BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Gladia: Developer-focused speech-to-text API with real-time and async transcription, diarization, and meeting-bot integrations. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist BetterDictation when dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps matters most, and Gladia when adding live captions and transcripts to video-conferencing products matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.
A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application.
Developer-focused speech-to-text API with real-time and async transcription, diarization, and meeting-bot integrations.
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
Gladia is a speech-to-text API built for developers and product teams who want to embed transcription and audio intelligence into their own applications, including meeting assistants and note-taking tools. It offers both asynchronous transcription of pre-recorded audio and video files and a real-time streaming engine over WebSocket that returns results with low latency, making it suitable for live meetings and calls. The platform handles a wide range of languages with automatic language detection and code-switching, so it can follow conversations where participants switch languages mid-call. For meeting use cases, Gladia provides speaker diarization to label who said what, word-level timestamps, custom vocabulary, and audio-intelligence features such as summarization, sentiment analysis, and action-item extraction. It also offers meeting-bot integration that can join Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams sessions to capture audio. Gladia positions itself as infrastructure rather than an end-user product, so companies typically use it to power their own transcription, captioning, or conversation-analytics features while relying on Gladia's compliance posture for data handling. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.
Best suited for
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid); Gladia is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BetterDictation | Gladia |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any macOS application | Real-time streaming transcription over WebSocket with low latency |
| Standout feature | On-device transcription using OpenAI's Whisper on Apple's Neural Engine | Asynchronous transcription for pre-recorded audio and video files |
| Team usage | Offline operation for basic dictation with no cloud round-trips | Speaker diarization with word-level timestamps |
| Integrations | Support for 100+ languages with automatic punctuation | Multilingual transcription with automatic language detection and code-switching |
| Languages & capture | Push-to-talk and toggle-to-talk recording modes | Audio intelligence: summaries, sentiment analysis, and action-item extraction |
| Best-fit workflow | Optional Pro post-processing: stammer correction and automatic formatting | Meeting-bot integration for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams |
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.
Gladia
Choose Gladia if you need powering a custom ai meeting assistant or note-taker — strengths include single api covers both batch and real-time transcription use cases.
BetterDictation
Gladia
It depends on your workflow. BetterDictation is strong for dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps, while Gladia is strong for powering a custom ai meeting assistant or note-taker. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades and Gladia 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.
More head-to-head comparisons involving BetterDictation and Gladia.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Bliro: Bot-free AI meeting assistant that transcribes online and in-person conversations from device audio without recording audio or video. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Bluedot: Bot-free note taker for Meet, Zoom, Teams plus mobile recording We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. BoardBreeze: AI software that converts board meeting recordings into compliant, formatted minutes capturing motions, votes, and action items. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Boardable: Board meeting platform for nonprofits with AI-generated minutes, an in-meeting assistant, and AI insights that turn discussion into action items. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Bold: Bot-free AI notetaker by Bold App Studios that records meetings on-device, transcribes with speaker detection, and writes summaries with action items. We compare them on cost, capture approach, and day-to-day fit so you can choose faster.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Boostlingo: Language access platform whose AI Pro engine delivers live AI captioning, translation, and transcription for meetings, webinars, and events. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Brain Dump: Voice to Markdown: An iOS/iPadOS/Mac app that records voice and transcribes it on-device into editable Markdown notes saved as plain-text files in iCloud or an Obsidian vault. Below, they line up on price, capture method, and how each fits a real meeting stack.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Braina: Braina is a Windows AI assistant and speech-to-text software that handles voice dictation, voice commands, and transcription of recorded audio and video files including meetings and interviews. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
BetterDictation and Braindump are both AI meeting assistants for recording, transcription, and summaries, compared here on pricing, features, and workflow fit. BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Braindump: Braindump is an AI voice-notes mobile app that records spoken thoughts and meetings, transcribes them, and auto-organizes them into structured, searchable notes. They overlap on ai-meeting-assistants, so the right pick depends on team size, budget, and which meeting workflows you automate.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. BriefMe: Italian mobile app that records conversations, transcribes them automatically, and generates AI summaries with key points, decisions, and action items. Which one wins depends on your platform mix, budget, and how hands-off you want notes to be.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Briefly: AI meeting summaries with CRM and Slack delivery Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Bright Pattern: Bright Pattern is an omnichannel contact center platform that transcribes live and recorded customer interactions and applies AI-powered quality management and analytics across all channels. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.