Aqua Voice: Aqua Voice is an AI-powered, system-wide voice dictation app that turns speech into refined text in real time across the apps you already use on Mac and iPhone. Handy: Handy is a free, open-source, cross-platform push-to-talk app that transcribes your speech to text completely offline and pastes it into any text field. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Aqua Voice when dictating emails, documents, and slack messages hands-free across desktop apps matters most, and Handy when privacy-sensitive voice-to-text where audio must stay on-device matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
Aqua Voice is an AI-powered, system-wide voice dictation app that turns speech into refined text in real time across the apps you already use on Mac and iPhone.
Handy is a free, open-source, cross-platform push-to-talk app that transcribes your speech to text completely offline and pastes it into any text field.
Aqua Voice is an AI dictation tool built by Aqua Voice, Inc. (a Y Combinator startup) that converts spoken words into written text in real time. Rather than a standalone transcription window, it works system-wide: users hold a key (such as Space) and speak, and the dictated text is inserted into whatever app is in focus, including Gmail, Google Docs, Slack, code editors, and AI chat tools. It runs on macOS and iOS, with the iPhone app now live. Aqua is powered by Avalon, the company's proprietary speech-to-text model trained on prompt-style speech, code, and email, and it refines grammar and phrasing as you talk. It supports context awareness of on-screen content, a custom dictionary for technical terms and names, natural-language editing commands ("make this a list," "rephrase that"), style adaptation, and multilingual input across dozens of languages. It is aimed at developers, knowledge workers, and content creators who want a faster alternative to typing for emails, documents, messages, prompts, and code.
Best suited for
Handy is a free, open-source desktop application that turns your voice into text completely offline, with no audio ever leaving your computer. You press a configurable keyboard shortcut, speak, and release (push-to-talk), or use a toggle mode to start and stop; Handy transcribes what you said and automatically pastes the result into whatever text field is active. Because it runs entirely on-device, it is built for privacy-conscious users who want dictation without cloud uploads or subscriptions. Under the hood it is built with Tauri (a Rust backend with a React/TypeScript frontend) and supports multiple local speech-recognition models, including OpenAI's Whisper variants with GPU acceleration and the CPU-friendly Parakeet V3 model with automatic language detection. Silero Voice Activity Detection filters out silence so only speech is processed. Handy runs on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux, and is released under the MIT license. It positions itself as an accessible, extensible alternative to paid dictation tools, and is best suited for hands-free typing rather than recording multi-party meetings.
Best suited for
Aqua Voice is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Handy is open source (open source). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Aqua Voice | Handy |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any focused app (Gmail, Docs, Slack, code editors, AI chats) | Push-to-talk and toggle dictation modes with a configurable global keyboard shortcut |
| Standout feature | Avalon proprietary speech-to-text model tuned for technical vocabulary, code, and prompt-style speech | Fully offline, on-device transcription with no cloud uploads |
| Team usage | Custom dictionary for names, brands, and technical terms | Multiple local speech models including Whisper (GPU-accelerated) and Parakeet V3 (CPU, auto language detection) |
| Integrations | Natural-language editing commands like 'make this a list' or 'rephrase that' mid-dictation | Silero Voice Activity Detection to filter silence and process only speech |
| Languages & capture | Context awareness of on-screen content, including code syntax | Automatically pastes transcribed text into any active application text field |
| Best-fit workflow | Multilingual input across dozens of languages | Cross-platform desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux) built with Tauri |
Aqua Voice
Choose Aqua Voice if you need dictating emails, documents, and slack messages hands-free across desktop apps — strengths include low-friction, system-wide voice input that works inside existing apps with no per-app setup.
Handy
Choose Handy if you need hands-free dictation into emails, documents, chat apps, and code editors — strengths include completely free, open-source (mit) with no subscription or paywall.
Aqua Voice
Handy
It depends on your workflow. Aqua Voice is strong for dictating emails, documents, and slack messages hands-free across desktop apps, while Handy is strong for hands-free dictation into emails, documents, chat apps, and code editors. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Aqua Voice is a free tier with paid upgrades and Handy is open source. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Yes. Many teams run more than one meeting assistant when the workflows are complementary.
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