COMPARISONEvery claim sourced · verified Jun 2026

Aqua Voice vs Hedy: the honest comparison.

Aqua Voice and Hedy solve different jobs. Aqua Voice is for polished dictation across apps, while Hedy is for live meeting coaching and conversation capture. Ottex sits between them with dictation, meetings, file transcription, local models, and BYOK on Mac and iOS.

Ottex

Mac, iOS · Free tier · $14/mo · PAYG

Ottex is unusually broad for a young Mac/iOS-first tool: it turns dictation and meetings into emails, tickets, CRM updates, notes, and docs, but it is not the pick if you need Windows, Android, web, browser extension, or compliance paperwork.

Choose if

You want one tool for system-wide dictation, meeting recording, and finished written outcomes like follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, and docs
You want a real free path: unlimited local dictation, file transcription, and meetings on Mac with Whisper/Parakeet, or BYOK instead of a forced subscription
You need multilingual dictation with 100+ languages, auto-detection, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules

Look elsewhere if

You need Windows, Android, Linux, web access, or a browser extension
You need mature team infrastructure such as a shared workspace, API/webhooks, third-party note destinations, or assistant chat over transcripts today.

Aqua Voice

Mac, Windows, iOS · Limited free · $8/mo

Aqua Voice is a polished system-wide dictation app for Mac, Windows, and iOS, with 49 languages and strong formatting controls, but it is not a meeting recorder or file transcription tool and dictation is processed server-side.

Choose if

You want fast, system-wide voice dictation across Mac, Windows, or iOS for everyday writing.
You want dictated text cleaned up automatically with punctuation, paragraphs, filler-word removal, snippets, custom vocabulary, and tone rules.
You are comfortable paying $10/month or $96/year after the 1,000-word trial, which is only about 8 minutes of speech.

Look elsewhere if

You need meeting recording, summaries, action items, speaker identification, or calendar-based meeting workflows.
You need audio or video file transcription with timestamps, speaker labels, exports, batch processing, or watch folders.

Hedy

Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web · Limited free · $12.99/mo · $299 one-time

Hedy is strongest as a bot-free live meeting coach and searchable conversation memory, with local/offline options and broad platform support, but it is not a system-wide dictation tool and lacks proven speaker labels, hotkeys, snippets, or

Choose if

You want real-time coaching during meetings, with questions, blind-spot alerts, talking points, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps after the session.
You need bot-free capture for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, in-person conversations, or imported audio/video, with apps across iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and web
You value privacy controls: local speech recognition by default, optional local AI, optional cloud sync, GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 Type I claims.

Look elsewhere if

You need system-wide dictation that inserts polished text into any app; Hedy explicitly does not support system-wide insertion or context-aware dictation.
You need meeting transcripts with publicly claimed speaker identification, timestamp exports, or speaker labels; those claims are not present here.

The evidence

What actually differs, claim by claim.

Each section opens with the takeaway. The table underneath is the receipt — every cell carries its source and the date we checked it.

Pricing

Ottex wins pricing flexibility with free local AI, free BYOK, $0.2/hour PAYG, $14/month Pro, and $24/seat/month Team. Aqua Voice is cheaper as a subscription at $10/month or $96/year after a 1,000-word trial, which is only about 8 minutes of speech. Hedy has the strongest real free meeting tier at 5 hours/month, plus $12.99/month Pro and a $299 lifetime option.

See the evidence — 12 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Aqua Voice	Hedy
Free tier	YesForever free with local models and BYOK providers.	Partial1,000 free words, no card required	PartialUp to 5 hours per month; Real-time AI insights (first 30 min/session)
Subscription	$14/mo$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.	$8/moFAQ says Pro is $8/month billed annually after the free words.	$12.99/moPro adds unlimited sessions, recording import, cross-session organization, Zapier, and API integrations.
Pay-as-you-go / one-timeEscape the flat subscription	$0.2/hourHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).	NoSubscription only	$299 one-timeAll future updates included
Bring your own keyPay the model provider, not the middleman	YesOpenRouter, Google AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and compatible providers.	No public claim	No public claim
Education discount	NoSame pricing for everyone.	YesStudents with a .edu email get 70% off annual plans.	No public claim

Platforms

Hedy wins platform coverage with Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Web. Aqua Voice covers Mac, Windows, and iOS, which is enough for cross-device dictation but leaves out Android and Web. Ottex is the narrowest here with Mac and iOS only, and app quality beyond the listed platforms is not established here.

