COMPARISONEvery claim sourced · verified Aug 2026

FluidVoice vs MacWhisper: the honest comparison.

Choose FluidVoice for free, unlimited local dictation across Mac and beta Windows. Choose MacWhisper for a native Mac transcription workbench with richer file workflows at $68 once. We make Ottex, the reference here when you also need meeting capture and finished work.

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.

MacWhisper

Mac · Limited free · $68 one-time

MacWhisper is a strong Mac-first transcription workbench: $68 one-time gets local, offline transcription, 100+ languages, batch files, subtitles, speaker labels, and AI cleanup, but it is macOS-only and feels more like a transcript tool than a system-wide writing app.

Choose if

You want a native Mac app for private local transcription without a subscription.
You regularly transcribe audio or video files and need batch processing, watch folders, timestamps, speaker labels, and exports like SRT, VTT, DOCX, or Markdown.
You want dictation into other Mac apps with a hotkey, cleanup, filler-word removal, translation, and optional cloud/API models.

Look elsewhere if

You need Windows, iPhone, Android, Linux, web, or browser-extension support.
You need a team meeting workspace with shared memory, calendar detection, CRM/task follow-ups, templates, or collaboration features.

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 price because its local dictation and file transcription are free, with no stated cap. MacWhisper Free stops at 5 minutes, so regular transcription points to MacWhisper Pro at $68 one-time. Ottex is also genuinely free with local AI or BYOK, while hosted processing costs $0.20/hour and Pro costs $14/month or $168/year.

See the evidence — 14 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	M MacWhisper
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.	PartialFree version can transcribe up to 5 minutes; some features are Pro-only.
Subscription	$14/mo$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.	NoNo subscription plan	NoNo subscription plan
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	$68 one-timePro is sold as a one-time Mac license, with local transcription and optional cloud/API-key transcription providers.
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.	YesThe app supports user-provided API keys for cloud transcription and AI providers.
Education discount	NoSame pricing for everyone.	NoNo separate education discount is published because the product is free.	No public claim

Platforms

FluidVoice has the broader desktop reach: it supports Mac and publishes Windows installers as beta prereleases. MacWhisper is the stronger Mac-specific choice because it is a native app, but it has no Windows version. Ottex covers Mac and iOS, so none of the three covers Android, Linux, or the web.

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

	Ottex	FluidVoice	M MacWhisper
Platforms	Mac, iOS	MacSome platforms in beta/waitlist	Mac
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.	YesThe product is a downloadable Mac application.

Meetings & team memory

Neither FluidVoice nor MacWhisper records meetings: both have 0 meeting capability despite supporting file transcription. MacWhisper can add speaker labels to imported recordings, but that is not live meeting capture or team memory. Ottex is the only one of the three that combines meetings with dictation, although it does not yet offer a mature shared team workspace.

See the evidence — 16 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	M MacWhisper
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all	YesWith speaker separation.	NoNot supported.	YesThe app can record meetings and transcribe the recording.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call	YesSystem-audio capture, no bot joins the call.	NoNot supported.	YesRecording is done from the Mac app without a meeting bot.
Speaker separation	Yes	NoNot supported.	YesThe vendor lists speaker recognition.
Calendar detection	YesCalendar-based meeting detection.	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Cross-meeting search	Yes	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Shared team memory	PartialPublic share links, not a full team workspace.	NoNot supported.	NoNot supported.

From meeting to finished work

FluidVoice and MacWhisper both stop at transcription and writing assistance, with 0 built-in meeting workflows for action items, CRM updates, or tickets. Ottex wins this dimension because its meeting output can become follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and documents, though mature integrations and shared team infrastructure are still missing.

See the evidence — 9 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	M MacWhisper
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear	YesDecisions with owners extracted.	NoNot supported.	YesAI actions can extract action items from transcripts.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized	YesDrafted from templates or your own.	NoNot supported.	No public claim
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.	No public claim

Dictation & transcription AI

FluidVoice is the better system-wide writing tool, with local dictation, per-app prompts, voice commands, custom vocabulary, BYOK, and support for 99 languages. MacWhisper supports 100 languages and adds hotkey dictation, cleanup, filler-word removal, translation, and optional cloud or API models, making it stronger for transcript refinement. Both can work locally, while Ottex matches 100-language coverage and adds Whisper or Parakeet, mixed-language speech, vocabulary, and per-app output rules.

See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Aug 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	M MacWhisper
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.	Whisper, Parakeet, NVIDIA Canary, ElevenLabs Scribe, Deepgram Nova, Groq, AssemblyAI, Speechmatics, Gladia, OpenAI, Anthropic, Grok, LM Studio, OllamaMacWhisper lists local models and optional cloud/API integrations.
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 transcription runs on the Mac without uploading audio.
Model selection per task	YesChoose the model per task and per provider.	YesUsers select among the supported recognition models during onboarding or in settings.	YesUsers can choose among multiple local and cloud transcription models.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence	Yes100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.	No public claim	No public claim
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 MacWhisper: which should I choose?

Choose FluidVoice for free, unlimited local dictation, especially if you need system-wide writing or beta Windows support. Choose MacWhisper if you use a Mac and will pay $68 once for stronger batch transcription, watch folders, speaker labels, subtitles, and export formats.

Is FluidVoice free?

Yes, FluidVoice is free and offers unlimited local dictation and file transcription. It is the better no-cost choice than MacWhisper Free, which limits each transcription to 5 minutes.

Is MacWhisper free?

MacWhisper has a free version, but each transcription is capped at 5 minutes and some features require Pro. MacWhisper Pro costs $68 one-time, while FluidVoice provides an uncapped free local path.

How much do FluidVoice and MacWhisper cost?

FluidVoice costs $0, so its first-year and ongoing software cost is $0. MacWhisper Pro costs $68 one-time rather than annually, and its limited free version allows up to 5 minutes per transcription.

Is FluidVoice or MacWhisper safer for private audio?

Both are strong privacy choices because each offers local processing rather than requiring audio or transcripts to be sent to the vendor. MacWhisper is the more polished native Mac transcription workspace, while FluidVoice is the free open-source choice.

Does FluidVoice or MacWhisper work on Windows or Android?

FluidVoice is the only one with Windows support, but its Windows installers are beta prereleases. MacWhisper is Mac-only, and neither tool supports Android.

Does FluidVoice or MacWhisper work offline?

Both support local processing, so either can handle private offline dictation or transcription. Choose FluidVoice for system-wide dictation and MacWhisper for deeper Mac file-transcription workflows.

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