FluidVoice vs Willow Voice: the honest comparison.
FluidVoice is the free Mac-only dictation pick. Willow Voice is the polished cross-device dictation pick for Mac, Windows, and iOS. Ottex adds meetings, file transcription, and finished work on Mac and iOS.
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.
Willow Voice
Mac, Windows, iOS · Limited free · $12/mo
Willow Voice looks strong if you want polished, system-wide AI dictation across Mac, Windows, and iPhone, but it is not a file transcription or meeting-notes tool, and its free tier is only about 15 minutes of speech a week.
Choose if
You want system-wide dictation that inserts text into whatever field your cursor is in.
You dictate across Mac, Windows, and iPhone and care about 100+ languages, custom vocabulary, and tone/style cleanup.
You need team dictation controls like a shared dictionary, shared shortcuts, centralized billing, and a 3-seat minimum is fine.
Look elsewhere if
You need meeting recording, summaries, action items, speaker identification, or follow-up drafts.
You need audio/video file transcription, batch processing, timestamps, or speaker labels from uploaded media files.You need a genuinely usable free plan; 2,000
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 simplest price story: free forever with no paid tiers. Willow Voice has a 2,000-word weekly free tier, which is only about 15 minutes of dictation, then $15/mo Individual or $12/seat/mo Team with a 3-seat minimum. Ottex has the broadest pricing range: free local AI, free BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, $14/mo Pro, and $24/seat/mo Team.
See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
FluidVoice
Willow Voice
Free tier
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Forever free with local models and BYOK providers.
PartialSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Free forever, no paid tiers
PartialSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 20262,000 free words per week
Subscription
$14/moSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.
NoNo subscription plan
$12/moSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Jun 2026Pricing page shows $10/month billed annually; help center says $12 per user/month with 20% off annually.
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.
No public claim
Education discount
NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Same pricing for everyone.
No public claim
No public claim
Platforms
Willow Voice wins platform coverage with Mac, Windows, and iOS. FluidVoice is Mac-only, which is fine if you live on macOS 15 Sequoia or later but a blocker for Windows or iPhone dictation. Ottex sits between them with Mac and iOS, but it does not cover Windows, Android, Linux, web, or browser extensions.
See the evidence — 6 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
FluidVoice
Willow Voice
Platforms
Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
MacSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026
Mac, Windows, iOSSource: willowvoice.com/download — checked Jun 2026Some platforms in beta/waitlist
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.
PartialSource: willowvoice.com/download — checked Jun 2026Mac download appears native; Windows download URL references Electron builds.
Meetings & team memory
Ottex is the only tool here that covers meetings. FluidVoice and Willow Voice both handle dictation, but neither offers meeting recording, action items, speaker identification, calendar capture, or shared team memory. If the job is capturing calls rather than talking into text fields, Ottex wins this section clearly.
See the evidence — 18 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
FluidVoice
Willow Voice
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026With speaker separation.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
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.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Speaker separation
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Calendar detection
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Calendar-based meeting detection.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Cross-meeting search
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
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.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
From meeting to finished work
Ottex is also the only one of the three that turns voice and meetings into finished work such as follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs. FluidVoice is a dictation utility, and Willow Voice is a polished dictation product with team vocabulary and shortcuts, but neither is positioned as a meeting-notes or follow-up engine. Choose Willow Voice or FluidVoice for insertion into text fields; chooseOt
See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
FluidVoice
Willow Voice
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.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
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.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
CRM update / ticket draft
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Structured for the target app.
NoSource: github.com/altic-dev — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
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.
NoSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Jun 2026Not supported.
Dictation & transcription AI
Willow Voice has the broadest dictation platform story with Mac, Windows, iOS, and 100 languages. FluidVoice is stronger for Mac users who want a free GPLv3 app, BYOK, Whisper support, and up to 99 languages. Ottex matches the 100-language tier, adds BYOK and local AI, and is the strongest choice when dictation needs to become per-app outputs rather than plain inserted text.
See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show tableHide table
Ottex
FluidVoice
Willow Voice
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.
cloud-based AI modelsSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Jun 2026Vendor describes the recognition stack as cloud-based AI models without naming providers.
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.
PartialSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Jun 2026Help center lists offline dictation on Individual Pro, while privacy docs say cloud models are used for the main experience.
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.
No public claim
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.
No public claim
YesSource: apps.apple.com/us — checked Jun 2026100+ languages · App Store listing says users can switch languages on the fly.
Per-app output rules
YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Jun 2026Per-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.
No public claim
PartialSource: apps.apple.com/us — checked Jun 2026App Store listing says style matching adapts tone by context; TechCrunch reports styles across app categories.
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.
OttexSubscription - Pro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.
Willow VoiceTeam+ Granola for meetings — $168/yr$283/yr$115 + $168Pricing page shows $10/month billed annually; help center says $12 per user/month with 20% off annually. · Unlimited words; minimum 3 seats
Willow VoiceIndividual+ Granola for meetings — $168/yr$312/yr$144 + $168Pricing page shows $12/month billed annually; help center says $15/month with 20% off annual billing. · Unlimited words to dictate; up to 8 minutes of recording per session
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 Willow Voice: which should I pick?
Pick Willow Voice if you need dictation across Mac, Windows, and iOS, or if team features like shared dictionaries and shared shortcuts matter. Pick FluidVoice if you only need Mac dictation and want a free GPLv3 tool with no paid tiers.
Is FluidVoice free?
Yes. FluidVoice is listed as free forever with no paid tiers, which makes it the cleaner free choice if Mac-only dictation is the whole job. The tradeoff is that it does not cover Windows, iOS, Android, web, meetings, or team memory.
Is Willow Voice free?
Willow Voice has a free tier, but 2,000 words per week is only about 15 minutes of dictation a week. For real use, the relevant plans are Individual at $15/mo or Team at $12/seat/mo with a 3-seat minimum.
How much does FluidVoice cost compared with Willow Voice?
FluidVoice costs $0 because it has only a free plan. Willow Voice costs $15/mo for Individual, or $12/seat/mo for Team with at least 3 seats, after a 2,000-word weekly free tier that works out to about 15 minutes of speech.
Is FluidVoice safer than Willow Voice?
FluidVoice is the better privacy fit if you want a free, open-source Mac app with BYOK and model control. Willow Voice is better if you want a polished managed dictation product across Mac, Windows, and iOS, but the input does not list BYOK or local options for it.
Is it worth switching from FluidVoice to Willow Voice?
Switch to Willow Voice if you need Windows, iPhone support, custom vocabulary, tone/style cleanup, or team dictation controls. Stay on FluidVoice if Mac-only dictation works for you and the free GPLv3 model is the reason you chose it.
Does FluidVoice or Willow Voice work on Windows or Android?
Willow Voice works on Windows; FluidVoice does not. Neither tool lists Android support, while Willow Voice covers Mac, Windows, and iOS and FluidVoice covers Mac only.
