Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
When the free 60 minutes of transcription per month run out, the Telegram bot @potok_now_bot does not download a new file and shows a limit screen with payment buttons. The limit resets on the 1st of the month, Moscow time. The bot of the Potok service (potok.now) removes the limit with a subscription shared with the dictation app.
The free limit of the bot @potok_now_bot is 60 minutes of recording per calendar month. What happens when they run out depends on only one thing: whether you have reached the end of the limit.
What happens when the free transcription limit is used up
When the limit is used up, the bot does not download the file you sent. Instead of a transcript it shows a limit screen with payment buttons. You can buy a subscription right from this screen, or you can wait: the limit resets on the 1st of the month, Moscow time, and 60 free minutes are available again.
The subscription removes the limit in the bot, and it is shared with the dictation app. See the blocks below for how much it costs: we do not write prices in the text. Transcripts you already received do not go anywhere: they stay in “My recordings”, and you can open them again.
Do not confuse this limit with the limit on transcribing voice messages inside the messenger itself: there is a separate page about the limit of free transcriptions in Telegram (in Russian).
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok bot and web version | Telegram (@potok_now_bot, mini app inside the bot) | 60 minutes per month | 7 days: 249 ₽, 30 days: 449 ₽, one year: 2 890 ₽; included in the Potok app subscription | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Telegram voice message transcription | Telegram | without Premium, a few transcriptions per week; with Premium, no limit on their number | — | not disclosed | Telegram servers |
| Transkriptor | Web | 10 minutes on sign-up, limited to 2 min/day (according to the localized Russian site transkriptor.ru); the international site transkriptor.com states a free trial (up to 90 minutes according to secondary sources; the official pricing page could not be opened directly because it timed out) | 490 ₽/one-time (Start, 150 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 790 ₽/one-time (Pro, 700 minutes (transkriptor.ru)); 1900 ₽/one-time (Premium, 2100 minutes (transkriptor.ru)) | yes, on the localized site transkriptor.ru: Visa/Mastercard/Mir bank cards with no fee, SBP via QR code with no fee, YooMoney with a 3% fee; payments are one-off (no subscription) and processed by the KASSA service. The international site transkriptor.com presumably bills in dollars; this is not confirmed directly (the pricing page timed out) | not disclosed |
| Otter.ai | Web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension, Desktop (Mac/Windows), integrations with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet | Basic: 300 minutes of transcription per month, up to 30 minutes per meeting, 3 imported files over the whole lifetime of the account, free forever | $16.99/mo (Pro, monthly billing, 1200 min/mo); $8.33/mo (Pro, billed yearly (the full year is charged at once)); $30/mo (Business, monthly billing) | not directly: dollar billing through international payment processors declines cards issued in Russia and Belarus (confirmed by independent Russian-language guides on dtf.ru and vc.ru; no official Otter.ai statement about blocking Russia was found, this follows from general payment system restrictions) | cloud, US servers (the company is registered in the USA); the exact data center is not disclosed on the pricing page |
| Tactiq | Chrome extension | 10 meeting transcriptions per month | $12/mo (Pro, monthly) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Happy Scribe | Web | 10 minutes of AI transcription | $17/mo (Basic, monthly, 120 minutes); $29/mo (Pro, monthly, 600 minutes) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Voicy (@voicybot) | Telegram | free; on the Wit.ai engine, recordings of up to 50 seconds | — | not disclosed | Wit.ai, Yandex SpeechKit or Google Speech; the user chooses the engine |
| Notta | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | 120 minutes per month, up to 3 minutes per recording | $13.99/mo (Pro, monthly, 1800 minutes); $27.99/mo (Business, monthly) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Voix (@RecogMyAudioBot) | Telegram | voice messages up to 15 minutes, video up to 6 minutes | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Audio2Text | Web, Telegram | 15 minutes per month | 295 ₽/mo (Basic, 500 minutes); 495 ₽/mo (Standard, 1000 minutes); 1245 ₽/mo (Expert, 5000 minutes) | rubles | not disclosed |
| TurboScribe | Web | 3 files a day, each up to 30 minutes | $20/mo (Unlimited, monthly) | not disclosed | not disclosed |
How to tell that the limit has run out
- Open the chat with @potok_now_bot in Telegram.
- Send the bot a voice message, a file or a link, as usual.
- If the bot shows a limit screen with payment buttons instead of a transcript, the free 60 minutes of this month are used up.
- Choose: take a subscription with the payment buttons or wait until the 1st of the month, Moscow time, when the limit resets.
- Open earlier transcripts in “My recordings”: they stay there while you wait.
If you are interested in how voice input works in general, look at the section with answers to common questions.
Where Potok is not the answer to this question
The limit on this page applies to the bot. The Potok dictation app has its own limit: 14 days of full access for free; for free, 2500 words per week on one device. Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. The app does not transcribe finished recordings: for those there is the Telegram bot @potok_now_bot, and they share one subscription.
Frequently asked questions
The limit resets on the 1st of the month, Moscow time, and from that day 60 minutes of free transcription per month are available again.
Yes. The subscription removes the limit both in the bot and in the dictation app: it is one for both products. The amounts are shown in the blocks on the site.
What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out. 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 What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out. 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 What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out. 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 What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out. 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 What happens when the free transcription limit in the bot runs out you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Transcribe your own recording
Forward a voice message, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link to Potok's Telegram bot, and the text arrives in the same chat. 60 minutes per month for free.
Open @potok_now_bot in TelegramPrimary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com
Transcribe a recording in Telegram
Voice messages, video notes, audio and video are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: forward it a voice message from any chat, or send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link. A short recording comes back as text in the chat, a long one as a file; timestamps and speaker labels can be turned on. The buttons give a short summary, tasks and deadlines, an answer to a question about the recording and export to TXT, DOCX, PDF or SRT. Large files, up to 2 GB, are easier to upload in the bot's mini app, via the Upload button next to the input field. The bot recognizes 100+ languages (the language is detected automatically); 60 minutes per month are free.