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. Minutes: Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
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 Minutes when recording and transcribing calls locally for users who refuse cloud meeting tools 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.
Open-source, local-first conversation memory layer that records and transcribes meetings, diarizes speakers, and stores searchable notes as markdown for AI agents.
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
Minutes, built by Mat Silverstein, is an open-source, privacy-first conversation memory layer that captures meetings, calls, voice memos, and dictation and turns them into searchable, AI-accessible notes. It transcribes audio locally using whisper.cpp or Parakeet so audio never has to leave the machine, performs speaker diarization to separate voices, and extracts decisions and action items, writing everything to the user's own disk as plain markdown files with structured YAML frontmatter. Because the output lives in a local folder (for example ~/meetings/), the notes can sync across devices through iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive and can be read directly by AI tools. A central design goal is integration with AI assistants: Minutes runs an MCP server exposing a large set of tools so coding and chat agents such as Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, and others can query past conversations, track relationships across meetings, and surface what was promised to whom. It ships as a macOS desktop app with a menu-bar recorder and AI assistant, plus a cross-platform command-line interface, and includes a dictation hotkey mode. The project is MIT licensed, installable via Homebrew, and actively maintained with frequent releases, making it a fully self-hostable option for people who want durable, private, searchable meeting memory rather than a cloud subscription. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
Aqua Voice is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Minutes is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Aqua Voice | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any focused app (Gmail, Docs, Slack, code editors, AI chats) | Local transcription with whisper.cpp or Parakeet, no cloud audio upload |
| Standout feature | Avalon proprietary speech-to-text model tuned for technical vocabulary, code, and prompt-style speech | Speaker diarization to attribute who said what |
| Team usage | Custom dictionary for names, brands, and technical terms | Plain-markdown output with YAML frontmatter stored on your own disk |
| Integrations | Natural-language editing commands like 'make this a list' or 'rephrase that' mid-dictation | MCP server exposing tools so AI agents can query meeting history |
| Languages & capture | Context awareness of on-screen content, including code syntax | Cross-meeting search, relationship tracking, and action-item extraction |
| Best-fit workflow | Multilingual input across dozens of languages | macOS desktop app plus cross-platform CLI and dictation hotkey mode |
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.
Minutes
Choose Minutes if you need building a private, searchable memory of meetings and voice notes that ai agents can query — strengths include fully local-first and mit licensed, keeping conversation data private and portable.
Aqua Voice
Minutes
It depends on your workflow. Aqua Voice is strong for dictating emails, documents, and slack messages hands-free across desktop apps, while Minutes is strong for building a private, searchable memory of meetings and voice notes that ai agents can query. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Aqua Voice is a free tier with paid upgrades and Minutes is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
Often yes: teams combine tools when one handles capture and another handles analysis.
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