Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Wispr Flow on Windows works as an ordinary desktop client: the voice goes to the cloud, and the text comes back into the active field. Free: 2000 words per week on a computer; payment by a Russian card directly does not work, only dollars. Potok (potok.now) has 2500 words per week and payment in rubles with servers in Russia.
Wispr Flow is a cloud voice input tool for desktop and phone: you turn on the hotkey, dictate, and wait for the ready text in the active field. For Windows there is a separate desktop client on a par with the macOS version. For those choosing between Wispr Flow and Potok specifically on Windows, three things usually matter: how the free limit works, whether you can pay in rubles, and what is known about the recognition servers.
How Wispr Flow works
Wispr Flow recognizes speech in the cloud: the app sends the audio to a server and receives ready text, which is inserted into the active field. Windows is one of the four supported platforms alongside macOS, iOS and Android, so dictation on a computer is not the only way to use the service.
The free plan is limited differently for desktop and phone: 2000 words per week on a computer, 1000 words per week on mobile devices. The paid Pro plan removes this limit and costs more when paid monthly than when paid for a whole year at once; see the exact amounts in the fact card below.
Payment is more complicated. You cannot pay with a Russian card in the standard way on Windows or through the website: the price is in dollars, and the checkout is built for a foreign payment method. Formally, access can be arranged through an App Store subscription on iOS, but the website does not say what amount in rubles will be charged this way.
The developer does not disclose where exactly the recognition servers are physically located; all that is known is that processing is in the cloud. Little is known about the quality of Russian speech recognition too: the product describes itself as built primarily for English, and it states support for more than a hundred languages in general terms, with no separate data for Russian: accents, names, speech mixed with English.
| Wispr Flow | Potok | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Wispr Flow: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Potok: Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Free | Wispr Flow: 2000 words/week on desktop, 1000 words/week on mobile | Potok: Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed |
| Price | Wispr Flow: $15/mo (Pro, monthly payment); $12/mo (Pro, when paid for a year ($144/year)) | Potok: Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly |
| Payment from Russia | Wispr Flow: 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) | Potok: Russian bank cards, rubles |
| Where speech is recognized | Wispr Flow: cloud (the data center country is not publicly disclosed) (not confirmed) | Potok: cloud; internet required |
| Russian language | Wispr Flow: 100+ languages are stated; the product is English-first, and no detailed public data on the quality of Russian was found (not confirmed) | Potok: primary language |
| Company | Wispr Flow: not disclosed | Potok: Sole proprietor, Russia |
Sources: wisprflow.ai
Who it fits
- those who already use Wispr Flow on a phone and want the same service on a work computer: the free limit on desktop is higher than on mobile, 2000 words against 1000 per week;
- those who work mostly in English and only occasionally switch to Russian: the service describes itself as English-first, and this is closer to exactly that scenario;
- those who find it convenient to pay with a foreign card in dollars and for whom payment in rubles is not essential;
- those who use macOS and Windows at the same time and do not want different programs for different computers: Wispr Flow works the same on both systems;
- those who are already comparing voice input on different platforms and are not tied to one developer: a similar analysis for another service is in the comparison with GigaType.
Limitations for a user from Russia
The main inconvenience is payment. Officially, Wispr Flow on Windows does not accept cards of Russian banks: the price is in dollars, and the checkout is built for a foreign payment method. Formally you can arrange access through an App Store subscription on iOS, but the exact amount in rubles for this option is not published anywhere, and relying on it as a permanent way is risky.
The second is the location of the servers. The service is cloud-based, but the country where the audio is physically processed is not disclosed in open sources. For those who care about where data is processed, the single word “cloud” is not enough.
Third: there are no data on Russian specifically for the Windows client. The website does not split recognition quality by operating system, and you can check how the service copes on a Windows computer only with your own phrases.
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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) |
When Potok is not a replacement for Wispr Flow
Potok will not replace Wispr Flow where mobile apps matter: Wispr Flow has clients for iOS and Android with a separate, smaller free limit, while Potok has Windows, macOS and Linux, without a single phone app. If you need dictation specifically on a smartphone on the road, Potok does not solve this task.
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet: this applies to Wispr Flow too, the only difference being the country of processing. Another comparison option is in the article on Molvi.
Frequently asked questions
Not in the standard way: the price is in dollars, and the checkout is built for foreign cards. Formally, access can be arranged through an App Store subscription on iOS, but the exact amount charged in rubles for this route is not published on the website.
Yes, the desktop app for Windows works on a par with the macOS version. The free limit on a computer is 2000 words per week, which is more than the limit of 1000 words per week on mobile devices.
Wispr Flow on Windows. 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 Wispr Flow on Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Wispr Flow on Windows. 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 Wispr Flow on Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Wispr Flow on Windows. 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 Wispr Flow on Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Wispr Flow on Windows. 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 Wispr Flow on Windows you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Check it in one evening
Install Potok, dictate what you usually type and compare. 14 days of full access, no card needed. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokYou dictate in the app, and recordings and voice messages are transcribed by @potok_now_bot in Telegram. 60 minutes per month are free; the Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot and in the app.
Primary sources: wisprflow.ai · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com