Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
People mostly look for a Molvi alternative because of recognition quality without a powerful graphics card: Molvi gives its best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, and without one it runs a faster model on the CPU. Potok (potok.now) recognizes speech in the cloud the same way whatever your hardware, and adds a free limit of 2500 words per week with no time limit, in exchange for a constant internet connection.
Molvi has no account, no payment and no servers. The program runs right on the computer, and this is what people who are tired of subscriptions value. But a free offline tool has caveats: the result depends noticeably on which graphics card is inside, and there is little information about who develops and maintains Molvi on a permanent basis. This section covers when these reasons are enough to look for a replacement and what to check when choosing.
Why people look for a Molvi replacement
The first reason is dependence on hardware. Molvi warns honestly: the best recognition quality is on an NVIDIA GPU, and without one a faster model runs on the CPU. On a laptop without a discrete NVIDIA graphics card the result can differ noticeably from what the program's demonstrations show, and this is not always obvious in advance. What switching to another dictation tool looks like in practice is described in the article half a year of voice input instead of a keyboard: an honest account (in Russian).
The second reason is legal uncertainty. There is no public information about a legal entity that develops and maintains Molvi: the project exists as free software with voluntary donations through Telegram, with no company or sole proprietor named. For personal use this is usually not a problem, but for a purchase by a company that needs a contract and an invoice from a legal entity, it is a stopping factor in itself.
The third reason is platforms. Molvi works on Windows and macOS, but not on a phone: those who switch between a computer and a mobile device during the day will need something else for the mobile part. Potok is no easier here: it has no mobile apps for Android and iPhone either. There are versions for Windows, macOS and Linux, so switching for the sake of a phone does not solve the problem by itself.
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Molvi | Windows, macOS | free forever, no accounts and no payment | — | not needed: the product is free; voluntary donations are accepted via Telegram Tribute or by card on the website, amounts are not fixed | device (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU) |
| WhispeRu | Windows | 7-day free trial (no card) | 290 ₽/mo (monthly license); 1990 ₽/yr (yearly license); 4990 ₽/one-time (lifetime license) | rubles directly (payment via YooKassa) | device (offline) |
| Wispr Flow | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | 2000 words/week on desktop, 1000 words/week on mobile | $15/mo (Pro, monthly payment); $12/mo (Pro, when paid for a year ($144/year)) | there is no standard payment with a Russian card: on Windows/Mac/web payment is only in USD; per earlier data, from Russia it is actually possible to pay through an iOS subscription in the App Store, but the exact amount in rubles is not verified (not confirmed) | cloud (the data center country is not publicly disclosed) (not confirmed) |
| Glas (LidFly) | Windows, macOS | 0 ₽ — 2000 words per week free for life, no card and no email sign-up; the first 2 weeks have no word limit | — | rubles directly: payment via SBP; invoices for companies and sole proprietors | cloud (Russia) — the site says “Russian servers, works without a VPN” |
| v2txt.ru | Windows, macOS | Start plan: 2000 words/week | 0 ₽/n/a (all of Pro is free until the end of 2026 (the regular Pro/Premium price after 2026 is not published on the website)) | rubles directly (Visa, Mastercard, Mir cards and T-Bank are accepted) | cloud (Russia) in online mode; offline mode processes on the device |
| Aqua Voice | macOS, Windows, iOS | Starter: 1000 free words (Avalon model), no card required | $8/mo (Pro, billed yearly); $10/mo (Pro, monthly); $24/mo (Max, billed yearly) | unknown: the website shows payment in USD, and there is a separate purchase through the iOS App Store; acceptance of Russian cards is not confirmed (not confirmed) | cloud (own Avalon model; the country of the data center is not publicly disclosed) (not confirmed) |
| GigaType | Windows, macOS | free with no limits: open source under the MIT license (Copyright (c) 2026 Disrupt Builders), all features are available without payment | — | not needed: there are no paid plans | device (offline, Sber's GigaAM neural network) |
| Lispr | Windows, macOS | 60 minutes of dictation per week for free; the key features (push-to-talk, translation, dictionary, local history) always stay free, without an account | $7.99/mo (Pro, monthly); $79/yr (Pro, yearly (from $44.90 with regional discounts)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (USA; recognition is done by Groq, Inc.) |
| Voice Access in Windows 11 | Windows | free, built into Windows 11 version 22H2 and newer | — | not disclosed | on the device (offline): speech recognition on the device after a one-time download of the language pack; the internet is needed only for the initial language download |
| MacWhisper | macOS | A free version is available ("Free forever", limited functionality), Pro is paid | €64/one-time (Pro, one-time purchase through Gumroad, lifetime updates); $29.99/yr (Pro, App Store version ("Whisper Transcription"), subscription); $99.99/one-time (Pro, App Store version, one-time purchase) | not disclosed | on the device (offline) by default, with local Whisper models; there are optional cloud transcription providers, but not as the main mode |
What to check in a replacement
- Hardware requirements. Find out whether a graphics card is needed for the stated recognition quality itself, and not just for speed, and how the program behaves on a weak laptop.
