Aqua Voice is the safer pick for paid, polished dictation across Mac, Windows, and iOS. FluidVoice is the stronger value if you are Mac-only and want a free, open-source dictation tool. Ottex enters when you want dictation, files, and meetings in one Mac/iOS-first workflow.
Ottex
Mac, iOS · Free tier · $14/mo · PAYG
Ottex is unusually broad for a young Mac/iOS-first tool: it turns dictation and meetings into emails, tickets, CRM updates, notes, and docs, but it is not the pick if you need Windows, Android, web, browser extension, or compliance paperwork.
Choose if
You want one tool for system-wide dictation, meeting recording, and finished written outcomes like follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs
You want a real free path: unlimited local dictation, file transcription, and meetings on Mac with Whisper/Parakeet, or BYOK instead of a forced subscription
You need multilingual dictation with 100+ languages, auto-detection, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules
Look elsewhere if
You need Windows, Android, Linux, web access, or a browser extension
You need mature team infrastructure such as a shared workspace, API/webhooks, third-party note destinations, or assistant chat over transcripts today.
Aqua Voice
Mac, Windows, iOS · Limited free · $8/mo
Aqua Voice is a polished system-wide dictation app for Mac, Windows, and iOS, with 49 languages and strong formatting controls, but it is not a meeting recorder or file transcription tool and dictation is processed server-side.
Choose if
You want fast, system-wide voice dictation across Mac, Windows, or iOS for everyday writing.
You want dictated text cleaned up automatically with punctuation, paragraphs, filler-word removal, snippets, custom vocabulary, and tone rules.
You are comfortable paying $10/month or $96/year after the 1,000-word trial, which is only about 8 minutes of speech.
Look elsewhere if
You need meeting recording, summaries, action items, speaker identification, or calendar-based meeting workflows.
You need audio or video file transcription with timestamps, speaker labels, exports, batch processing, or watch folders.
FluidVoice
Mac · Limited free
FluidVoice is a free, open-source macOS dictation tool with local model options and system-wide insertion, but it is not a meeting assistant and its public claims are thin on formatting, collaboration, and enterprise controls.
Choose if
You want a free, GPLv3 macOS dictation app with no paid tiers.
You use macOS 15 Sequoia or later and want voice input that works across text fields with a global hotkey.
You want control over speech models, including local options and Whisper support for up to 99 languages.
Look elsewhere if
You need Windows, web, iOS, Android, Linux, or browser-extension support.
You need meeting recording, summaries, action items, speaker identification, calendar integration, or shared team memory.
The evidence
What actually differs, claim by claim.
Each section opens with the takeaway. The table underneath is the receipt — every cell carries its source and the date we checked it.
Pricing
FluidVoice wins price for Mac users because it is free forever with no paid tiers, while Aqua Voice moves from a 1,000-word trial, about 8 minutes of speech, to $10/month or $96/year. Ottex is more flexible than Aqua Voice because it has free local AI, free BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, $14/month Pro, and $24/seat/month Team, but FluidVoice is still the cheapest if Mac-only dictation is enough.
See the evidence — 13 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
Aqua Voice
FluidVoice
Free tier
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Forever free with local models and BYOK providers.
PartialSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 20261,000 free words, no card required
PartialSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Free forever, no paid tiers
Subscription
$14/moSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.
$8/moSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026FAQ says Pro is $8/month billed annually after the free words.
NoNo subscription plan
Pay-as-you-go / one-timeEscape the flat subscription
$0.2/hourSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Hosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).
NoSubscription only
NoSubscription only
Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026OpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers.
No public claim
YesSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Optional AI provider API keys can be added for enhanced transcription.
Education discount
NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Same pricing for everyone.
YesSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Students with a .edu email get 70% off annual plans.
No public claim
Platforms
Aqua Voice wins platform coverage with Mac, Windows, and iOS, while FluidVoice is Mac-only. Ottex sits between them with Mac and iOS, so it beats FluidVoice on mobile but loses to Aqua Voice if Windows matters.
See the evidence — 5 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
Aqua Voice
FluidVoice
Platforms
Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
Mac, Windows, iOSSource: aquavoice.com/download — checked Jun 2026
MacSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Native Swift app, ~50MB RAM.
No public claim
YesSource: altic.dev/fluid — checked Jun 2026The vendor describes FluidVoice as a native macOS app.
Meetings & team memory
Ottex wins meeting capture because it is the only one of the three with meetings, plus file transcription, local AI, and BYOK paths. Aqua Voice and FluidVoice both lose this section because neither offers meeting recording, speaker identification, summaries, calendar workflows, or shared team memory.
