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
Dragon NaturallySpeaking vs Hedy: the honest comparison.
Three tools. Different strengths. Find your fit.
Ottex
Dragon NaturallySpeaking
HedyAll 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.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Windows
Choose if
You want offline Windows dictation with custom vocabulary.
Look elsewhere if
You need desktop dictation on a Mac.
Hedy
Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web
Choose if
You want live suggestions during client calls.
Look elsewhere if
You need system-wide dictation for writing across apps.
The evidence
Pricing
Dragon NaturallySpeaking has custom pricing; Hedy Pro costs $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr. Ottex Pro costs $14/mo or $168/yr; its app is free with local models or your own API key (BYOK), with provider usage billed separately.
See the evidence — 13 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Hedy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Forever free with local models and BYOK providers. | NoNo free plan | PartialSource: hedy.ai/pricing — checked Oct 2026Up to 5 hours per month |
| Subscription | $14/moSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included. | NoNo subscription plan | $12.99/moSource: hedy.ai/contact — checked Oct 2026Cloud AI is included, local processing is available, optional external speech providers incur separate API charges, and automatic suggestions stop after 120 minutes per session. |
| One-time payment | Not applicableSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Application is free | NoNo one-time payment plan | $299 one-timeSource: hedy.ai/pricing — checked Oct 2026Lifetime feature access and future updates. |
| 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 | YesSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Deepgram, OpenAI, and xAI speech recognition accept user API keys and bill usage separately from Hedy. |
| Education discount | NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Same pricing for everyone. | YesSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Qualified K–12 and higher-education organizations receive OLP discounts with unpublished prices, billing periods and percentages; the separate K–12 site program covers up to 250 computers. | No public claim |
The evidence
Platforms
Dragon NaturallySpeaking requires Windows; Ottex supports Mac and iOS. Hedy also supports Windows, Android and Web, making it the choice here for Android meeting assistance.
See the evidence — 5 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Hedy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | WindowsSource: dragon.nuance.com/shared — checked Oct 2026 | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, WebSource: hedy.ai/downloads — checked Oct 2026 |
| Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Native Swift app, ~50MB RAM. | No public claim | YesSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026The import documentation identifies the installed Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android clients as native apps. |
The evidence
Meetings & team memory
Dragon NaturallySpeaking cannot record meetings; Hedy and Ottex record without bots. Ottex has an opt-in experimental macOS camera recording watermark; 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 | Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Hedy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026With speaker separation. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | YesSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Saving session audio requires enabling audio recording, which is off by default. |
| Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026System-audio capture, no bot joins the call. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | YesSource: hedy.ai/downloads — checked Oct 2026Meeting capture does not require a bot to join the call. |
| 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: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | No public claim |
| Participant noticesRecording notices in chat or calendar | No public claim | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | No public claim |
| Speaker separation | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | PartialSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Nemotron separates speakers on supported devices, with names inferred from conversation context or entered manually. |
| Calendar detection | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Calendar-based meeting detection. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | PartialSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Mac and Windows detect microphone use by Zoom, Teams, and Webex, with FaceTime detection available on Mac. |
| Cross-meeting search | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | PartialSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Topic chat searches related sessions; Free includes one topic, while Pro supports unlimited topics and chat across them. |
| Shared team memory | PartialSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Public share links, not a full team workspace. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | PartialSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Pro users can share Topics containing current and future sessions with recipients who receive read-only access. |
The evidence
From meeting to finished work
Dragon NaturallySpeaking has no meeting notes. Hedy summarizes calls but needs external automation for follow-up drafts; Ottex drafts follow-ups and structures transcripts with document templates. Both offer transcript chat prompt libraries.
