Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
People look for Lynote alternatives for AI notes, transcription of videos and YouTube clips, and an AI text detector and “humanizer”. The service works in the browser on any OS, with a free plan of up to 300 words for humanizing and 500 words for the detector check. It does not fit dictating speech into any field: that is done by Potok (potok.now) and similar hotkey programs, not by browser AI notes.
You cannot learn the exact price of a Lynote subscription right away: the amounts on the site are shown only after choosing a region or signing in, and a stated discount of up to 64% for yearly payment says little without the base figure. Besides, the service works only in the browser, does not state support for Russian separately, and it is unclear whether payment from Russia will go through at all. These questions are worth settling before signing up, not after.
Why people look for a Lynote replacement
The first reason is the opaque price. To see the subscription amounts you have to choose a region or sign in: you cannot compare the cost with other services in advance without registering.
The second is that the service works only in the browser, with no separate app for the computer. For those who need dictation with a system hotkey in any window, email, a document, a messenger, a browser tool for notes and video transcription does not solve this task at all.
The third is the Russian language. The site states “more than 100 languages” in a general phrase, but Russian is not named separately or confirmed anywhere: all that is left is to check in practice whether it is on that list at all.
The fourth is payment from Russia. Unlike many competitors, there are not even guesses on this point here: the question is open and needs a separate check with the service's support before subscribing.
Finally, the task itself may not match what Lynote does. The service combines several different functions, notes, video transcription, an AI text detector, a “humanizer”, and for someone who needs only real-time speech dictation this is more of an excessive set than a convenience.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| SaluteSpeech Bot (Sber) | Telegram | free; voice messages, audio and video notes | — | not disclosed | SaluteSpeech cloud (Sber) |
| 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 |
| Voicee (@Voicee_AI_Bot) | Telegram, Web | 45 minutes to start | 500 ₽/hour of recording (without a package; cheaper with packages) | rubles | not disclosed |
| KolerskyAI Whisper Bot | Telegram | the first 5 minutes | 69 ₽/15 minutes; 149 ₽/50 minutes; 490 ₽/200 minutes | rubles | not disclosed |
| Transkribator (@gotranscribeai_bot) | Telegram, Max | 3 transcriptions per month | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Voix (@RecogMyAudioBot) | Telegram | voice messages up to 15 minutes, video up to 6 minutes | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Telegram voice message transcription | Telegram | without Premium, a few transcriptions per week; with Premium, no limit on their number | — | not disclosed | Telegram servers |
| Speech2Text.ru | Web | 3 hours on sign-up | — | not disclosed | not disclosed |
What to check in a replacement
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The full price without signing in. Make sure you can see the subscription cost on the site right away, not only after registering or choosing a region.
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The platform. Decide whether you need a browser tool or a separate program for the computer with a system hotkey: these are different usage scenarios.
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Russian explicitly in the list. Check that Russian is named separately and not hidden in a general phrase about a hundred-plus supported languages.
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Payment from Russia. Ask the service directly whether payment in rubles goes through or a foreign card and an intermediary are required.
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The function you need. Decide in advance what exactly is required: notes from video, checking text for AI origin, or dictating speech on the fly. These are different tasks, and one service rarely covers all of them equally well.
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The free plan limit. Find out whether it is counted in words per single check, as at Lynote, or as a constant volume per week or month: this greatly changes what free access will really cover.
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What happens to the data. Ask whether uploaded content is used to train the service's models or not: Lynote's site says directly that it is not, but other services may have no such reservation.
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The yearly discount in figures, not in percent. A discount of “up to 64%” says nothing without the base amount: ask for or find the exact price of the monthly and yearly plans side by side before comparing percentages.
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Work with long files. If you need to transcribe an hour-long video or meeting, ask whether there is a limit on the length of the video or the file size: for services focused on notes it is sometimes stricter than the plan description suggests.
| 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 |
| Lynote | Web (browser, all operating systems) | a free plan exists: Humanizer up to 300 words, AI Detector up to 500 words per check; transcription limits are not disclosed on the pricing page | — | not disclosed | cloud processing (stated: content is processed on the service's servers and is not used to train models) |
Where Potok will not replace Lynote
Potok and Lynote solve different tasks, and in almost everything Potok is not a replacement: it does not transcribe finished recordings and videos, it is not a transcriber, and it inserts only what you say right now through a hotkey. For finished recordings Potok has the Telegram bot @potok_now_bot. Potok also has no AI text detector or “humanizer” like Lynote's: it does no checking or rewriting of already finished text.
Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work at all without the internet, just like Lynote, which is also built around cloud processing. The only common ground is that at some stage both convert speech or text with the help of AI, but with Potok it is real-time dictation into any field, and with Lynote it is work with already finished files and videos. A similar look at another service is in the material Molvi voice input, and the general catalog of replacements is in the section Wispr Flow alternative.
Frequently asked questions
The site states “100+ languages” without listing them, and Russian is not named among them separately or confirmed. Before signing up it is worth checking this directly rather than relying on the general figure.
No, the service is built around notes, video transcription and work with already finished text: the AI detector and the “humanizer”. It has no dictation into an arbitrary text field by hotkey.
Voice input is real-time dictation: you speak and immediately get text in the active field. Transcription is turning an already finished audio or video recording (for example, a meeting recording) into text after the fact. The Potok app does the first job, live dictation; finished recordings in Russian are transcribed by its Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Yes, a number of platforms have built-in meeting transcription: in Zoom for cloud recordings, in Microsoft Teams during the meeting, in Google Meet on Google Workspace plans. The alternative is to record the sound and process it with a separate transcription service after the call. The Potok app does not do this kind of transcription, it is for live dictation; you can send a call recording as a file to the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
With Potok you can dictate the minutes live, saying them during or right after the meeting. Transcribing an already recorded meeting audio file (a finished Zoom or Telemost recording) is a separate transcription task: you can send such a file to the Potok Telegram bot @potok_now_bot.
Voice input is real-time dictation into the active text field. Transcription is turning an already finished audio or video recording (a lecture, a call, a podcast) into text after the fact, often with diarization (splitting by speaker).
Try it on your own recording
Potok's Telegram bot transcribes a voice message, video note, audio or video, and its buttons make a summary and a task list. 60 minutes per month for free.
Open @potok_now_bot in TelegramPrimary sources: lynote.ai · support.microsoft.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 or RuTube 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 Russian speech; 60 minutes per month are free.