- Legal entity and support. If dictation is needed for a company's work tasks, check whether the developer has an official registration and where to turn when there are problems.
- Platforms. Potok has Windows, macOS and Linux. Molvi has only Windows and macOS. Neither of the two has mobile versions.
- Working without the internet. If offline mode is essential, as it is with Molvi, make sure the alternative also recognizes speech right on the device and not in the cloud, as Potok does: start the list of such options with WhisperU.
- Russian language. Molvi supports Russian, English and automatic language detection; if you work in several languages at once, check the list of languages of the alternative separately.
- Payment. Molvi is free and lives on donations; if you move to a paid service, check in advance the currency of the invoice and how to pay with a card of a Russian bank.
- Personalization. If you need a personal dictionary or snippets, check this with the chosen alternative separately, since not every program has such functions.
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Molvi | Windows, macOS | free forever, no accounts and no payment | — | not needed: the product is free; voluntary donations are accepted via Telegram Tribute or by card on the website, amounts are not fixed | device (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU) |
| WhispeRu | Windows | 7-day free trial (no card) | 290 ₽/mo (monthly license); 1990 ₽/yr (yearly license); 4990 ₽/one-time (lifetime license) | rubles directly (payment via YooKassa) | device (offline) |
Where Potok will not replace Molvi
If what you like about Molvi is precisely the offline mode and the absence of an account and payment, Potok does not reproduce this at all. Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Moving to it means moving from a free local tool to a service with an account, a limit and, after the free plan, a paid subscription.
Potok also does not support voice editing commands or transcription of files that are already recorded. These are separate tasks, unrelated to the choice between Molvi and Potok.
For those who care most about the fact that "nothing leaves the computer and no account is needed", it makes more sense to stay with Molvi or a similar offline tool than to move to a cloud service for the sake of other conveniences. And the other way around: if offline mode is not essential for you, and a personal dictionary for professional terms and a stable response regardless of the graphics card model matter more, Potok covers exactly that task.
Frequently asked questions
There is no public information about this: Molvi exists as free software with voluntary donations through Telegram, and the site does not name a company or a sole proprietor. For personal use this is usually not a problem. For a purchase by a company, check it separately before building the program into the company's workflow.
No, the program starts without one, and a faster model runs on the CPU. But according to the developer, the best recognition quality comes on an NVIDIA GPU, so on a weak laptop check the result on your own texts instead of relying on demonstrations.
Molvi alternatives. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Molvi alternatives you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Molvi alternatives. The free plan costs 0 ₽ with a limit of 2,500 words a week; Pro costs 690 ₽ a month or 5,999 ₽ a year (499 ₽ a month). Here is how Potok works: hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), speak, release — and the finished text is inserted into the active field of any app. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Molvi alternatives you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Molvi alternatives. Versions are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the default hotkey is Ctrl+Space; there are no mobile versions. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. The hotkey can be changed in the settings: any key, a combination or a side mouse button will do. Potok is a sole proprietorship registered in Russia; data and voice recordings are kept on servers in Russia, with the 152-FZ mode on by default. For Molvi alternatives you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Molvi alternatives. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Molvi alternatives you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
If you want to compare for yourself
Take one of your own tasks and dictate it in Potok. The first 14 days have no limits and need no card. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokA voice message from a messenger or a call recording can be forwarded to the bot @potok_now_bot, and it sends back the text. The bot is part of the same subscription as the Potok app.
Primary sources: molvi.tech · vc.ru