See the evidence — 17 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Hedy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Document templates that extract and structure information from meeting transcripts are not supported. | No public claim |
| 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: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Reusable AI chat prompts for analyzing meeting transcripts are not supported. | YesSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Built-in Quick Prompts send preset questions to session chat, with different prompt sets for each session type. |
| Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Decisions with owners extracted. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | YesSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Session recaps extract action items and next steps into trackable to-do items. |
| Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Drafted from templates or your own. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | PartialSource: hedy.ai/integrations — checked Oct 2026A viaSocket template creates an interview follow-up email draft in Gmail from a Hedy session. |
| CRM update / ticket draft | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Structured for the target app. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | PartialSource: hedy.ai/integrations — checked Oct 2026A viaSocket workflow sends sales-call notes to a HubSpot contact and requires external automation setup. |
| Your rough notes steer the result | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Rough notes and instructions steer the result. | NoSource: dragon.nuance.com/en-us — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | YesSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Up to 10,000 characters of user-written session notes inform summaries, detailed notes, and chat responses. |
The evidence
Dictation & transcription AI
Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Ottex support custom dictionaries and voice snippets. Ottex formats paragraphs and lists and applies saved writing instructions before insertion; Hedy cannot dictate into other apps.
See the evidence — 26 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Dragon NaturallySpeaking | Hedy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engines | Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Source: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local. | Nuance Dragon speech engineSource: dragon.nuance.com/shared — checked Oct 2026The desktop recognition engine uses Nuance Deep Learning technology. | No public claim |
| Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Whisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device. | YesSource: nuance.com/asset — checked Oct 2026Local recognition supports disconnected operation, subject to administrative configuration in managed deployments. | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| Model selection per task | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Choose the model per task and per provider. | No public claim | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching. | No public claim | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| 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: nuance.com/products — checked Oct 2026Configurable rules format numbers, dates and addresses and optionally insert commas and periods; automatic paragraph and list structuring was not verified. | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| 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: nuance.com/products — checked Oct 2026The Vocabulary Editor adds and trains words and phrases with custom written forms, pronunciations and formatting properties. | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| 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: nuance.com/products — checked Oct 2026Speaking a saved Auto-Text command inserts user-defined text or graphics, with global, application-specific or window-specific availability. | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
| 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. | No public claim | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| 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 | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported for system-wide dictation. |
| 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. | No public claim | PartialSource: hedy.ai/help — checked Oct 2026Completed session transcripts can be manually cleaned and translated using cloud AI on the original capturing device. |
| Per-app output rules | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Per-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email. | No public claim | NoSource: hedy.ai/features — checked Oct 2026Not supported. |
Questions people actually ask.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking vs Hedy: which should I choose?
Choose Dragon NaturallySpeaking for offline Windows dictation and custom vocabulary, or Hedy for live meeting coaching. Choose Ottex on Mac or iOS when dictation should follow saved writing instructions.
Is Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Hedy free?
Dragon NaturallySpeaking has no listed free plan; Hedy is free for up to 5 meeting hours/month. Ottex has free app access with local models or BYOK; provider API usage can cost extra.
How much do Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Hedy cost?
Dragon NaturallySpeaking requires a custom quote, so no yearly price is published; Hedy Pro is $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr, with a $299 lifetime option. Ottex Pro is $14/mo or $168/yr; local-model and BYOK app access are free, with provider charges separate.
Is Dragon NaturallySpeaking safe to use?
For keeping dictation audio on-device, choose Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Ottex with local models. Hedy has no fully local option and uses cloud AI for transcript cleanup and translation; Ottex BYOK uses your chosen provider.
Is it worth switching from Dragon NaturallySpeaking to Hedy?
Switch to Hedy if you want live meeting coaching and recaps; stay with Dragon NaturallySpeaking for offline Windows dictation. Ottex suits a move to Mac or iOS when you need dictation, saved writing rules and meeting drafts.
Do Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Hedy work on Windows or Android?
Dragon NaturallySpeaking supports Windows; Hedy supports Windows and Android. Ottex supports Mac and iOS, so choose Dragon NaturallySpeaking for Windows dictation or Hedy for meetings on Windows or Android.
Does Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Hedy work offline?
Dragon NaturallySpeaking supports offline Windows dictation, subject to administrative settings in managed deployments; Ottex supports on-device dictation with Whisper or Parakeet v3. Hedy has no fully local option and cannot dictate into other apps.