BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Speak: Speak AI is a meeting transcription and conversation-analysis platform with an auto-joining bot for Zoom, Teams, Meet, and Webex, plus sentiment and theme analysis. The right pick comes down to team size, budget, and the workflows you want to automate.
How Hosiqo compares and tests toolsFinal recommendation
Shortlist BetterDictation when dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps matters most, and Speak when analyzing customer interviews and research calls for themes and sentiment matters most. Trial each on a few real meetings before you commit — the better fit usually shows fast.
A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application.
Speak AI is a meeting transcription and conversation-analysis platform with an auto-joining bot for Zoom, Teams, Meet, and Webex, plus sentiment and theme analysis.
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
Speak (Speak AI) is a transcription and conversation-intelligence platform that turns voice and video into searchable, structured data. Its meeting notetaker bot auto-joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex calls to deliver real-time transcription with speaker identification across 100+ languages, and it also handles file uploads, phone-call transcription, an embeddable web recorder, and iOS/Android capture. Beyond transcripts, Speak extracts custom fields, themes, and sentiment, and lets you chat with your data using multiple AI models. It exports to CSV and JSON, integrates with Slack, Zapier, and a developer API, and offers an MCP server connecting Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini. New accounts get a free 7-day trial (no credit card) with 30 minutes of transcription. It is geared toward researchers, analysts, and sales/ops teams rather than simple note-taking alone.
Best suited for
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid); Speak is from $25/mo (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BetterDictation | Speak |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any macOS application | Meeting notetaker bot |
| Standout feature | On-device transcription using OpenAI's Whisper on Apple's Neural Engine | Real-time transcription |
| Team usage | Offline operation for basic dictation with no cloud round-trips | Sentiment and theme analysis |
| Integrations | Support for 100+ languages with automatic punctuation | Multi-model AI chat |
| Languages & capture | Push-to-talk and toggle-to-talk recording modes | CSV/JSON export |
| Best-fit workflow | Optional Pro post-processing: stammer correction and automatic formatting | Meeting notetaker bot |
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.
Speak
Choose Speak if you need recording and transcribing zoom, teams, meet, and webex meetings — strengths include auto-joining meeting bot supports zoom, teams, google meet, and webex.
BetterDictation
Speak
It depends on your workflow. BetterDictation is strong for dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps, while Speak is strong for recording and transcribing zoom, teams, meet, and webex meetings. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades and Speak is from $25/mo. 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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