SuperWhisper vs Aqua Voice vs Ottex AI

SuperWhisper offers both subscription ($8.49/month) and lifetime ($249) options. The lifetime license is appealing for long-term users—it pays for itself versus subscriptions in about 30 months.

Aqua Voice charges $8/month with a limited free trial. There's no lifetime option, so you're locked into the subscription model.

Ottex AI's BYOK model typically costs $1-3/month for active users. You connect your own API key (OpenRouter, Google, etc.) and pay only for actual usage. For many users, this is 3-5x cheaper than either competitor.

This is where the offline vs cloud tradeoff matters most. SuperWhisper uses OpenAI's Whisper models running locally on your Mac. Quality depends on which model size you choose (Nano, Fast, Pro, Ultra) and your hardware.

Aqua Voice and Ottex AI use cloud processing, which generally delivers better accuracy especially for technical vocabulary, non-native accents, and challenging audio. Cloud models have been trained on vastly more data.

SuperWhisper's larger models (Pro, Ultra) approach cloud quality but require significant processing time on older Macs. If you have an M1/M2/M3 Mac, the experience is better, but it's still not quite cloud-level for edge cases.

Here's a critical gap: neither SuperWhisper nor Aqua Voice supports voice corrections. You cannot say 'scratch that' or 'actually' to fix mistakes. Every error requires stopping, manually editing, and restarting.

This limitation is frequently cited in user reviews for both apps. For long-form dictation, the inability to make voice corrections significantly impacts productivity and flow.

Ottex AI is the only app in this comparison with full voice correction support. Say 'scratch that' to delete, 'actually' to rephrase, or use inline AI commands to transform text mid-dictation.

SuperWhisper offers custom 'modes' where you can define AI prompts that process your transcription. Want email formatting? Create a mode. Professional tone? Another mode. This is powerful but always post-processing—never inline.

Aqua Voice has similar customization with instructions that shape how your dictation is processed. Context awareness reads your screen (locally) to inform formatting decisions.

Ottex AI offers both post-processing (AI shortcuts on any selected text) and unique inline AI commands. Say 'Ottex start make this more professional Ottex end' mid-sentence and watch the transformation happen. This 'vibe typing' approach is exclusive to Ottex.

This comparison represents the spectrum of privacy approaches in dictation apps. SuperWhisper is fully offline—your voice never leaves your device. Period.

Aqua Voice is cloud-based but claims to process context awareness locally (screen content stays on device, only audio goes to cloud). However, their browser extension requests access to all browser tabs, which has raised concerns.

Ottex AI sends audio to your chosen cloud provider (OpenRouter, Google, etc.) with zero storage on Ottex servers. It's not offline, but you control exactly where your data goes and nothing is retained.

SuperWhisper's performance depends heavily on which AI model you choose. Smaller models (Nano, Fast) are quick but less accurate. Larger models (Pro, Ultra) rival cloud quality but can spin up fans and take significant processing time, especially on older Macs.

Aqua Voice is generally lightweight as a native app, though their browser extension adds overhead. Users report occasional paste errors with long text blocks.

Ottex AI is native Swift with minimal footprint (~50MB). Since processing happens in the cloud, your local CPU stays cool regardless of how much you dictate.