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. Brainote: Brainote is an AI note-taking and study app that transcribes audio, video, and speech into text and turns it into summaries, notes, and study materials. 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 Brainote when summarizing audio, video, pdfs, and youtube content into study materials matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
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.
Brainote is an AI note-taking and study app that transcribes audio, video, and speech into text and turns it into summaries, notes, and study materials.
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
Brainote is an AI-powered note-taking and study application available on the web, iOS, and Android. It captures content from multiple sources, including recorded voice memos and audio, uploaded PDFs, YouTube links, web pages, and handwritten notes via image OCR. Its core engine transcribes audio, video, and speech to text and then generates concise summaries and structured notes. For meeting and lecture scenarios, Brainote can transcribe recordings, convert meeting minutes into text, and produce organized AI meeting notes alongside study guides. Beyond transcription, it offers an AI chat assistant to clarify and refine notes, plus learning-focused tools such as automatically generated flashcards, quizzes, and spaced-repetition review. Transcripts and summaries can be exported for sharing. The product is marketed primarily toward students and learners preparing for exams, but its transcription and summarization capabilities also serve professionals capturing meetings and lectures. The free tier provides limited generation, while a Pro subscription unlocks unlimited use. No third-party meeting-platform integrations are advertised on its site.
Best suited for
Amical is open source (open source); Brainote is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Amical | Brainote |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local speech-to-text transcription powered by OpenAI Whisper | AI transcription of audio, video, and speech to text |
| Standout feature | On-device LLM processing via Ollama, with a cloud fallback option | Voice memo and audio recording capture |
| Team usage | Context-aware formatting that adapts tone to the active app (email, chat, IDE, terminal) | Automatic summaries, notes, and study guides from recordings |
| Integrations | Multi-language and mixed-language dictation support | Multi-source input: PDFs, YouTube links, web pages, and handwritten-note OCR |
| Languages & capture | Custom vocabulary for domain-specific terms and configurable hotkeys | AI chat assistant to refine and clarify notes |
| Best-fit workflow | Smart voice notes with summaries and task generation (in development) | Flashcard and quiz generation with spaced-repetition review |
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.
Brainote
Choose Brainote if you need recording and transcribing meetings or lectures into shareable notes and minutes — strengths include available across web, ios, and android with a permanently free tier.
Amical
Brainote
It depends on your workflow. Amical is strong for dictating emails, messages, and documents hands-free with app-appropriate formatting, while Brainote is strong for recording and transcribing meetings or lectures into shareable notes and minutes. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Amical is open source and Brainote is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.
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