcripts are not supported. |
| Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Decisions with owners extracted. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/getting-started — checked Oct 2026Transcript prompts extract decisions and unresolved issues. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Drafted from templates or your own. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/getting-started — checked Oct 2026Users can request a follow-up email draft from a meeting transcript. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| CRM update / ticket draft | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Structured for the target app. | PartialSource: alterhq.com/meetings — checked Oct 2026Configured meeting workflows push summaries to a CRM; a dedicated CRM draft review flow is unspecified. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Your rough notes steer the result | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Rough notes and instructions steer the result. | YesSource: list.alterhq.com/p — checked Oct 2026Live Notepad content is combined with the meeting transcript to generate recaps. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
The evidence
Dictation & transcription AI
Alter customizes dictation cleanup; Aqua Voice automatically applies saved rules on eligible plans; Ottex applies saved rules per app and formats spoken lists. All three support custom dictionaries and voice snippets.
See the evidence — 29 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Alter | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engines | Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Source: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local. | Apple Speech, Whisper, Whisper Pro, Parakeet, Soniox V5Source: docs.alterhq.com/how-to — checked Oct 2026Voice settings offer Apple, local, advanced local, and cloud processors. | Avalon 1.5, WhisperSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Oct 2026Desktop model choices vary by app version and account access. |
| Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Whisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Apple and downloaded Whisper models support on-device recognition. | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/changelog — checked Oct 2026The iOS changelog documents downloadable offline models, but supported models and modes remain unspecified. |
| Model selection per task | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Choose the model per task and per provider. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Users select the voice processor and downloaded local model. | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Oct 2026The desktop Transcription Model selector exposes models available to the account. |
| Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching. | No public claim | No public claim |
| Automatic formatting | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Dictation automatically fixes punctuation, groups ideas into paragraphs and formats enumerations as lists. Formatting toggles and profile rules customize output. | PartialSource: list.alterhq.com/p — checked Oct 2026App-aware dictation formatting is documented, but automatic punctuation, paragraphing, and list behavior are not individually specified. | YesSource: aquavoice.com/changelog — checked Oct 2026Dictation automatically adds punctuation and paragraph breaks, with additional formatting configurable through Custom Instructions. |
| Custom dictionary | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Add or delete names and specialist terms with preferred spellings; entries provide recognition context during transcription. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Settings → Voice → Dictionary accepts user-defined terms. | YesSource: aquavoice.com/guide — checked Oct 2026Users can add and remove names, specialist terms, and acronyms in Dictionary. |
| Voice snippetsSay a saved phrase to insert a link or text | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Save a voice trigger and expansion text; saying the trigger while dictating inserts the saved URL or text in place. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Spoken-phrase replacements automatically insert saved text, including URLs and signatures, at the end of dictation. | YesSource: aquavoice.com/guide — checked Oct 2026Replacements expand spoken phrases into saved text such as calendar links and email addresses. |
| Custom voice instructionsFree-form rules applied after dictation | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Saved profile instructions automatically process dictation before insertion; rules can include writing examples, personal phrasing and email signatures. | PartialSource: list.alterhq.com/p — checked Oct 2026Automatic dictation cleanup uses a customizable Alter Action; cleanup is disabled for speech-to-prompt. | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/guide — checked Oct 2026Plans with Custom Instructions automatically apply saved writing rules and examples to dictation, including email signatures. |
| Tone presetsChoose a predefined writing style | YesSelect built-in Messaging or Email profiles for casual or professional dictation; assigning apps or websites enables automatic profile activation. | No public claim | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/changelog — checked Oct 2026Casual Messaging is a selectable lowercase style for messaging apps; a broader preset selector is unverified. |
| Text transforms / AI ShortcutsApply an AI action to existing text | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Select or copy existing text, open Omnibar and run an AI Shortcut to rewrite, translate, summarize or apply a custom prompt; the result is copied/pasted. | YesSource: docs.alterhq.com/workflows — checked Oct 2026Voice commands rewrite, translate, summarize, or format text selected anywhere on the Mac. | YesSource: aquavoice.com/edit-mode — checked Oct 2026Edit Mode rewrites selected text by voice on desktop, excluding search fields, address bars, and selections over 6,000 characters. |
| Per-app output rules | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Per-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email. | No public claim | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/changelog — checked Oct 2026Casual Messaging enforces lowercase in apps such as Slack, iMessage, and Discord. |
Questions people actually ask.
Alter vs Aqua Voice: which should I choose?
Choose Aqua Voice for Windows dictation or Alter for customizable Mac dictation with bot-free meeting capture. Choose Ottex for Mac/iOS dictation with app-specific writing rules and structured meeting documents.
Is Alter or Aqua Voice free?
Alter offers a free plan; Aqua Voice gives 1,000 free words, about 8 minutes of speech. Ottex offers free app access with local models or your own API key; BYOK still incurs provider charges.
How much do Alter and Aqua Voice cost?
Alter costs $29/year for Local+, $240/year for Pro or $720 once for Lifetime. Aqua Voice lists Pro at $96/year and Aqua Voice Pro at $119/year, plus Aqua dictation at $0.49/hour; Ottex Pro is $168/year, with free local-model and BYOK app paths.
Is Alter safe for private dictation?
Choose Alter or Ottex for verified on-device speech recognition; their BYOK paths use your chosen provider. Aqua Voice documents iOS offline models, but supported modes and desktop audio routing are unverified, so a complete privacy comparison remains unresolved.
Is it worth switching from Alter to Aqua Voice?
Switch to Aqua Voice if you need Windows or iOS dictation; stay with Alter if you rely on its Mac meeting capture or local recognition. Ottex offers Mac/iOS dictation with app-specific writing rules, plus meeting capture and structured meeting outputs.
Does Alter or Aqua Voice work on Windows or Android?
Aqua Voice supports Windows, Mac and iOS; Alter requires macOS 15 or later; Ottex supports Mac and iOS without Windows. Android support is unverified for all three.
Does Alter or Aqua Voice support more languages?
Alter and Aqua Voice each support 50 languages, with mid-sentence language switching unverified. Ottex supports 100 languages and mid-sentence switching, making it the choice when that coverage matters.