AudioPen: AudioPen records spoken voice notes, transcribes them, and rewrites the rambling speech into clear, structured text in a style you choose. Sotto: Sotto is a native macOS voice-to-text dictation app that turns speech into text system-wide using local AI transcription models. 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 AudioPen when capturing and refining personal ideas, journal entries, or brainstorms by voice matters most, and Sotto when privacy-first transcription of imported audio recordings on-device matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
AudioPen records spoken voice notes, transcribes them, and rewrites the rambling speech into clear, structured text in a style you choose.
Sotto is a native macOS voice-to-text dictation app that turns speech into text system-wide using local AI transcription models.
AudioPen is a voice-to-text tool that captures spoken thoughts and turns them into polished written notes. You record your voice (or upload an audio file), and AudioPen transcribes the speech, then rewrites it into clear, structured text by fixing grammar, cutting filler words, and organizing rambling input into coherent prose. Rather than producing a verbatim transcript, it reshapes what you said into finished writing in a style you select or train over time, with preset and custom styles available. It supports multiple languages and can transcribe speech in one language while writing the output in another. A SuperSummaries feature combines several notes into a single cohesive summary, and existing notes can be reformatted for different purposes such as emails or to-do lists. Built by independent developer Louis Pereira, it runs across iOS, iPad, Apple Watch, Android, Mac, and a Chrome extension, with Zapier and webhook integrations for sending notes elsewhere. It is aimed at people who think out loud and want to convert informal speech into professional written content.
Best suited for
Sotto is a native Swift dictation app for macOS 13 and later that converts speech to text in real time. It works as a system-wide push-to-talk layer: the user holds a hotkey, speaks, and Sotto inserts clean text into whatever app is in focus, from Slack and Notion to Xcode and email fields. Audio is transcribed by local engines, including OpenAI Whisper models (Tiny through Large V3 Turbo and Distil Large V3) and NVIDIA Parakeet v2/v3, so by default recordings never leave the Mac; users can optionally connect cloud providers such as OpenAI or Groq with their own API keys for added accuracy. Beyond live dictation, it can import and re-transcribe audio files, supports 90+ languages, keeps a searchable history of recordings with timestamps, and offers a custom vocabulary dictionary. One-click AI processing can rewrite, summarize, translate, or reformat dictated text. It is aimed at developers, writers, and privacy-conscious professionals who want fast, local voice input rather than a cloud meeting-bot service.
Best suited for
AudioPen is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Sotto is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | AudioPen | Sotto |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Records voice notes and transcribes speech to text | System-wide push-to-talk dictation that inserts text into any app |
| Standout feature | Rewrites rambling speech into clear, structured prose with grammar fixes and filler removal | Local on-device transcription via Whisper and NVIDIA Parakeet models |
| Team usage | Audio file upload for transcribing and rewriting existing recordings | Audio file import and re-transcription with searchable, timestamped history |
| Integrations | Preset and custom writing styles that adapt to your voice over time | Support for 90+ languages with per-language hotkeys |
| Languages & capture | Multi-language support, including speaking in one language and writing output in another | One-click AI processing to summarize, translate, or rewrite dictated text |
| Best-fit workflow | SuperSummaries to combine multiple notes, plus Zapier and webhook integrations | Optional cloud transcription via user-supplied OpenAI or Groq API keys |
AudioPen
Choose AudioPen if you need capturing and refining personal ideas, journal entries, or brainstorms by voice — strengths include fast, low-friction way to turn spoken thoughts into clean, usable writing.
Sotto
Choose Sotto if you need hands-free dictation of emails, messages, and documents across mac apps — strengths include local processing keeps audio on-device for strong privacy.
AudioPen
Sotto
It depends on your workflow. AudioPen is strong for capturing and refining personal ideas, journal entries, or brainstorms by voice, while Sotto is strong for hands-free dictation of emails, messages, and documents across mac apps. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
AudioPen is a free tier with paid upgrades and Sotto 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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