See the evidence — 5 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Aqua Voice	Hedy
Platforms	Mac, iOS	Mac, Windows, iOS	Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Web
Native app footprintLight on memory, instant to invoke	YesNative Swift app, ~50MB RAM.	No public claim	YesVendor describes a native macOS application.

Meetings & team memory

Hedy wins meeting capture because it records bot-free across Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, in-person conversations, and imported audio or video. Ottex also supports meetings and file transcription, but the notes do not claim Hedy-style live coaching across those meeting contexts or mature team infrastructure. Aqua Voice does not support meetings, recording, summaries, speaker identification, or calendar meeting workflows

See the evidence — 17 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Aqua Voice	Hedy
Meeting recordingThe call is captured at all	YesWith speaker separation.	NoNot supported.	YesHedy records live sessions and meeting conversations.
Bot-free captureNo "recording bot" joins your call	YesSystem-audio capture, no bot joins the call.	NoNot supported.	YesFeature page says no bot joins calls.
Speaker separation	Yes	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Calendar detection	YesCalendar-based meeting detection.	NoNot supported.	YesGoogle Calendar is listed in the help center and news page.
Cross-meeting search	Yes	NoNot supported.	YesPro users can group sessions and ask questions across conversations weeks ago.
Shared team memory	PartialPublic share links, not a full team workspace.	NoNot supported.	YesSharing sessions and topics is listed in the help center.

From meeting to finished work

Ottex wins finished-work output because it turns dictation and meetings into follow-up emails, Linear tickets, CRM updates, PRDs, notes, and docs. Hedy is better during the meeting with real-time questions, blind-spot alerts, talking points, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps. Aqua Voice cleans dictated text well, but it is not a meeting intelligence tool.

See the evidence — 11 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Aqua Voice	Hedy
Decisions, owners, action itemsLeave the meeting with next steps clear	YesDecisions with owners extracted.	NoNot supported.	YesGoogle Play listing says Hedy can find decisions across past conversations.
Follow-up email draftedThe outcome is sent, not summarized	YesDrafted from templates or your own.	NoNot supported.	YesAuto-recap emails are listed for sharing insights.
CRM update / ticket draft	YesStructured for the target app.	NoNot supported.	No public claim
Your rough notes steer the result	YesRough notes and instructions steer the result.	NoNot supported.	YesHedy 3 added in-meeting note-taking that powers AI suggestions.

Dictation & transcription AI

Aqua Voice wins if you want polished system-wide dictation on Mac, Windows, or iOS, with 49 languages, punctuation, paragraphs, filler-word removal, snippets, custom vocabulary, and tone rules. Ottex wins for local or BYOK dictation on Mac and iOS, with 100+ languages, auto-detection, mixed-language speech, personal vocabulary, and per-app output rules. Hedy is not a system-wide dictation tool and does not support in

See the evidence — 13 claims across 3 toolsverified Jun 2026Show table

	Ottex	Aqua Voice	Hedy
Engines	Cloud: Whisper, Gemini 3 Flash, Voxtral. Local: Whisper, Parakeet v3.Hosted routing, BYOK, or fully local.	Avalon proprietary speech modelAqua says it runs on its own Avalon speech model.	Two local and two cloud speech recognition providersUsers can choose between private on-device transcription and cloud-based speech recognition.
Local / on-device optionAudio never leaves the machine	YesWhisper and Parakeet v3 run fully on-device.	NoAqua requires an internet connection and processes audio server-side.	YesLocal speech recognition and local AI processing can run on-device and offline.
Model selection per task	YesChoose the model per task and per provider.	No public claim	YesSpeech recognition provider can be changed in Settings > Speech & AI.
Languages & mixed speechWork that crosses languages mid-sentence	Yes100+ languages · Mid-sentence language switching.	Yes49+ languages · Language guide says Aqua supports multilingual speakers.	Yes30+ languages · App Store listing says Hedy supports multilingual conversations while returning insights in the preferred language.
Per-app output rules	YesPer-app output rules: exact in AI chats, polished in email.	PartialAqua formats for the destination app, but no per-app rule editor is documented.	No public claim

Cost

What a year actually costs at your volume.

