Amical: Amical is an open-source, local-first AI dictation and voice-notes app that transcribes speech to text on your own machine using Whisper and open-source LLMs. Bee: Wearable AI device that captures spoken conversations and turns them into transcripts, summaries, and reminders. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Amical when dictating emails, messages, and documents hands-free with app-appropriate formatting matters most, and Bee when reviewing and searching past conversations during the day matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
Amical is an open-source, local-first AI dictation and voice-notes app that transcribes speech to text on your own machine using Whisper and open-source LLMs.
Wearable AI device that captures spoken conversations and turns them into transcripts, summaries, and reminders.
Amical is an open-source, MIT-licensed AI dictation application that turns speech into formatted text directly on your device. It runs OpenAI's Whisper for speech recognition locally and uses open-source LLMs (via Ollama) for intelligent processing, so dictation can work offline once a local model is set up; for machines that can't handle local inference, it offers a cloud fallback. Built with Electron and TypeScript, it runs on Mac and Windows as a desktop app with a floating widget interface and configurable hotkeys. Its standout feature is context-aware formatting: it detects the active application and adapts tone and structure accordingly, producing professional text in email, casual phrasing in chat apps, or prompt and command-style output in IDEs and terminals. It supports many languages plus mixed-language dictation, and custom vocabulary for domain-specific terms. Beyond dictation, it is adding smart voice notes with summaries and task generation. It targets privacy-conscious writers, developers, and professionals wanting a free alternative to paid dictation tools.
Best suited for
Bee is a wearable personal AI device, now part of Amazon, that continuously captures the conversations happening around the wearer and processes them into transcripts, segmented summaries, suggested to-dos, and timely reminders. The hardware uses dual microphones with noise filtering and is designed to be worn as a wristband or clipped to clothing, with a button press to start and stop capture and an LED indicator to show when it is recording. Captured audio is processed by AI that segments discussions, identifies commitments, and surfaces personal insights over time, rather than leaving the user with a raw recording to comb through. Recordings sync to a companion mobile app on iOS and Android, with Apple Watch support, where users can review their day's conversations, search past discussions, and manage what is stored. Bee supports dozens of languages and emphasizes that only the user can access their own transcripts and summaries. It is aimed at professionals and individuals who want hands-free, in-person meeting and conversation capture without reaching for a phone or laptop. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Amical is open source (open source); Bee is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Amical | Bee |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local speech-to-text transcription powered by OpenAI Whisper | Wearable device with dual microphones and noise filtering |
| Standout feature | On-device LLM processing via Ollama, with a cloud fallback option | Automatic transcription with segmented, per-section summaries |
| Team usage | Context-aware formatting that adapts tone to the active app (email, chat, IDE, terminal) | Suggested to-dos and reminders extracted from conversations |
| Integrations | Multi-language and mixed-language dictation support | Companion app on iOS, Android, and Apple Watch |
| Languages & capture | Custom vocabulary for domain-specific terms and configurable hotkeys | Multi-language support across dozens of languages |
| Best-fit workflow | Smart voice notes with summaries and task generation (in development) | On-button capture control with recording indicator |
Amical
Choose Amical if you need dictating emails, messages, and documents hands-free with app-appropriate formatting — strengths include fully open source (mit) and actively maintained with frequent releases.
Bee
Choose Bee if you need capturing in-person meetings and follow-up action items hands-free — strengths include hands-free in-person capture without needing a phone or laptop.
Amical
Bee
It depends on your workflow. Amical is strong for dictating emails, messages, and documents hands-free with app-appropriate formatting, while Bee is strong for capturing in-person meetings and follow-up action items hands-free. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Amical is open source and Bee is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
You can — some teams pair them when each covers a different part of the meeting workflow.
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