Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
People mostly look for a Molvi alternative because of recognition quality without a powerful graphics card: Molvi gives its best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, and without one it runs a faster model on the CPU. Potok (potok.now) recognizes speech in the cloud the same way whatever your hardware, and adds a free limit of 2500 words per week with no time limit, in exchange for a constant internet connection.
Molvi has no account, no payment and no servers. The program runs right on the computer, and this is what people who are tired of subscriptions value. But a free offline tool has caveats: the result depends noticeably on which graphics card is inside, and there is little information about who develops and maintains Molvi on a permanent basis. This section covers when these reasons are enough to look for a replacement and what to check when choosing.
Why people look for a Molvi replacement
The first reason is dependence on hardware. Molvi warns honestly: the best recognition quality is on an NVIDIA GPU, and without one a faster model runs on the CPU. On a laptop without a discrete NVIDIA graphics card the result can differ noticeably from what the program's demonstrations show, and this is not always obvious in advance. What switching to another dictation tool looks like in practice is described in the article half a year of voice input instead of a keyboard: an honest account.
The second reason is legal uncertainty. There is no public information about a legal entity that develops and maintains Molvi: the project exists as free software with voluntary donations through Telegram, with no company or sole proprietor named. For personal use this is usually not a problem, but for a purchase by a company that needs a contract and an invoice from a legal entity, it is a stopping factor in itself.
The third reason is platforms. Molvi works on Windows and macOS, but not on a phone: those who switch between a computer and a mobile device during the day will need something else for the mobile part. Potok is no easier here: it has no mobile apps for Android and iPhone either. There are versions for Windows, macOS and Linux, so switching for the sake of a phone does not solve the problem by itself.
| 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
- Hardware requirements. Find out whether a graphics card is needed for the stated recognition quality itself, and not just for speed, and how the program behaves on a weak laptop.
- Legal entity and support. If dictation is needed for a company's work tasks, check whether the developer has an official registration and where to turn when there are problems.
- Platforms. Potok has Windows, macOS and Linux. Molvi has only Windows and macOS. Neither of the two has mobile versions.
- Working without the internet. If offline mode is essential, as it is with Molvi, make sure the alternative also recognizes speech right on the device and not in the cloud, as Potok does: start the list of such options with WhisperU.
- Russian language. Molvi supports Russian, English and automatic language detection; if you work in several languages at once, check the list of languages of the alternative separately.
- Payment. Molvi is free and lives on donations; if you move to a paid service, check in advance the currency of the invoice and how to pay with a card of a Russian bank.
- Personalization. If you need a personal dictionary or snippets, check this with the chosen alternative separately, since not every program has such functions.
| 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 |
| 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) |
Where Potok will not replace Molvi
If what you like about Molvi is precisely the offline mode and the absence of an account and payment, Potok does not reproduce this at all. Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Moving to it means moving from a free local tool to a service with an account, a limit and, after the free plan, a paid subscription.
Potok also does not support voice editing commands or transcription of files that are already recorded. These are separate tasks, unrelated to the choice between Molvi and Potok.
For those who care most about the fact that "nothing leaves the computer and no account is needed", it makes more sense to stay with Molvi or a similar offline tool than to move to a cloud service for the sake of other conveniences. And the other way around: if offline mode is not essential for you, and a personal dictionary for professional terms and a stable response regardless of the graphics card model matter more, Potok covers exactly that task.
Frequently asked questions
There is no public information about this: Molvi exists as free software with voluntary donations through Telegram, and the site does not name a company or a sole proprietor. For personal use this is usually not a problem. For a purchase by a company, check it separately before building the program into the company's workflow.
No, the program starts without one, and a faster model runs on the CPU. But according to the developer, the best recognition quality comes on an NVIDIA GPU, so on a weak laptop check the result on your own texts instead of relying on demonstrations.
Built-in system tools (Win+H in Windows, Dictation in macOS, Voice Typing in Google Docs, Gboard on Android), browser voice extensions, and dedicated desktop or web services (Potok and similar ones) that work on top of any app through a hotkey.
Yes: Windows has built-in voice input on Win+H (Russian only in Windows 11, there is no Russian in Windows 10; it does not work without the internet), and on a Mac there is system dictation in the keyboard settings. Both are free.
Potok states about 900 characters per minute by voice against about 200 when typing, roughly 4 times faster. This is the product's own estimate, not an independent measurement.
Dictation pays off most for long texts written off the cuff: draft emails, notes, replies in messengers, lecture notes, and also when your hands are busy or tired (for example with RSI). For short precise edits (one-word commands, code) typing is often faster.
If you want to compare for yourself
Take one of your own tasks and dictate it in Potok. The first 14 days have no limits and need no card. 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: molvi.tech · vc.ru