Personal or team — switch tabs. Subscriptions are flat; usage-based pricing depends on how much you speak and meet.

You dictate about 3 h a week≈ 23,400 words at ~130 wpm

0 h5 h10 h

and sit in 4 h of meetings a weekhours you'd want captured and turned into follow-ups

0 h7.5 h15 h

Fill the gaps with:

Dictation appadded to meetings-only toolsMeetings appadded to dictation-only tools

OttexOttex Provider — PAYG$135/yrHosted models at cost: dictation ~$0.2/h, meetings ~$0.5/h (~$3/mo average).

OttexSubscription - Pro$168/yr$14/mo — unlimited dictation and meeting intelligence, all hosted models included.

Aqua VoicePro Annual$264/yr$96 + $168FAQ says Pro is $8/month billed annually after the free words. · Unlimited use

Aqua VoicePro Monthly$288/yr$120 + $168A vendor comparison page lists Pro at $10/month. · Unlimited use

Estimates, not quotes. Striped bar segments are the cost of the second app you picked above to cover the gap — rankings use that combined total. PAYG uses hosted at-cost estimates ($0.2/h dictation, $0.5/h meetings); BYOK is estimated at about a third of that because you pay the model provider directly. Bring-your-own-key plans still pay the model provider per use. One-time licenses are amortized over 2 years. Subscriptions use published pricing, checked Jun 2026.

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Aqua Voice vs Hedy: which should I pick?

Pick Aqua Voice if your main job is system-wide dictation into everyday apps on Mac, Windows, or iOS. Pick Hedy if your main job is bot-free meeting capture, live coaching, and recaps across Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and Web. Pick Ottex if you need one Mac/iOS tool for dictation, meetings, file transcription, and finished outputs.

Is Aqua Voice free?

Aqua Voice has a free trial with 1,000 words and no card required, which is only about 8 minutes of speech at normal dictation speed. After that, it is $10/month or $96/year for unlimited use. For a genuinely free option, consider Ottex — unlimited with local models or your own key.

Is Hedy free?

Hedy has a real limited free tier for meetings: up to 5 hours per month, with real-time AI insights for the first 30 minutes per session. Pro is $12.99/month, and Lifetime is $299 one-time. It is a better free meeting trial than Aqua Voice, but it is not a dictation app.

How much does Aqua Voice cost compared with Hedy?

Aqua Voice costs $10/month or $96/year after its 1,000-word trial. Hedy costs $12.99/month for Pro or $299 one-time for Lifetime, and its free tier allows up to 5 meeting hours per month. Ottex has free local and BYOK paths, $0.2/hour PAYG, and $14/month Pro.

Is Aqua Voice safe?

Aqua Voice dictation is processed server-side, so it is not the privacy pick if local speech recognition is the priority. Hedy is stronger on privacy because it uses local speech recognition by default, offers optional local AI, optional cloud sync, and claims GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 Type I. Ottex is also worth considering for privacy because it supports local models and BYOK.

Is it worth switching from Aqua Voice to Hedy?

Switch from Aqua Voice to Hedy if you now care more about meetings than dictation. Hedy gives you bot-free capture, real-time coaching, summaries, to-dos, and follow-up recaps, while Aqua Voice does not record meetings. Stay with Aqua Voice if you need polished system-wide dictation into any app.

Does Aqua Voice or Hedy work on Windows or Android?

Both Aqua Voice and Hedy work on Windows. Hedy also works on Android and Web, while Aqua Voice is limited to Mac, Windows, and iOS. Ottex is not the right choice for Windows or Android because it is Mac and iOS only.

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