Voice dictation programs for lawyers: an overview

Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.

When choosing dictation, a lawyer needs to weigh three things: where the data is stored, whether there is a personal dictionary for terms, and the cost. Of the 5 options, Win+H is free but has no dictionary. Diktuy is cheaper. WhispeRu works offline. Wispr Flow has no standard payment by a Russian card. Potok (potok.now) offers a dictionary and servers in Russia.

How we chose and by what criteria we compared

We did not look at which program is the best in the world, but at what really matters for legal dictation: (1) where the data is stored and whether this is confirmed by a document, not only by marketing text; (2) whether there is a personal dictionary for terms, names of parties and trademarks; (3) price and the free limit; (4) platforms. We cannot compare recognition accuracy directly: there is no independent measurement of these services on the same set of legal phrases.

1. Potok

A desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. It works with the Ctrl+Space hotkey right in the field where you type: Word, email, SBIS, any text editor. Data is stored on servers in Russia. In the personal dictionary (Pro) you can add in advance the names of parties in Latin letters, trademarks and recurring wording from your practice. Free: 2500 words per week, 1 device. Pro: 690 ₽ per month (499 ₽ per month when paid for a year). The first 14 days of full access are free, with no card.

2. Diktuy

Also a Russian desktop tool (Windows, macOS). The country of the data center is not disclosed on the site: if this matters to you, ask the vendor directly. It is cheaper in money terms. The free plan gives 30 minutes of dictation per month. Paid plans when paid for a year: Profi at 239 ₽ per month (2870 ₽ per year) and Max at 479 ₽ per month (5750 ₽ per year). A personal dictionary of terms is not stated in the plan descriptions.

3. WhispeRu

A Windows app that works offline: audio does not leave the computer. This is the best option if it is essential for your practice that audio does not go to a third-party server at all, whichever country it is in. Prices: 290 ₽ per month, 1990 ₽ per year or 4990 ₽ for a lifetime license, paid through YooKassa; a 7-day trial with no card. The other side: Windows only, and a separate personal dictionary of legal terms is not stated on the site.

4. Wispr Flow

One of the most developed voice input tools in the world (macOS, Windows, iOS, Android), but with caveats for a lawyer in Russia. There is no standard payment by a Russian card: on desktop and the web, payment is only in dollars, and Pro costs $15 per month or $12 per month when paid for a year. From Russia you can take out a subscription through the App Store on iOS, but the exact amount in rubles is not verified. The product is oriented first of all toward English; where the servers are is not publicly disclosed. Free is 2000 words per week on desktop. A detailed breakdown of the price is on a separate page.

5. Built-in Win+H (Windows)

It is free and needs no installation, but Russian is only in Windows 11: in Windows 10 voice input does not know Russian. Recognition runs in the Microsoft cloud, and you need the internet. It suits short notes and drafts. There is no personal dictionary of legal terms or substitution of party names here: this is a general-purpose system feature, not a specialized tool.

Summary table

Who each one suits

Are data in Russia and a personal dictionary for terms more important than price? Take Potok. Saving money matters most: Diktuy. It is essential that audio never leaves the computer: WhispeRu. You work mostly in English and are ready for payment difficulties: Wispr Flow. You need to quickly dictate a short note without installing anything: built-in Win+H, understanding its limits.

What else to check before choosing

Several devices. If you dictate both from a work laptop and from home, find out how many devices the plan includes and whether the dictionary of terms carries over. Potok on Free has one device. Offline tools such as WhispeRu work on each computer separately.

What happens when the limit runs out. On free plans, different services count the limit differently: Potok by words per week, Diktuy by minutes per month, and for WhispeRu it is a 7-day trial. It is worth estimating your typical dictation volume in advance to see which limit runs out faster for you specifically, rather than relying on advertising phrases like "generous free plan".

Stability during long dictation. A short note and an entire statement of claim load the tool differently. During the trial period, dictate a long passage without pauses and see whether the session breaks off or punctuation is lost.

A separate personal data processing agreement. If a law firm plans to officially include a voice input service in its workflow with client documents, it is worth asking the chosen vendor whether it offers a separate data processing agreement for personal data. For Potok such an agreement is possible only on the Business plan on request; ask the others directly. A detailed checklist of questions is in a separate article on the 152-FZ law for a law firm (in Russian).

A personal decision versus a decision for the whole firm

If you choose a tool only for yourself, you are freer to compromise: you can take a free plan to try, switch between options without approvals and settle on whatever is physically more comfortable under your fingers (more precisely, under your voice). A law firm that approves a tool centrally (through IT or the security team) should decide not by the personal impressions of one employee but by a formal checklist: country of the servers, retention period, whether there is a personal data processing agreement, access policy. The difference in approach explains why a quick personal choice and the firm's official decision sometimes diverge, even if both are reasonable within their own frame.

Platforms: what works where

If the firm uses both Windows and macOS at once, the choice narrows. Potok has versions for Windows, macOS and Linux; Diktuy works on Windows and macOS. WhispeRu exists only for Windows. Wispr Flow has the widest coverage (macOS, Windows, iOS, Android), but payment from Russia on desktop remains difficult. Built-in Win+H exists only in Windows.

What did not make it into this comparison

We deliberately did not include in the overview a direct comparison of recognition accuracy on live legal speech, because no such independent measurement covering all five tools at once exists. Any accuracy figures published by a given service (including our own internal measurement) were obtained with different methods and different sets of phrases, and comparing them directly would be incorrect. The only honest way to compare accuracy on your own legal vocabulary is to install two or three options for a trial period and dictate a real but anonymized text from your practice.

We also did not include narrowly specialized corporate dictation systems and legal CRMs with speech recognition add-ons. This is a separate category of products with different pricing and a different rollout cycle. It is not an app you can install and try in one evening, like all five options above.

Potok is a cloud service, with recognition on servers in Russia; it does not work without the internet.

Frequently asked questions

Built-in dictation and Potok

Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com