FluidVoice and Krisp solve different jobs. FluidVoice is a free Mac dictation app; Krisp is a call-focused noise and meeting assistant. We make Ottex for buyers who want dictation, meetings, and finished written work in one Mac/iOS tool.
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 · 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.
Krisp
Mac, Windows, Android, Web · Limited free · $16/mo
Krisp is strongest as a noise-cancelling meeting assistant with solid notes, summaries, and compliance signals, but it is not a live dictation tool for writing across apps.
Choose if
You want bot-free meeting recording and transcription on macOS or Windows, with noise cancellation as a core part of the workflow.
You spend a lot of time in calls and want summaries, action items, speaker identification, decisions, and chat across past meetings.
You need team or enterprise controls such as SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR, encryption at rest, and SSO/SCIM on Enterprise.
Look elsewhere if
You need system-wide live dictation, hotkey-triggered insertion, voice commands, snippets, or per-app writing rules.
You want a local/offline transcription setup; Krisp’s noise cancellation is on-device, but meeting recordings and notes use cloud services broadly speaking.
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 is the cleanest price story: free forever with no paid tiers. Krisp gives a limited free plan with 60 min/day noise cancellation, 2 meetings/day for notes, and 60 min/day transcription, then jumps to $16/mo Pro or $30/seat/mo Business. Ottex is the flexible middle: free local AI or BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, $14/mo Pro, and $24/seat/mo Team.
See the evidence — 14 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026
Ottex
FluidVoice
Krisp
Free tier
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Whisper & Parakeet run on your Mac. Dictation and meetings, $0.
PartialSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Free forever, no paid tiers
PartialSource: krisp.ai/pricing — checked Jun 202660 min/day noise cancellation; 2 meetings/day to take notes; 60 min/day transcription; 10 min/day accent conversion
Subscription
$14/moSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.
NoNo subscription plan
$16/moSource: krisp.ai/pricing — checked Jun 2026Pro is priced at $16 monthly or $8/month billed yearly.
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.
YesSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Optional AI provider API keys can be added for enhanced transcription.
NoSource: krisp.ai/pricing — checked Jun 2026No bring-your-own-model-key support is published.
Education discount
NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Same pricing for everyone.
No public claim
YesSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Students, teachers, faculty, and staff can apply for a 50% education discount.
Platforms
Krisp wins platform coverage with Mac, Windows, Android, and Web. FluidVoice is Mac-only, which is fine for a macOS 15 Sequoia workflow but excludes Windows, mobile, web, Linux, and browser-extension users. Ottex sits between them with Mac and iOS, but it is not the right pick for Windows, Android, Linux, or web access.
See the evidence — 5 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026
Ottex
FluidVoice
Krisp
Platforms
Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
MacSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026
Mac, Windows, Android, WebSource: krisp.ai/download — checked Jun 2026
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Native Swift app, ~50MB RAM.
YesSource: altic.dev/fluid — checked Jun 2026The vendor describes FluidVoice as a native macOS app.
No public claim
Meetings & team memory
Krisp wins meeting capture because it is built for calls: bot-free meeting recording, transcription, speaker identification, summaries, decisions, and past-meeting chat are central to the product. FluidVoice does not do meetings at all. Ottex also records meetings and supports local or BYOK paths, but Krisp is the stronger pick when bot-free call capture and mature team controls are the main requirement.
See the evidence — 18 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026
Ottex
FluidVoice
Krisp
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026With speaker separation.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
YesSource: krisp.ai/ai-meeting-assistant — checked Jun 2026Krisp can record and transcribe online and in-person meetings.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026System-audio capture, no bot joins the call.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
YesSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026The desktop app can record and transcribe meetings without adding a bot to the call.
Speaker separation
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
YesSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Krisp supports speaker identification for meeting transcripts.
Calendar detection
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Calendar-based meeting detection.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
YesSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Krisp detects meetings from the desktop app and prompts to record or transcribe.
Cross-meeting search
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
YesSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Krisp AI Chat can answer questions across Krisp meetings.
Shared team memory
PartialSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Public share links, not a full team workspace.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
PartialSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Meeting notes can be shared, but no persistent team memory model is publicly described.
