Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Google voice typing is a free feature inside Google Docs in the browser and the Gboard keyboard on Android and iOS, with no separate app for Windows or macOS. Recognition in Docs is cloud-based, and Russian is officially supported. Potok (potok.now) is an alternative for any app on a computer: the Ctrl+Space hotkey and 2500 words per week for free.
You can open Google voice typing in only two places: in a Google Docs tab in the browser, or through the Gboard keyboard on a phone. Switch to a desktop app, such as an email client, a code editor or Word, and the feature is simply unavailable: Google has no separate program for Windows or macOS with a single hotkey for any field. Some people run into this limit after dictating a paragraph in Docs and trying to do the same in another window; others look for a replacement in advance, before they hit the boundaries of a browser tab. A list of such options is collected in the section voice input alternatives.
Why people look for a replacement for Google voice typing
The main reason is the scope. Google voice typing works only where Google itself built it in: inside Google Docs in the browser and in the Gboard keyboard on a phone. There is no separate app for Windows or macOS that would catch dictation in any text field with the same hotkey. For email, messengers, code and documents outside Docs you need another tool.
The second reason is where the voice is physically processed. In Google Docs recognition is cloud-based, and the legal entity responsible for the service is Google LLC, registered in the USA. For companies and users who care about speech processing specifically in Russian jurisdiction, this can be a significant factor, not just a matter of convenience.
The third reason is the lack of personalization. It is not publicly described whether Google voice typing has a personal dictionary for terms, names and abbreviations that the model gets wrong again and again. By all appearances, you cannot tune recognition to your own vocabulary.
The fourth is that the offline mode is not everywhere and not always. In Gboard some advanced voice input features run on the device for certain languages and do not go to Google servers, but what share of locales this covers is not officially disclosed, and ordinary voice input generally remains cloud-based.
| 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) |
| Lispr | Windows, macOS | 60 minutes of dictation per week for free; the key features (push-to-talk, translation, dictionary, local history) always stay free, without an account | $7.99/mo (Pro, monthly); $79/yr (Pro, yearly (from $44.90 with regional discounts)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (USA; recognition is done by Groq, Inc.) |
| v2txt.ru | Windows, macOS | Start plan: 2000 words/week | 0 ₽/n/a (all of Pro is free until the end of 2026 (the regular Pro/Premium price after 2026 is not published on the website)) | rubles directly (Visa, Mastercard, Mir cards and T-Bank are accepted) | cloud (Russia) in online mode; offline mode processes on the device |
| Typeless | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | 8000 words per week (Free plan); new users get a 30-day Pro trial, then move to Free if they do not pay | $12/mo (Pro billed yearly (effectively $144/yr)); $30/mo (Pro billed monthly) | Visa/Mastercard cards; whether Russian cards are accepted is not stated | cloud (the server country is not officially disclosed; the privacy policy only says 'processed in real time on our cloud servers') (not confirmed) |
What to check in a replacement
Before moving away from Google voice typing, work out what from your usual setup will definitely stay and what you will have to replace separately.
- Check whether text is inserted into any app on the computer with the same hotkey, and not only in a browser tab with a particular service.
- Find out where speech is physically processed and in which jurisdiction. For tasks involving personal data this may matter more than the recognition quality itself.
- Find out whether there is a personal dictionary for terms, names and abbreviations that a general model usually does not tell apart without a hint.
- Compare language specialization: whether the model is built specifically for Russian speech and mixed Russian and English text, and not just one of a hundred languages in a general list.
- Check whether there is a separate app for Windows and macOS, and not only a browser extension or a mobile keyboard.
- Find out the free limit and the terms of the paid subscription. Google voice typing has no subscription at all, while paid alternatives usually have a volume limit.
- Check how the program responds on live text with professional vocabulary, not on a short demo phrase.
- Assess what happens to the text on a weak internet connection: some cloud services lose the whole phrase if the connection breaks in the middle of a recording.
| 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 |
| Google voice input (Google Docs voice typing + Gboard) | Web (Google Docs, Chrome/Edge/Safari, current versions), Android (Gboard), iOS (Gboard) | free, built into Google Docs and the Gboard keyboard | — | not disclosed | cloud: in Google Docs, speech recognition is handled by the browser, which manages the speech-to-text service and determines speech processing, after which the text is sent to Google Docs (that is, a cloud service of the browser or Google is used, not local processing). In Gboard some advanced voice typing features for certain locales run on the device and are not sent to Google servers by default, but ordinary Gboard voice input is generally cloud-based |
Where Potok will not replace Google voice typing
Potok will not replace Google voice typing where you need to dictate straight from a phone. In Gboard it is the system keyboard on Android and iOS, while Potok has no mobile apps at all, only clients for Windows, macOS and Linux. If your main scenario is messages and notes from a phone, Gboard handles this task with no restrictions and for free.
On volume the comparison is not in Potok's favor either: Google voice typing in Docs and Gboard has no limit on the number of words per week, while Potok's free plan is 2500 words, after which you need a paid subscription. For those who dictate a great deal and are not ready to pay, this is an argument for Google's solution, even given its limits on where it works.
Keep the architecture in mind too: Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet, like Google voice typing in the browser. A direct comparison with one of the well-known services of this type is in the article Potok versus Wispr Flow.
Frequently asked questions
On a computer, only inside Google Docs in the browser; there is no separate app for other programs. On a phone the same recognition is available more widely, through the Gboard keyboard in any app where you can type.
In Google Docs, no: recognition is cloud-based. In Gboard some advanced features for certain languages run on the device, but what share of locales the offline mode covers is not officially disclosed.
Any microphone the system sees as a recording device will do. In Potok you choose it in the app settings or in the tray icon menu; system access to the microphone is required.
Built-in system tools (Win+H in Windows, Dictation in macOS, Voice Typing in Google Docs, Gboard on Android), voice browser extensions, and specialized desktop and web services (Potok and similar) that work on top of any app via a hotkey.
Potok states about 900 characters per minute by voice versus about 200 when typing, roughly 4 times faster. This is the product's own estimate, not an independent measurement.
Voice input converts speech to text on the fly: the user speaks, and the program transcribes the sound with speech recognition technology (ASR) and inserts the resulting text into the active field, such as email, a messenger or a document. In Potok it works through a hotkey: hold it, speak, release, and the text is inserted.
Try it on your own texts
Download Potok for Windows, macOS or Linux: full access for the first 14 days, no card needed. After that, 2500 words per week for free or Pro for 690 ₽ per month. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokA voice message from a messenger or a call recording can be forwarded to the bot @potok_now_bot, and it sends back the text. The bot is part of the same subscription as the Potok app.
Primary sources: support.google.com · support.google.com · support.google.com