Ottex
Mac, iOS
Choose if
You want dictated emails to follow your saved writing instructions.
Look elsewhere if
You need voice dictation on a Windows computer.
ComparisonEvery claim sourced · verified Oct 2026
Spokenly vs Willow Voice: the honest comparison.
Three tools. Different strengths. Find your fit.
Ottex
Spokenly
Willow VoiceAll comparisons
FAQ
At a glance
Which one fits your work?
Each tool takes a different approach. Here’s a quick side-by-side to help you choose based on your workflow, platforms, and goals.
Spokenly
Mac, Windows, iOS, Linux
Choose if
You want unlimited offline dictation without a subscription.
Look elsewhere if
You need a shared workspace for team meeting notes.
Willow Voice
Mac, Windows, iOS
Choose if
You want unlimited everyday dictation without a subscription.
Look elsewhere if
You need custom writing instructions applied automatically after dictation.
The evidence
Pricing
Spokenly has free local dictation and $9.99/mo Pro; Willow Voice has free dictation and $15/mo Pro. Ottex is $14/mo or free with local models or your own API key (BYOK), with provider usage billed separately.
See the evidence — 14 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Spokenly | Willow Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Forever free with local models and BYOK providers. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/pricing — checked Oct 2026No usage limits | PartialSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Oct 202620 Scribe uses per week |
| Subscription | $14/moSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included. | $6.99/moSource: spokenly.app/team — checked Oct 2026Each seat includes full Pro with a permanent 30% discount and centralized billing. | $15/moSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Includes Frontier Pro dictation; annual billing is advertised at $12/user/month without a published annual total. |
| One-time payment | Not applicableSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Application is free | Not applicableSource: spokenly.app/pricing — checked Oct 2026Application is free | Not applicableSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026Application is free |
| Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026OpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers. | YesSource: spokenly.app/privacy — checked Oct 2026BYOK audio and text travel directly from the device to the selected provider. | No public claim |
| Education discount | NoSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Same pricing for everyone. | YesSource: spokenly.app/students — checked Oct 2026Verified students receive 50% off Pro at $4.99/month or $49.99/year after signing in with an academic email and emailing a student ID to support. | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Verified students and educators can request 30% off Willow Pro with proof of affiliation; discounted monthly and annual dollar prices and billing applicability are not published. |
The evidence
Platforms
Spokenly supports Mac, Windows, iOS and Linux; Willow Voice supports Mac, Windows and iOS. Ottex supports Mac and iOS, so choose either compared tool for Windows and Spokenly for Linux.
See the evidence — 6 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Spokenly | Willow Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac, iOSSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | Mac, Windows, iOS, LinuxSource: spokenly.app/download — checked Oct 2026Some platforms in beta/waitlist | Mac, Windows, iOSSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Some platforms in beta/waitlist |
| Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Native Swift app, ~50MB RAM. | YesSource: spokenly.app/android — checked Oct 2026The macOS and iOS applications are built with Swift. | PartialSource: willowvoice.com/blog — checked Oct 2026The vendor explicitly identifies Windows as native; implementation details for the other applications are unverified. |
The evidence
Meetings & team memory
Spokenly records Mac calls without a bot; Willow Voice call recording is unverified. Ottex has bot-free capture and an opt-in, experimental macOS camera recording watermark; recording notices in meeting chat or calendar are unverified for each.
See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Spokenly | Willow Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026With speaker separation. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/dictation-for-mac — checked Oct 2026Meeting recording ships on Mac and requires macOS 14.4 or later. | No public claim |
| Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026System-audio capture, no bot joins the call. | YesSource: spokenly.app/blog — checked Oct 2026Mac meeting recording captures audio without a bot joining the call. | No public claim |
| Camera recording watermarkShow recording in your camera video | PartialExperimental macOS virtual camera adds an Ottex icon to video; install/enable the extension, select it and turn video on. Guide covers Meet in Chrome and Zoom desktop; effects may obscure it. | No public claim | No public claim |
| Participant noticesRecording notices in chat or calendar | No public claim | No public claim | No public claim |
| Speaker separation | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | PartialSource: spokenly.app/blog — checked Oct 2026Saved meeting recordings can be transcribed with voice-based speaker labels that may require manual correction. | No public claim |
| Calendar detection | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Calendar-based meeting detection. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/releases — checked Oct 2026Mac meeting detection is documented in release notes, including Safari support. | PartialSource: willowvoice.com/privacy-policy — checked Oct 2026The privacy policy describes optional read-only Google Calendar linking for meeting notifications and session association, but platform and rollout details are unverified. |
| Cross-meeting search | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026 | No public claim | No public claim |
| Shared team memory | PartialSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Public share links, not a full team workspace. | No public claim | No public claim |
The evidence
From meeting to finished work
Spokenly can summarize recordings with configured AI instructions; Willow Voice meeting summaries are unverified. Ottex extracts structured documents with templates and drafts follow-up emails, CRM updates and tickets.
See the evidence — 7 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Spokenly | Willow Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting template libraryTurn a transcript into a structured document | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Choose a ready-made document template to extract relevant information from a meeting transcript into a structured document, such as a product review or client-call report. | No public claim | No public claim |
| Transcript chat prompt libraryReady-made prompts for AI chat about meetings | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Use ready-made reusable prompts in AI chat to ask questions, analyze discussions and extract information from meeting transcripts. | No public claim | No public claim |
| Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Decisions with owners extracted. | No public claim | No public claim |
| Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Drafted from templates or your own. | No public claim | No public claim |
| CRM update / ticket draft | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Structured for the target app. | No public claim | No public claim |
| Your rough notes steer the result | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Rough notes and instructions steer the result. | NoSource: spokenly.app/comparison — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | No public claim |
The evidence
Dictation & transcription AI
Willow Voice and Ottex format lists and support voice snippets; Spokenly supports punctuation but no snippets. Spokenly and Ottex automatically apply saved writing instructions; that workflow is unverified for Willow Voice.
