Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Voice input programs are worth comparing by verifiable parameters rather than by a place in someone else's rating: platforms, how the program copes with Russian, the size of the free limit, whether you can pay in rubles and where recognition physically happens. Potok (potok.now) has a free limit of 2500 words per week, Wispr Flow has 2000; such numbers can be compared, but accuracy in Russian cannot, as no independent tests exist.
Comparing voice input programs only makes sense when it is clear what exactly you are comparing: an overall “best program” rating rarely answers the reader's real question. This section collects direct head-to-heads by specific parameters: platform, price, accuracy in Russian, features. These are not abstract scores with no explanation of the method. Even one verifiable parameter such as the free limit can decide the choice: Potok gives 2500 words per week, Wispr Flow gives 2000, and after that the question is what matters more, the number or the other terms.
- What WhispeRu is and how it works
- GigaType or Potok: which to choose for Russian speech
- SpeechPad or Potok: what to choose for dictation in Russian
- Voisty: how to use it and how it works inside
- Wispr Flow free: how many words the limit gives and when it runs out
- Wispr Flow: what this service is and how it works
- Wispr Flow on Windows: how it works and who it fits
- Potok or Diktuy: two Russian voice input tools
- Potok or SpeakFlow: what to choose for voice input in Russian
- Potok vs Spokenly: its own Russian model in the cloud or free local Whisper
- Potok vs Talkpad: a multilingual engine versus a Russian model
- Potok or WhispeRu: a cloud Russian model or offline recognition
- Potok vs Windows built-in voice input (Win+H): the difference and when the free one is enough
- Potok or A-Golos: a comparison for those who dictate in Russian
- Potok or Aqua Voice: a comparison for those who dictate in Russian
- Aqua Voice in Russian: what to know before subscribing
- Potok or GigaType: which to choose for Russian speech
- GigaType: what it is and how it works
- SpeechPad voice notepad: what it is and how it works
- Potok or Lynote: why these are different tools
- Potok or Molvi: which to pick for Russian speech
- Molvi voice input: what it is and how it works
- SpeakFlow: price and payment from Russia
- Potok or Voice Access in Windows 11: which to pick
- Wispr Flow subscription: what it is and what it costs
- Laitis or Voco: which to pick for dictation in Russian
All articles in this section, in Russian (81): potok.now/sravnenie
How the section is organized
The articles in this section cover specific pairs and questions rather than abstract categories. Potok or Wispr Flow (in Russian): the difference shows already in the free limit, 2500 words per week with Potok versus 2000 with Wispr Flow, and then payment and the place where data is processed diverge.
GigaType or Potok: a different kind of comparison. GigaType recognizes speech right on the device, Potok does it in the cloud, and the choice here more often depends not on price but on whether the sound should leave the computer at all.
The article macOS dictation or a separate app (in Russian) settles an earlier question: whether to try the system's built-in tool before installing anything else, and only then move on to comparing specific programs with each other.
No independent comparisons of recognition accuracy in Russian exist: the comparisons in this section are built on verifiable parameters: price, platform, limits, the place where data is processed. Abstract quality scores do not count here.
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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) |
Where a beginner should start
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Decide what exactly you are comparing: two specific programs or ways of dictating in general; this determines which article of the section you need.
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Make a short list of two or three criteria that matter to you personally: platform, price, accuracy on terms, working without the internet. Comparing by all parameters at once usually just confuses things.
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If it matters where the sound is physically processed and in which currency you pay, check these two points first: they differ between programs more than the dictation mechanics itself.
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After comparing on paper, test the remaining one or two options on your own texts: make the final decision based on your own experience, not only on a table.
What this section does not cover
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet; keep this limitation in mind in any comparison on the pages of this section, whichever competitor is considered alongside.
The section does not compare programs for transcribing already recorded files (meetings, calls, voice messages): that is a separate category of tasks, transcription, not voice input for typing text on the fly. Mobile apps are also outside the comparison: Potok has none, only apps for the computer (Windows, macOS, Linux). The section also does not cover voice editing commands such as “delete the last word” or “start the paragraph again”: Potok has no such feature. More on scenarios for specific tasks is in the section voice input for work, and on the compatibility of built-in tools with older versions of Windows in the question does Windows 10 support keyboard voice typing in Russian (in Russian).
Frequently asked questions
You do not have to pick the least bad option on every point at once: sometimes it is more practical to keep two tools for different tasks, one for everyday dictation in Russian and another for the rare cases when everything must stay offline.
Because people have different tasks: for some price matters more, for others accuracy on professional terms, for others working without the internet. The articles in this section compare specific parameters, and the decision depends on what matters to you.
Comparing voice input software. 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 Comparing voice input software you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Comparing voice input software. 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 Comparing voice input software you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Comparing voice input software. 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 Comparing voice input software you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Comparing voice input software. 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 Comparing voice input software you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to start
Potok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. For two weeks everything is open for free, after that 2500 words per week without paying. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokThe Potok subscription also includes the Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: forward it a voice message or a long meeting recording and it returns the text. Without a subscription the bot gives 60 minutes per month for free.
Related software: terms compared
| 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 |
| SpeakFlow | Windows, Web | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 690 ₽/mo (Personal (unlimited)) | rubles directly | cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed) |
| Diktuy | Windows, macOS | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 239 ₽/mo (Profi (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)); 2870 ₽/yr (Profi (year, billed in full)); 479 ₽/mo (Max (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)) | rubles directly (not confirmed) | cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed) |
| Talkpad | macOS, Windows, Android | 2500 words/week on desktop, 1500 words/week on mobile, free forever; plus a 14-day Pro trial | $6/mo (Pro (billed yearly, $72/yr)); $8/mo (Pro (monthly billing)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (the legal entity is registered in Australia; the website is hosted on Cloudflare; the exact location of the ASR servers is not disclosed in the privacy policy) (not confirmed) |
| Voisty | Windows, macOS | 5 minutes of transcription (to judge the quality) | $6.7/mo (Pro); $67/yr (Pro (year)); $99/one-time (Lifetime) | Visa/Mastercard/Amex cards, PayPal; whether Russian cards are accepted is not stated (not confirmed) | device (offline, local models such as Whisper Large V3 Turbo / NVIDIA Parakeet) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
Primary sources: speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · blog.speakflow.ru