Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Wispr Flow works on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android and gives 2000 words per week free on desktop, 1000 words on mobile. The Pro plan is paid in dollars: cards of Russian banks are not accepted in the standard way, and the exact amounts are in the table on the page. Potok (potok.now) is a cloud alternative with payment by a Russian card directly and 14 days of full access free.
Wispr Flow is a popular voice input tool from the USA that works on four platforms. The price is not so simple: there is a free limit, but the developer does not provide for paying the subscription directly with a card of a Russian bank.
| Service | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Potok | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly |
| Wispr Flow | 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)) |
How to pay from Russia and where the catch is
Wispr Flow sells the Pro subscription in dollars: monthly and annual plans, with the annual one noticeably cheaper per month; the exact amounts are in the table above. There is no official way to pay directly with a card of a Russian bank on the website or in the Windows or Mac app: payment goes through foreign processing in dollars, and a Russian card will not work here in the standard way.
The workaround that users sometimes mention is to take out the Pro subscription through the iPhone app, where the Apple App Store itself converts the price to rubles by the account region. According to the website, this route is technically possible, but the exact amount in rubles and how reliably it works are not verified: it should not be relied on as an official payment channel.
So the catch is not in the price itself but in the way of getting it to the card: without readiness to pay in foreign currency or to look for a workaround through the mobile App Store, you cannot take out Wispr Flow directly from Russia. A detailed comparison of features and price is in the article Potok vs Wispr Flow (in Russian).
| 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
How much it comes to per year
For a year, Wispr Flow is cheaper on the annual plan than paying monthly twelve times: the annual price per month is noticeably lower than the monthly subscription. Both amounts are in dollars, so the final overpayment in rubles depends on the exchange rate on the date of charge and is not fixed in advance, as it is with services that charge in rubles.
If payment goes through the App Store on iPhone, the annual cost is additionally tied to Apple's regional price grid, which does not always match a direct conversion at the exchange rate. This is worth taking into account when planning expenses a year ahead: the exact amount in rubles is hard to predict in advance, and the overpayment may differ from what is expected because of the exchange rate difference.
When the extra payment for Potok is justified
Wispr Flow fits if you need work on all four platforms, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and you are fine with payment in dollars without direct support for Russian cards. The product is oriented primarily toward English, and according to the website no detailed public data on the quality of Russian speech recognition were found; for those who need Russian specifically, this is worth checking in advance on your own tasks.
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without an internet connection. On the other hand, it was made for Russian speech from the start and is paid for with a Russian card directly, without currency difficulties. Other options are in the section on voice input programs.
Frequently asked questions
Wispr Flow has two Pro plan options: the ordinary monthly price and a cheaper price when paying for a whole year at once. The exact amounts are in the price table on the page. Payment is in dollars.
Not in the standard way on Windows, Mac and in the browser: payment is accepted only in dollars. According to the website, payment in rubles at the App Store rate is possible through a subscription in the iPhone app, but this is not officially confirmed.
Wispr Flow. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Wispr Flow. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Wispr Flow. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Wispr Flow. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Download Potok
Works with a single key in any program. 14 days of full access, then Free with 2500 words per week or Pro at 690 ₽/mo (499 ₽/mo paid yearly). 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