From meeting to finished work
Ottex wins if the goal is finished work, because it can turn dictation and meetings into follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, docs, and notes. Krisp wins over FluidVoice for meeting notes, action items, decisions, speaker identification, and chat across past meetings, but it is not positioned as a cross-app writing and workflow output tool. FluidVoice stays in dictation and file transcription, with no
See the evidence — 9 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026
Ottex
FluidVoice
Krisp
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Decisions with owners extracted.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
YesSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Krisp AI Chat can highlight decisions from meeting content.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Drafted from templates or your own.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
No public claim
CRM update / ticket draft
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Structured for the target app.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
No public claim
Your rough notes steer the result
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Rough notes and instructions steer the result.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
No public claim
Dictation & transcription AI
Ottex wins dictation depth with system-wide dictation, local AI, BYOK, 100 languages, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules. FluidVoice is the best free open-source Mac dictation choice in the compared pair, with BYOK, file transcription, and 99 languages, but no meetings and Mac-only coverage. Krisp is not a dictation tool; it has file transcription and call features, but no live hotke
See the evidence — 11 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026
Ottex
FluidVoice
Krisp
Engines
Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Source: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local.
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.
No public claim
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Whisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.
PartialSource: altic.dev/fluid — checked Jun 2026Local speech models are supported, while Cohere and AI enhancement use optional cloud providers.
NoSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Live system-wide dictation is not a supported feature.
Model selection per task
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Choose the model per task and per provider.
YesSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Users can choose among multiple supported speech models.
NoSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026No user-selectable speech recognition model is published for live dictation.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.
No public claim
No public claim
Per-app output rules
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Per-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.
No public claim
NoSource: help.krisp.ai/hc — checked Jun 2026Not supported
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.
0 h5 h10 h
0 h7.5 h15 h
Fill the gaps with:
KrispPro+ Dictation Daddy Free for dictation — $0/yr$96/yr$96 + $0Pro is priced at $16 monthly or $8/month billed yearly. · Unlimited noise cancellation; unlimited meetings to take notes; 1200 min/month transcription; 60 min/day accent conversion
OttexPro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.
KrispBusiness+ Dictation Daddy Free for dictation — $0/yr$180/yr$180 + $0Business is priced at $30 per user monthly or $15/user/month billed yearly. · Unlimited noise cancellation; unlimited meetings to take notes; unlimited transcription; 60 min/day accent conversion
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 and BYOK usage are estimated at provider at-cost rates ($0.2/h dictation, $0.5/h meetings) — 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.
FluidVoice vs Krisp: which should I pick?
Pick FluidVoice if you want free Mac dictation and file transcription across 99 languages. Pick Krisp if you spend your day in calls and need noise cancellation, bot-free meeting notes, speaker identification, and team controls. Pick Ottex if you want one Mac/iOS tool for dictation, meeting recording, and finished outputs like emails, tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs.
Is FluidVoice free?
Yes. FluidVoice is listed as free forever with no paid tiers. That makes it the cheapest option here for Mac dictation, as long as you do not need meetings or non-Mac platforms.
Is Krisp free?
Krisp has a limited free plan: 60 min/day noise cancellation, 2 meetings/day for notes, 60 min/day transcription, and 10 min/day accent conversion. That can cover occasional calls, but Pro is $16/mo for unlimited meeting notes and 1200 min/month transcription.
How much does FluidVoice cost compared with Krisp?
FluidVoice costs $0/year because it has no paid tiers. Krisp costs $0 on its limited free plan, $16/mo for Pro, $30/seat/mo for Business, and custom pricing for Enterprise. Ottex adds another cheaper path for some users: free local AI or BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, or $14/mo Pro.
Is FluidVoice safer than Krisp?
FluidVoice is the better privacy fit if your priority is a free open-source Mac dictation app with BYOK and control over speech models. Krisp has stronger enterprise signals, including SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR, encryption at rest, and SSO/SCIM on Enterprise, but its meeting recordings and notes use cloud services broadly speaking. For a local-first option that also handles meetings, consider Ottex, which supports
Does FluidVoice or Krisp work on Windows or Android?
Krisp works on Mac, Windows, Android, and Web, so it is the clear choice for Windows or Android. FluidVoice is Mac-only. Ottex is Mac and iOS only, so it also does not solve Windows or Android coverage.
Does FluidVoice or Krisp work offline?
FluidVoice is the better fit if you want a Mac dictation setup with control over speech models, including local options stated in its notes. Krisp’s noise cancellation is on-device, but its meeting recordings and notes use cloud services broadly speaking. Ottex also supports local AI for dictation, file transcription, and meetings on Mac.
