Ava: AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings. Spokenly: Spokenly is a system-wide AI dictation app for Mac and iPhone that converts speech to text using offline Whisper and Parakeet models or bring-your-own-key cloud engines. 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 Spokenly when privacy-conscious offline speech-to-text for sensitive or confidential work matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
AI live captioning and transcription app for accessibility, providing real-time captions for conversations and video meetings.
Spokenly is a system-wide AI dictation app for Mac and iPhone that converts speech to text using offline Whisper and Parakeet models or bring-your-own-key cloud engines.
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
Spokenly is an AI dictation and speech-to-text app for Mac and iPhone (with Windows listed by the developer). You press a shortcut, speak, and your words are inserted at the cursor in any application — browsers, email, chat, notes, or IDEs. It can run entirely offline on Apple Silicon using local models such as OpenAI's Whisper and NVIDIA's Parakeet, or connect to cloud engines including OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq, Anthropic, and Google through a bring-your-own-key model. Transcription supports 100+ languages with automatic language detection and automatic punctuation, and every transcription is saved to a history. The app also offers AI text processing with custom prompts, a Local Only Mode that blocks network requests for privacy, and an MCP server so AI coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor can trigger voice input. It is built primarily for professionals and developers who want fast, private, accurate dictation rather than a passive meeting recorder. The app is developed by an independent developer, Vadim Akhmerov, and is in active development.
Best suited for
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium); Spokenly is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | Ava | Spokenly |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | Integration with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams | Offline local transcription on Apple Silicon using Whisper and NVIDIA Parakeet models |
| Standout feature | Real-time live captions for in-person and online conversations | Bring-your-own-key cloud engines (OpenAI, Deepgram, Groq, Anthropic, Google) |
| Team usage | Color-coded speaker identification | System-wide dictation that inserts text at the cursor in any app |
| Integrations | Optional professional scribe service for higher accuracy | Speech-to-text in 100+ languages with automatic detection and punctuation |
| Languages & capture | Mobile, web, and desktop apps | Local Only Mode that blocks network requests for full privacy |
| Best-fit workflow | Saved transcripts and conversation summaries | MCP server integration for AI coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor |
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.
Spokenly
Choose Spokenly if you need dictating emails, messages, and notes by speaking instead of typing — strengths include genuinely free unlimited on-device transcription on apple silicon, with voice staying local.
Ava
Spokenly
It depends on your workflow. Ava is strong for real-time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants, while Spokenly is strong for dictating emails, messages, and notes by speaking instead of typing. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
Ava is a free tier with paid upgrades and Spokenly is a free tier with paid upgrades. 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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