COMPARISONEvery claim sourced · verified Aug 2026

FluidVoice vs Hedy: the honest comparison.

FluidVoice is the better free desktop dictation tool, while Hedy is the clear choice for live meeting coaching. Ottex, which we make, is shown as a reference for buyers who want dictation and meetings in one app.

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.

FluidVoice

Mac · Free tier

FluidVoice is a compelling free, open-source choice for local, system-wide dictation with 99-language model support, but it offers no meeting recording or intelligence.

Choose if

You want free, unlimited local dictation without sending voice or transcripts to the vendor.
You need system-wide desktop dictation with per-app prompts, voice commands, and custom vocabulary.
You want to transcribe audio and video files locally, with TXT or JSON export.

Look elsewhere if

You need a meeting assistant for recording, summaries, action items, or team collaboration.

Hedy

Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web · Limited free · $12.99/mo · $299 one-time

Hedy is strongest as a bot-free live meeting coach and searchable conversation memory, with local/offline options and broad platform support, but it is not a system-wide dictation tool and lacks proven speaker labels, hotkeys, snippets, or

Choose if

You want real-time coaching during meetings, with questions, blind-spot alerts, talking points, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps after the session.
You need bot-free capture for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, in-person conversations, or imported audio/video, with apps across iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and web
You value privacy controls: local speech recognition by default, optional local AI, optional cloud sync, GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 Type I claims.

Look elsewhere if

You need system-wide dictation that inserts polished text into any app; Hedy explicitly does not support system-wide insertion or context-aware dictation.
You need meeting transcripts with publicly claimed speaker identification, timestamp exports, or speaker labels; those claims are not present here.

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 on dictation price because it is completely free. Hedy includes up to 5 meeting hours per month for free, while unlimited sessions cost $12.99 per month, $99.99 per year, or $299 once; Ottex sits between them with free local and BYOK use, $0.20 per hour PAYG, or a $14 monthly Pro plan.

See the evidence — 13 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	Hedy
Free tier	YesForever free with local models and BYOK providers.	YesThe core app and local inference are free; optional cloud enhancement uses the user's provider key.	PartialUp to 5 hours per month; Real-time AI insights (first 30 min/session)
Subscription	$14/mo$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.	NoNo subscription plan	$12.99/moPro adds unlimited sessions, recording import, cross-session organization, Zapier, and API integrations.
Pay-as-you-go / one-timeEscape the flat subscription	$0.2/hourHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).	NoSubscription only	$299 one-timeAll future updates included
Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman	YesOpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers.	YesUsers can supply OpenAI, Groq, or custom provider API credentials for optional enhancement.	No public claim
Education discount	NoSame pricing for everyone.	NoNo separate education discount is published because the product is free.	No public claim

Platforms

Hedy wins platform coverage with Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and web apps. FluidVoice covers Mac and Windows, although its Windows installers are beta prereleases, while Ottex is limited to Mac and iOS.

See the evidence — 6 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	Hedy
Platforms	Mac, iOS	MacSome platforms in beta/waitlist	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke	YesNative Swift app, ~50MB RAM.	PartialThe macOS app is native Swift while the Windows beta uses Flutter with native speech and input components.	YesVendor describes a native macOS application.

Meetings & team memory

Hedy wins meeting capture because it records Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, in-person conversations, and imported files without a meeting bot. FluidVoice does not record meetings, while Ottex does; however, Hedy does not publicly claim speaker identification or labels, and neither Hedy nor Ottex is presented here as having mature shared team memory.

See the evidence — 17 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	Hedy
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all	YesWith speaker separation.	NoNot supported.	YesHedy records live sessions and meeting conversations.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call	YesSystem-audio capture, no bot joins the call.	NoNot supported.	YesFeature page says no bot joins calls.
Speaker separation	Yes	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Calendar detection	YesCalendar-based meeting detection.	NoNot supported.	YesGoogle Calendar is listed in the help center and news page.
Cross-meeting search	Yes	NoNot supported.	YesPro users can group sessions and ask questions across conversations weeks ago.
Shared team memory	PartialPublic share links, not a full team workspace.	NoNot supported.	YesSharing sessions and topics is listed in the help center.

