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
Aqua Voice vs Ottex: the honest comparison.
Two tools. Different strengths. Find your fit.
Ottex
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.
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
Aqua Voice Pro costs $10/mo or $96/yr; Ottex Pro costs $14/mo or $168/yr. Ottex also offers free app access with local models or your own API key (BYOK), though provider API usage can cost extra.
See the evidence — 9 claims across 2 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Forever free with local models and BYOK providers. | 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. | $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 | 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. | No public claim |
| Education discount | NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Same pricing for everyone. | 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; Ottex supports Mac and iOS. Choose Aqua Voice if you need dictation on Windows.
See the evidence — 3 claims across 2 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | 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. | No public claim |
The evidence
Meetings & team memory
Ottex records without a bot and offers an experimental, opt-in macOS camera recording watermark; support for chat/calendar recording notices is unverified. Aqua Voice supports neither meeting recording nor either disclosure mechanism.
See the evidence — 15 claims across 2 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026With speaker separation. | 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. | 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: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Participant noticesRecording notices in chat or calendar | No public claim | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Speaker separation | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Calendar detection | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Calendar-based meeting detection. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Cross-meeting search | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| Shared team memory | PartialSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Public share links, not a full team workspace. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
The evidence
From meeting to finished work
Ottex extracts structured documents from meeting transcripts and drafts follow-up emails, CRM entries and tickets. Aqua Voice cannot record or summarize meetings, so choose Ottex for work after calls.
See the evidence — 12 claims across 2 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| CRM update / ticket draft | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Structured for the target app. | 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. | NoSource: aquavoice.com/creators — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
The evidence
Dictation & transcription AI
Ottex and eligible Aqua Voice plans automatically format dictation and apply saved writing rules. Ottex supports custom output rules per app; Aqua Voice has verified lowercase messaging styles.
See the evidence — 21 claims across 2 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Engines | Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Source: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local. | 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. | 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. | 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 |
| 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. | 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: 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: 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: 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. | 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: 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. | PartialSource: aquavoice.com/changelog — checked Oct 2026Casual Messaging enforces lowercase in apps such as Slack, iMessage, and Discord. |
Questions people actually ask.
Ottex vs Aqua Voice: which should I use?
Choose Aqua Voice for Windows dictation or its cheaper $96/yr Pro subscription, with saved writing instructions on eligible plans. Choose Ottex for meeting recording and follow-up drafts, or dictated emails governed by custom rules per app.
Is Aqua Voice free?
Aqua Voice offers 1,000 free words—about eight minutes of speech at 130 words per minute, so treat it as a trial. Ottex offers free app access with local models or your own API key (BYOK), but provider API usage can cost extra.
How much do Ottex and Aqua Voice cost?
Ottex Pro costs $14/mo or $168/yr, with free local-model and BYOK app paths. Aqua Voice Pro lists $10/mo or $96/yr alongside a separate $119/yr Pro listing; metered dictation lists $0.49/hour, while BYOK provider charges are separate.
Is Ottex or Aqua Voice safer for privacy?
Choose Ottex with on-device Whisper or Parakeet v3 if keeping audio local is decisive. Aqua Voice documents downloadable iOS offline models, but their supported modes and its other audio-processing locations are unspecified here.
Is it worth switching from Ottex to Aqua Voice?
Switch to Aqua Voice for Windows or its $96/yr Pro subscription if dictation is your main need. Stay with Ottex if you rely on meeting summaries and follow-up drafts, or custom output rules per app.
Does Ottex or Aqua Voice work on Windows or Android?
Aqua Voice supports Windows, Mac and iOS; Ottex supports Mac and iOS. Neither lists Android support.
How many languages do Ottex and Aqua Voice support?
Ottex supports 100 languages; Aqua Voice supports 50. Ottex also supports switching languages mid-sentence, while that capability is unverified for Aqua Voice.