2026 Comparison

Hedy vs Vowen vs Ottex AI

An honest, side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, privacy, and technology. Find out which dictation tool fits your workflow.

Quick Overview

Ottex AI

Pricing

Free (BYOK, Local models), or pay-as-you-go (Ottex Provider)

Privacy

Excellent - Choose between Local models and BYOK. You control where data goes.

Key Strength

Free for personal use with BYOK/local models (vs $8-15/mo competitors), Gemini 3 Flash (99

Download

Hedy

Pricing

Free for up to 5 hours/month, $9.99/month or $69.99/year after that

Privacy

Great - Content not accessed except for processing

Key Strength

Hedy supports users during meetings/conversations (automatic feedback/suggestions) and afterwards (summaries/chat)

Visit Website

Vowen

Pricing

Free

Privacy

Great - Content not accessed except for processing

Visit Website

Pricing

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
Lifetime Price	Free (Local models, BYOK)	$199.00	Free
Subscription	Free (BYOK, Local models), or pay-as-you-go (Ottex Provider)	Free for up to 5 hours/month, $9.99/month or $69.99/year after that	Free
Education Discount	Same pricing for all	N/A	Free

Platform

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
Platforms	MacOS, iOS	MacOS, iPadOS, iOS, Android	MacOS, Windows
Open Source

Technology

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
Transcription Engines	Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3	Whisper	Whisper, Parakeet
Processing Options	Cloud (BYOK), Local	100% Local	100% Local, Cloud (add API key)
Model Selection
Apple Silicon Optimized
Memory Management	Excellent (~50MB)

Dictation

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
Dictation Type	Realtime, Post-Dictation	Realtime, Post-Dictation, File based	Post-Dictation
Speed	<500msLocal <500ms Cloud 500ms–2s with Gemini 3 Flash	>1 second	<500ms
System-Wide Insertion
Trigger Options	Hotkey, Shortcut	n/a	Hotkey, Shortcut
Language Auto Detection	100+ languages with Gemini 3 Flash. Mid-sentence language switching. Best multilingual quality available.
Context Awareness	Screenshot-based context analysis. Work modes per app (email, notes, code). Custom instructions per context.
Dictation History			access only
Search		Search

Text Processing

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy
Voice Corrections 'Scratch that', 'actually'
Precision Typing 'New line', 'new paragraph'	new line, new paragraph
Glossaries
Filler Word Removal
Auto-correction
Translation	via AI commands	of Files

AI & Automation

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
AI Integration	BYOK - OpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, OpenAI competible providers	App-Provided AI Access	User-Provided API Access
Custom Prompts
Inline AI Commands Unique Ottex feature
AI Shortcuts
Meeting Summaries

Features

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy
Menu Bar Access		Optional
Batch Transcription
Audio File Transcription
Video Transcription	With diarization (speaker separation)
Meeting Recording	With diarization (speaker separation)

Accessibility

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
Apple Shortcuts
Launcher Support Raycast, Alfred	Raycast, Alfred

Privacy

Feature	Ottex AIDownload	Hedy	Vowen
Privacy Policy	Excellent - Choose between Local models and BYOK. You control where data goes.	Great - Content not accessed except for processing	Great - Content not accessed except for processing

Why Ottex AI is the smart choice

While Hedy and Vowen have their strengths, Ottex AI gives you the best of both worlds: enterprise-grade accuracy via Gemini 3 Flash, complete privacy with Local models and BYOK, and zero subscription lock-in.

Best Value

Free forever with local models or your own API keys. Optional $9/mo premium is cheaper than competitors.

Multilingual King

Gemini 3 Flash supports 100+ languages with 99.1% accuracy and mid-sentence switching.

Inline AI

Don't just dictate. Command. "Fix grammar", "Make professional", "Translate" — all while you speak.

Download Ottex for Mac

Free for personal use • No credit card required