See the evidence — 29 claims across 3 toolsverified Oct 2026Show tableHide table
| Feature | Ottex | Spokenly | Willow Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engines | Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Source: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local. | Whisper, NVIDIA Parakeet, Apple Speech Analyzer, OpenAI GPT-4o Transcribe, Deepgram Nova, SonioxSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Local and cloud transcription engines are selectable per mode. | Frontier Mini, Frontier ProSource: willowvoice.com/pricing — checked Oct 2026These are the published dictation model names; underlying recognition providers are unspecified. |
| Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Whisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device. | YesSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Downloaded local models transcribe offline, and Local Only Mode blocks outbound network access. | PartialSource: willowvoice.com/blog — checked Oct 2026Optional offline dictation is documented for Mac and iOS; Windows offline support is unverified. |
| Model selection per task | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Choose the model per task and per provider. | YesSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Users choose transcription models and AI providers per mode. | No public claim |
| Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/blog — checked Oct 2026100+ languages · Gemini 3.5 Transcribe supports switching languages mid-sentence. | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Automatic detection supports switching languages during dictation. |
| Automatic formatting | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Dictation automatically fixes punctuation, groups ideas into paragraphs and formats enumerations as lists. Formatting toggles and profile rules customize output. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Models add punctuation, and optional Smart Paragraphs on Mac adds paragraph breaks; automatic list formatting remains unverified. | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Automatically adds punctuation, paragraph breaks and lists, with optional spoken formatting commands. |
| Custom dictionary | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Add or delete names and specialist terms with preferred spellings; entries provide recognition context during transcription. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Supported models accept custom keyterms; ElevenLabs live transcription applies only the first 50 terms. | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Users can add, edit and delete dictionary terms for recognition during dictation. |
| Voice snippetsSay a saved phrase to insert a link or text | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Save a voice trigger and expansion text; saying the trigger while dictating inserts the saved URL or text in place. | NoSource: spokenly.app/comparison — checked Oct 2026Not supported. | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Saying a saved shortcut phrase followed by “shortcut” inserts its stored text. |
| Custom voice instructionsFree-form rules applied after dictation | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Saved profile instructions automatically process dictation before insertion; rules can include writing examples, personal phrasing and email signatures. | YesSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Saved mode AI Instructions process each dictation before its configured auto-insert action using the selected AI provider. | No public claim |
| Tone presetsChoose a predefined writing style | YesSelect built-in Messaging or Email profiles for casual or professional dictation; assigning apps or websites enables automatic profile activation. | No public claim | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Selectable presets include Default, Casual Friendly, Excited and Hypercasual for supported writing contexts. |
| Text transforms / AI ShortcutsApply an AI action to existing text | YesSource: ottex.ai/docs — checked Oct 2026Select or copy existing text, open Omnibar and run an AI Shortcut to rewrite, translate, summarize or apply a custom prompt; the result is copied/pasted. | No public claim | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Scribe rewrites selected text in place using spoken instructions for tone, translation, shortening and restructuring. |
| Per-app output rules | YesSource: ottex.ai — checked Oct 2026Per-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email. | PartialSource: spokenly.app/docs — checked Oct 2026Mac modes automatically activate for configured applications or websites. | YesSource: help.willowvoice.com/en — checked Oct 2026Users choose presets for messaging, work messaging, email and note-taking contexts that apply automatically. |
Questions people actually ask.
Spokenly vs Willow Voice: which should I choose?
Choose Spokenly for free local dictation and saved instructions applied after dictation; choose Willow Voice for free dictation with tone presets, lists and voice snippets. Ottex supports saved instructions, list formatting and voice snippets on Mac and iOS.
Is Spokenly or Willow Voice free?
Yes: Spokenly offers unlimited local dictation and free app access with your own API keys; Willow Voice offers unlimited dictation, with 20 Scribe text rewrites per week. Ottex is free with local models or your own API key; API providers may charge for usage.
How much do Spokenly and Willow Voice cost?
Personal Pro costs $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr for Spokenly, $15/mo for Willow Voice, and $14/mo or $168/yr for Ottex; an annual Willow Voice price is unverified. Free dictation paths exist for all three; using your own API key can incur provider charges.
Is Spokenly safe?
For documented network blocking, choose Spokenly: downloaded models work offline and Local Only Mode blocks outbound traffic. Ottex runs Whisper and Parakeet v3 on-device; Willow Voice offers optional offline dictation on Mac and iOS, while its Windows offline support is unverified.
Is it worth switching from Spokenly to Willow Voice?
Switch to Willow Voice for automatic list formatting, voice snippets or spoken rewrites of selected text; stay with Spokenly for saved instructions automatically applied after dictation. Ottex supports lists, snippets and saved instructions, plus AI Shortcuts that transform selected or copied text, on Mac and iOS.
Do Spokenly or Willow Voice work on Windows or Android?
Both Spokenly and Willow Voice support Windows; Ottex supports Mac and iOS. Android support is unverified for all three, and Spokenly also supports Linux.
Which supports more languages, Spokenly or Willow Voice?
A numeric lead cannot be verified: Spokenly and Ottex list 100 languages, while Willow Voice has no verified count. All three support switching languages during dictation, though Spokenly verifies this specifically for Gemini 3.5 Transcribe.