BetterDictation: A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application. Voicy: Voicy is a privacy-focused AI dictation app and Chrome extension that turns speech into formatted text inside any website or desktop 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 BetterDictation when dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps matters most, and Voicy when dictating prompts into ai assistants like chatgpt, claude, and gemini matters most. Test each on your own meetings; the right choice tends to become obvious quickly.
A macOS speech-to-text app that uses on-device Whisper to turn spoken words into typed text in any application.
Voicy is a privacy-focused AI dictation app and Chrome extension that turns speech into formatted text inside any website or desktop application.
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
Voicy is a cross-platform AI speech-to-text (dictation) tool that lets you write with your voice instead of typing. It runs as a desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux, plus a Chrome extension, and also has iOS and Microsoft Store versions. Once active, you trigger dictation system-wide and speak into whatever app or website you're using — email clients, word processors, chat tools, note apps, AI assistants, IDEs, and many others, advertised as 20,000+ destinations. Voicy transcribes in real time using cloud processing, automatically adding punctuation, fixing grammar, and formatting the result, with support for dozens of languages. It also offers AI editing commands, letting you reshape dictated text (for example into bullet points) right after speaking. On privacy, the company states transcripts and recordings are stored only locally on your device and voice data is not used to train AI models, though speech is sent to the cloud for processing. It's aimed at writers, professionals, and anyone who wants to draft faster than typing across their existing tools.
Best suited for
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades (paid); Voicy is a free tier with paid upgrades (freemium). Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before buying.
| Feature | BetterDictation | Voicy |
|---|---|---|
| Core capability | System-wide dictation that inserts text into any macOS application | System-wide voice dictation across desktop apps, browsers, and websites |
| Standout feature | On-device transcription using OpenAI's Whisper on Apple's Neural Engine | Chrome extension plus Mac, Windows, and Linux desktop apps (also iOS and Microsoft Store) |
| Team usage | Offline operation for basic dictation with no cloud round-trips | Automatic punctuation, grammar correction, and formatting |
| Integrations | Support for 100+ languages with automatic punctuation | Real-time cloud transcription with multi-language support |
| Languages & capture | Push-to-talk and toggle-to-talk recording modes | Inline AI editing commands to reformat dictated text (e.g. bullet points) |
| Best-fit workflow | Optional Pro post-processing: stammer correction and automatic formatting | Local-only storage of transcripts with no use of voice data for AI training |
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.
Voicy
Choose Voicy if you need drafting emails, documents, and chat messages by voice instead of typing — strengths include works inside virtually any app or website rather than a single editor.
BetterDictation
Voicy
It depends on your workflow. BetterDictation is strong for dictating emails, documents, and notes hands-free across mac apps, while Voicy is strong for drafting emails, documents, and chat messages by voice instead of typing. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.
BetterDictation is a free tier with paid upgrades and Voicy 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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