BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Scribewave: Scribewave is a European AI transcription platform that converts audio and video into editable text across dozens of languages and dialects, with speaker diarization and an AI assistant for summaries and notes. Here's where each one pulls ahead on pricing, features, and the meetings it suits best.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist BetterDictation when dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps matters most, and Scribewave when universities and qualitative researchers transcribing recorded sessions with speaker labels matters most. Try them side by side on real calls before deciding — needs vary by team.
A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application.
Scribewave is a European AI transcription platform that converts audio and video into editable text across dozens of languages and dialects, with speaker diarization and an AI assistant for summaries and notes.
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
Scribewave is an AI transcription platform from Belgian company Quantum Noodle BV (Leuven/Beerzel) that automatically converts audio and video files into editable text. Users upload recordings, the AI transcribes them, and an integrated editor lets people review and correct the text while audio plays, with click-to-audio sync so clicking a word jumps to that moment in the recording. The platform supports a wide range of languages and dialects, positioning itself around linguistic diversity and regional and mixed-language speech rather than English alone. It includes speaker diarization, custom vocabularies to preserve names and jargon, batch uploads, and exports to formats such as Word, Google Docs, and subtitle files (SRT/VTT), plus the ability to render captioned videos. An AI assistant can answer questions about a transcript and generate summaries, chapters, and meeting notes with timecode references. Scribewave emphasizes data ownership, European servers, and GDPR compliance, and states it does not use customer content to train its models. It targets journalists, researchers, universities, and content creators.
Best suited for
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid); Scribewave is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BetterDictation | Scribewave |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any macOS application | AI transcription of audio and video files into editable text across many languages and dialects |
| Standout feature | On-device transcription using OpenAI's Whisper on Apple's Neural Engine | Speaker diarization and speaker identification, including handling overlapping speech |
| Team usage | Offline operation for basic dictation with no cloud round-trips | Synchronized editor with click-to-audio word sync for review and correction |
| Integrations | Support for 100+ languages with automatic punctuation | AI assistant that answers questions and generates summaries, chapters, and meeting notes with timecodes |
| Languages & capture | Push-to-talk and toggle-to-talk recording modes | Custom vocabularies to preserve names, jargon, and domain terms |
| Best-fit workflow | Optional Pro post-processing: stammer correction and automatic formatting | Exports to Word, Google Docs, PDF, and subtitle formats (SRT/VTT), plus captioned video output |
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.
Scribewave
Choose Scribewave if you need journalists and researchers transcribing and reviewing interviews across multiple languages — strengths include strong multilingual and dialect coverage with a focus on smaller and regional languages.
BetterDictation
Scribewave
It depends on your workflow. BetterDictation is strong for dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps, while Scribewave is strong for journalists and researchers transcribing and reviewing interviews across multiple languages. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades and Scribewave 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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