From meeting to finished work

Hedy wins for live meeting help, offering questions, blind-spot alerts, talking points, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps; FluidVoice offers no meeting intelligence. Ottex goes further after the conversation by producing follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and documents, although it lacks mature team infrastructure today.

See the evidence — 11 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	Hedy
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear	YesDecisions with owners extracted.	NoNot supported.	YesGoogle Play listing says Hedy can find decisions across past conversations.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized	YesDrafted from templates or your own.	NoNot supported.	YesAuto-recap emails are listed for sharing insights.
CRM update / ticket draft	YesStructured for the target app.	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Your rough notes steer the result	YesRough notes and instructions steer the result.	NoNot supported.	YesHedy 3 added in-meeting note-taking that powers AI suggestions.

Dictation & transcription AI

FluidVoice wins dictation with free local processing, BYOK support, system-wide insertion, per-app prompts, voice commands, custom vocabulary, and models covering 99 languages. Hedy supports 30 languages and local speech recognition but is not a system-wide dictation tool; Ottex narrowly exceeds FluidVoice at 100 languages and combines local or BYOK models with personal vocabulary, mixed-language speech, and per-app output rules.

See the evidence — 13 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	Hedy
Engines	Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local.	Nemotron Speech 3.5, Parakeet Flash, Parakeet TDT v3 and v2, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech, WhisperThe app publishes seven recognition-engine families with multiple variants.	Two local and two cloud speech recognition providersUsers can choose between private on-device transcription and cloud-based speech recognition.
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine	YesWhisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.	YesSupported speech models run on the device after any required download.	YesLocal speech recognition and local AI processing can run on-device and offline.
Model selection per task	YesChoose the model per task and per provider.	YesUsers select among the supported recognition models during onboarding or in settings.	YesSpeech recognition provider can be changed in Settings > Speech & AI.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence	Yes100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.	No public claim	Yes30+ languages · App Store listing says Hedy supports multilingual conversations while returning insights in the preferred language.
Per-app output rules	YesPer-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.	YesDifferent prompt sets can be assigned to different applications.	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.

You dictate about 3 h a week≈ 23,400 words at ~130 wpm

0 h5 h10 h

and sit in 4 h of meetings a weekhours you'd want captured and turned into follow-ups

0 h7.5 h15 h

Fill the gaps with:

Dictation appadded to meetings-only toolsMeetings appadded to dictation-only tools

OttexOttex Provider — PAYG$135/yrHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).

OttexSubscription - Pro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.

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 Aug 2026.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

FluidVoice vs Hedy: which is better?

Choose FluidVoice for free, private, system-wide desktop dictation; choose Hedy for live meeting coaching and capture across desktop, mobile, and web. Hedy is plainly better for meetings, while FluidVoice is plainly better for dictation.

Is FluidVoice free?

Yes, FluidVoice is free and supports unlimited local dictation without sending voice or transcripts to the vendor. It is a real free option, not a word-capped teaser.

Is Hedy free?

Hedy has a free plan with up to 5 meeting hours per month, but real-time AI insights stop after the first 30 minutes of each session. Unlimited meeting length and sessions require Pro.

How much do FluidVoice and Hedy cost?

FluidVoice is free, while Hedy Pro costs $12.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Hedy also offers a $299 one-time Lifetime plan.

Is FluidVoice or Hedy safer for private audio?

FluidVoice is the stronger privacy choice for dictation because processing can stay local and voice and transcripts are not sent to the vendor. Hedy uses local speech recognition by default and offers optional local AI and optional cloud sync, making it the better fit when private meeting coaching is required.

Is it worth switching from FluidVoice to Hedy?

Switch if meetings have become the main job: Hedy adds bot-free capture, live coaching, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps. Stay with FluidVoice if you mainly dictate into desktop apps, need custom vocabulary and voice commands, or want a free local tool.

Does FluidVoice or Hedy work on Windows or Android?

Hedy works on Windows and Android, as well as Mac, iOS, and web. FluidVoice supports Mac and Windows, but its Windows installers are published as beta prereleases and it has no listed Android app.

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