COMPARISONEvery claim sourced · verified Jun 2026

FluidVoice vs QuickWhisper: the honest comparison.

FluidVoice is the free Mac dictation pick, while QuickWhisper is the stronger Mac transcription and recording tool at $59 one-time for Pro. Ottex, which we make, is the broader Mac/iOS option when you want dictation, meetings, and finished follow-ups in one product.

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.

QuickWhisper

Mac · Limited free · $59 one-time

QuickWhisper is a strong Mac-first, local transcription workhorse with a generous free tier and a $59 pay-once Pro plan, but it is not a polished team meeting assistant with cross-platform apps, shared workspace, calendar automation, or CRM

Choose if

You want local-first dictation, file transcription, and bot-free meeting recording on macOS 14.6+ with Apple Silicon.
You prefer a pay-once tool: Pro is $59 for advanced models, diarization, batch transcription, meeting recording, exports, integrations, API access, and watch/fd
You handle lots of audio/video files and need batch transcription, speaker labels, timestamps, and exports like TXT, PDF, MD, CSV, JSON, SRT, VTT, and more.

Look elsewhere if

You need Windows, Android, Linux, web app, or clearly supported mobile-first workflows.
You need a team meeting workspace with shared memory, calendar detection, action items, decisions, owners, follow-up emails, or CRM/task drafts from meetings.

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 if $0 and macOS dictation is the whole job because it is free forever with no paid tiers. QuickWhisper is the better pay-once value because Standard is free for Tiny and Base file transcription and Pro is $59 one-time. Ottex has the broadest pricing ladder: free local AI, free BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, $14/mo Pro, and $24/seat/mo Team.

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

	Ottex	FluidVoice	QuickWhisper
Free tier	YesForever free with local models and BYOK providers.	PartialFree forever, no paid tiers	PartialTiny and Base Models; free transcription of audio and video files using the Tiny and Base models, with no limitations.
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	$59 one-timePay-once use forever.
Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman	YesOpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers.	YesOptional AI provider API keys can be added for enhanced transcription.	YesChangelog lists adding existing API keys for cloud transcription providers and AI models.
Education discount	NoSame pricing for everyone.	No public claim	No public claim

Platforms

All three are Apple-first, so none wins for Windows, Android, Linux, web, or browser-extension coverage. QuickWhisper and FluidVoice are Mac-only, with FluidVoice aimed at macOS 15 Sequoia or later and QuickWhisper at macOS 14.6+ on Apple Silicon. Ottex has the widest platform coverage of the three because it supports Mac and iOS.

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

	Ottex	FluidVoice	QuickWhisper
Platforms	Mac, iOS	Mac	Mac
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke	YesNative Swift app, ~50MB RAM.	YesThe vendor describes FluidVoice as a native macOS app.	YesQuickWhisper is distributed as a macOS app through direct download, App Store, GitHub, and Homebrew.

Meetings & team memory

QuickWhisper beats FluidVoice on capture because QuickWhisper includes meeting recording in Pro, while FluidVoice has no meetings support. Ottex also supports meetings and is the better fit when capture needs to sit beside dictation and follow-up work. None of the three is described as a mature team meeting workspace with shared memory.

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

	Ottex	FluidVoice	QuickWhisper
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all	YesWith speaker separation.	NoNot supported.	YesVendor lists recording meetings in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and others.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call	YesSystem-audio capture, no bot joins the call.	NoNot supported.	YesVendor says meetings are recorded without bots joining calls.
Speaker separation	Yes	NoNot supported.	YesVendor lists global speakers and speaker filtering across history.
Calendar detection	YesCalendar-based meeting detection.	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Cross-meeting search	Yes	NoNot supported.	YesChangelog lists related transcriptions and semantic search across History.
Shared team memory	PartialPublic share links, not a full team workspace.	NoNot supported.	No public claim

From meeting to finished work

Ottex wins meeting intelligence because it turns meetings into follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, docs, and notes. QuickWhisper can record meetings and adds diarization, exports, integrations, API access, and watch folders in Pro, but it is not positioned as a team assistant for decisions, owners, or CRM/task drafts. FluidVoice does not compete here because it has no meetings, summaries, action-item

See the evidence — 8 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	FluidVoice	QuickWhisper
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear	YesDecisions with owners extracted.	NoNot supported.	No public claim
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

QuickWhisper is the strongest local-first dictation and transcription pick because it has local options, BYOK, file transcription, and 100 languages. FluidVoice is still attractive for free Mac dictation with BYOK and 99 languages, but its digest does not list a local option. Ottex matches the 100-language ceiling, adds local options and BYOK, and is the better fit when dictation output needs per-app rules and mixed,

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

	Ottex	FluidVoice	QuickWhisper
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, Parakeet TDT v2, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech, Whisper Tiny/Base/Small/Medium/LargeThe README lists these supported speech models.	Whisper, Qwen 3 ASR, Nvidia Parakeet 110M, Nvidia Nemotron, Mistral Voxtral Mini, cloud providers OpenAI, Google, DeepGram, ElevenLabs, and GroqVendor changelog lists local voice model additions and cloud transcription providers.
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine	YesWhisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.	PartialLocal speech models are supported, while Cohere and AI enhancement use optional cloud providers.	YesVendor says all transcriptions are processed and stored locally on the machine.
Model selection per task	YesChoose the model per task and per provider.	YesUsers can choose among multiple supported speech models.	YesVendor lists Whisper settings, custom GGML model import, and selectable local/cloud 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.	No public claim	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 Jun 2026.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

FluidVoice vs QuickWhisper: which should I pick?

Pick QuickWhisper for most Mac transcription workflows because it adds local options, file transcription, meeting recording, speaker diarization, batch transcription, and a $59 one-time Pro plan. Pick FluidVoice only if you want a free macOS dictation app and do not need meetings or advanced transcription workflow features.

Is FluidVoice free?

Yes. FluidVoice is listed as free forever with no paid tiers, so it is the cleanest $0 path between FluidVoice and QuickWhisper if all you need is Mac dictation.

Is QuickWhisper free?

QuickWhisper has a free Standard plan for Tiny and Base model transcription of audio and video files with no limitations. Its advanced features, including speaker diarization, batch transcription, meeting recording, advanced exports, API access, integrations, and watch folders, are in Pro for $59 one-time.

How much does FluidVoice cost compared with QuickWhisper?

FluidVoice costs $0 because it is free forever with no paid tiers. QuickWhisper can also be used free on Standard, but the serious workflow tier is Pro at $59 one-time.

Is FluidVoice safer than QuickWhisper?

QuickWhisper is the safer pick if privacy means local processing, because its digest includes local options and BYOK. FluidVoice has BYOK, but its digest does not list a local option, so it is weaker on the privacy claim from the available facts.

Is it worth switching from FluidVoice to QuickWhisper?

Yes, if you need local-first file transcription, batch jobs, speaker diarization, exports, meeting recording, integrations, API access, or watch folders. Stay with FluidVoice if free Mac dictation is enough and you do not need meetings or transcription workflow features.

Does FluidVoice or QuickWhisper work on Windows or Android?

No. FluidVoice and QuickWhisper are both Mac-only in the digests, and QuickWhisper also requires macOS 14.6+ with Apple Silicon. Ottex is not a Windows or Android answer either, but it does add iOS alongside Mac.

More FluidVoice alternatives QuickWhisper icon

More QuickWhisper alternatives