Ava: AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings. BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist Ava when real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants matters most, and BetterDictation when capturing spoken notes quickly during or after meetings matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings.
A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application.
Ava is a live captioning and transcription service built primarily for deaf and hard-of-hearing users, as well as for organizations that need accessible meetings and conversations. The app captures audio from in-person conversations and from video conferencing tools, then generates real-time captions on a phone, computer, or in the meeting interface. Ava combines automatic speech recognition with an optional professional scribe service for higher-accuracy, ADA-compliant captioning, giving users a choice between fast AI captions and human-assisted transcription. Features include color-coded speaker identification so users can follow who said what, support for many languages, and stored transcripts and summaries after a conversation ends. Through its Ava Connect integration, the service connects with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, and it is available across mobile (iOS and Android), web, and desktop (Windows and Mac). Ava is aimed at individuals who need accessibility support in daily conversations and meetings, as well as at educational institutions, healthcare providers, corporations, and event venues that must provide compliant real-time captioning without committing to a traditional CART contract. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
BetterDictation is a system-wide dictation tool for macOS that converts speech into typed text inside any application. Users trigger it with a keyboard shortcut (Option+Space) and can choose push-to-talk or toggle-to-talk modes; the transcribed text is then inserted directly where the cursor sits. It runs OpenAI's Whisper model locally on Apple's Neural Engine, so basic transcription works fully offline and, per the vendor, no audio recordings or transcripts are stored. It supports 100+ languages and applies automatic punctuation. The app requires Apple Silicon (M1 or newer); Intel Macs are not supported. An optional Pro add-on adds stammer correction, automatic formatting, and post-processing of dictations. It is aimed at people who write or capture text frequently, such as founders, engineers, and writers, who want to dictate emails, documents, notes, and messages rather than type them. Because it works across all apps, it can be used to capture spoken notes alongside meetings, though it is a general dictation utility rather than a dedicated meeting-recording assistant.
Best suited for
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Ava | BetterDictation |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Integration with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any macOS application |
| Standout feature | Real-time live captions for in-person and online conversations | On-device transcription using OpenAI's Whisper on Apple's Neural Engine |
| Team usage | Color-coded speaker identification | Offline operation for basic dictation with no cloud round-trips |
| Integrations | Optional professional scribe service for higher accuracy | Support for 100+ languages with automatic punctuation |
| Languages & capture | Mobile, web, and desktop apps | Push-to-talk and toggle-to-talk recording modes |
| Best-fit workflow | Saved transcripts and conversation summaries | Optional Pro post-processing: stammer correction and automatic formatting |
Ava
Choose Ava if you need real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants — strengths include strong accessibility focus for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.
BetterDictation
Choose BetterDictation if you need dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps — strengths include runs locally on-device for privacy; vendor states no audio or transcripts are stored.
Ava
BetterDictation
It depends on your workflow. Ava is strong for real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants, while BetterDictation is strong for dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades and BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.
You can — some teams pair them when each covers a different part of the meeting workflow.
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