See the evidence — 18 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
Aqua Voice
FluidVoice
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026With speaker separation.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026System-audio capture, no bot joins the call.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Speaker separation
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Calendar detection
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Calendar-based meeting detection.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Cross-meeting search
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Shared team memory
PartialSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Public share links, not a full team workspace.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
From meeting to finished work
Ottex wins meeting intelligence because it turns dictation and meetings into follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, notes, and docs. Aqua Voice and FluidVoice are dictation tools, so neither reaches finished work from meetings, action items, tickets, or team memory.
See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
Aqua Voice
FluidVoice
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Decisions with owners extracted.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Drafted from templates or your own.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
CRM update / ticket draft
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Structured for the target app.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Your rough notes steer the result
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Rough notes and instructions steer the result.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Dictation & transcription AI
FluidVoice beats Aqua Voice on dictation control for Mac users because it is free, open source, BYOK, supports model choice with Whisper, and covers 99 languages versus Aqua Voice's 49. Aqua Voice wins if you need Mac, Windows, and iOS with stronger formatting controls, while Ottex is the broadest AI option with local AI, BYOK, 100 languages, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules.
See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
Aqua Voice
FluidVoice
Engines
Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Source: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local.
Avalon proprietary speech modelSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Aqua says it runs on its own Avalon speech model.
Nemotron Speech 3.5, Parakeet Flash, Parakeet TDT v3, Parakeet TDT v2, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech, Whisper Tiny/Base/Small/Medium/LargeSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026The README lists these supported speech models.
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Whisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.
NoSource: aquavoice.com/vs — checked Jun 2026Aqua requires an internet connection and processes audio server-side.
PartialSource: altic.dev/fluid — checked Jun 2026Local speech models are supported, while Cohere and AI enhancement use optional cloud providers.
Model selection per task
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Choose the model per task and per provider.
No public claim
YesSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Users can choose among multiple supported speech models.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.
YesSource: aquavoice.com/guide — checked Jun 202649+ languages · Language guide says Aqua supports multilingual speakers.
No public claim
Per-app output rules
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Per-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.
PartialSource: aquavoice.com/info — checked Jun 2026Aqua formats for the destination app, but no per-app rule editor is documented.
No public claim
Cost
What a year actually costs at your volume.
Personal or team — switch tabs. Subscriptions are flat; usage-based pricing depends on how much you speak and meet.
OttexSubscription - Pro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.
Aqua VoicePro Annual+ Granola for meetings — $168/yr$264/yr$96 + $168FAQ says Pro is $8/month billed annually after the free words. · Unlimited use
Aqua VoicePro Monthly+ Granola for meetings — $168/yr$288/yr$120 + $168A vendor comparison page lists Pro at $10/month. · Unlimited use
Estimates, not quotes. Striped bar segments are the cost of the second app you picked above to cover the gap — rankings use that combined total. PAYG uses hosted at-cost estimates ($0.2/h dictation, $0.5/h meetings); BYOK is estimated at about a third of that because you pay the model provider directly. Bring-your-own-key plans still pay the model provider per use. One-time licenses are amortized over 2 years. Subscriptions use published pricing, checked Jun 2026.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask.
Aqua Voice vs FluidVoice: which should I pick?
Pick Aqua Voice if you need polished dictation on Mac, Windows, or iOS and are comfortable paying $10/month or $96/year after the 1,000-word trial. Pick FluidVoice if you are Mac-only and want a free, open-source dictation app with BYOK and 99 languages.
Is Aqua Voice free?
Aqua Voice has a free trial, not a real long-term free plan. The 1,000-word limit is only about 8 minutes of speech, after which Pro is $10/month or $96/year.
Is FluidVoice free?
Yes, FluidVoice is listed as free forever with no paid tiers. The tradeoff is that it is Mac-only, while Aqua Voice covers Mac, Windows, and iOS.
How much does Aqua Voice cost compared with FluidVoice?
Aqua Voice costs $10/month or $96/year after its 1,000-word trial. FluidVoice has no paid tiers, so it is the cheaper path if you can live with Mac-only support.
Is Aqua Voice safe?
Aqua Voice dictation is processed server-side, so it is not the privacy-first pick if local processing is the main requirement. FluidVoice is the better choice between these two if you want open-source dictation with local model options.
Is it worth switching from Aqua Voice to FluidVoice?
Switch from Aqua Voice to FluidVoice if you are on Mac, want to stop paying $96/year, and value open source, BYOK, model choice, and 99 languages. Stay with Aqua Voice if you need Windows or iOS, or if its punctuation, paragraphs, filler-word cleanup, snippets, custom vocabulary, and tone rules matter more.
Does Aqua Voice or FluidVoice work on Windows or Android?
Aqua Voice works on Windows, Mac, and iOS, while FluidVoice is Mac-only. Neither tool covers Android.
