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. SyncWords: Live AI captioning, subtitling, and voice-dubbing platform for webinars, streams, and hybrid events with real-time multilingual output. 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 SyncWords when delivering accessible, fcc-compliant live captions for a broadcast 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.
Live AI captioning, subtitling, and voice-dubbing platform for webinars, streams, and hybrid events with real-time multilingual output.
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
SyncWords is an AI-powered platform for delivering live and recorded video content to multilingual audiences through real-time captions, subtitles, and voice dubbing. For live scenarios, it produces frame-accurate AI captions that meet broadcast accessibility standards such as CEA-608/708, and its SyncWords Live offering provides professional captioning and real-time translated subtitles for webinars, streaming services, and hybrid events. The platform translates into a wide range of languages, including non-Latin scripts such as Cyrillic, CJK, Arabic, Hebrew, and Thai, and recent engineering work has driven latency down to roughly a second or less even in demanding live environments. Its newer Vocalics capability adds real-time AI voice dubbing that aims to preserve a speaker's tone and delivery across languages. Content is delivered through no-download widget URLs as well as streaming formats like HLS, SRT, CMAF, and VTT, with integrations spanning platforms such as AWS, YouTube, and Vimeo. SyncWords reports processing tens of thousands of events and hundreds of thousands of hours of media, and it received an industry innovation award in 2025, confirming active operation. It best fits broadcasters, media teams, and event organizers who need accessible, multilingual live captioning and translation at scale. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Amical is open source (open source); SyncWords is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Amical | SyncWords |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Local speech-to-text transcription powered by OpenAI Whisper | Real-time AI live captions with broadcast accessibility compliance |
| Standout feature | On-device LLM processing via Ollama, with a cloud fallback option | Live translated subtitles across many languages including non-Latin scripts |
| Team usage | Context-aware formatting that adapts tone to the active app (email, chat, IDE, terminal) | Vocalics real-time AI voice dubbing that preserves speaker delivery |
| Integrations | Multi-language and mixed-language dictation support | Ultra-low latency output for live streams and events |
| Languages & capture | Custom vocabulary for domain-specific terms and configurable hotkeys | No-download widget URLs plus HLS, SRT, CMAF, and VTT delivery |
| Best-fit workflow | Smart voice notes with summaries and task generation (in development) | Custom dictionaries for accurate terminology in live sessions |
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.
SyncWords
Choose SyncWords if you need providing live translated subtitles for a webinar or streamed event — strengths include strong focus on broadcast-grade, low-latency live captioning.
Amical
SyncWords
It depends on your workflow. Amical is strong for dictating emails, messages, and documents hands-free with app-appropriate formatting, while SyncWords is strong for providing live translated subtitles for a webinar or streamed event. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Amical is open source and SyncWords 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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