Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
People look for Spokenly alternatives because the service says nothing about the quality of Russian speech recognition, not only because of the price. Spokenly works on macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS: local models are free with no word limit, and cloud ones work via your own API key or a subscription. Potok (potok.now) is an option for those who need a model built for Russian speech and payment in rubles: 2500 words per week for free.
Spokenly offers unusual flexibility, four platforms and a choice of recognition engine through your own API key, but says nothing about how well it copes with Russian speech in particular: there is neither confirmation nor examples on the website. On top of that, the payment method from Russia is not specified anywhere. For those who need to know this right away rather than after a month of testing, it makes sense to look in advance at what can replace Spokenly or what to pay attention to in any alternative.
Why people look for a Spokenly replacement
The first reason is the Russian language. Spokenly's website neither confirms nor denies the quality of Russian speech recognition: it simply says nothing about it, and you can only find out in practice by dictating your own phrases with names and terms.
The second is the technical complexity of BYOK. Connecting your own API key to a cloud provider such as GPT-4o Transcribe or Deepgram requires understanding what a key is and how to get one; for those who just want to speak and get text, this is an extra step, not an advantage.
The third is payment from Russia. The payment method is not specified on Spokenly's website at all, and you will have to find this out separately before subscribing rather than rely on a general “works worldwide”.
The fourth is that the pricing model itself mixes free and paid in an unusual way: local models are free with no word limit, while cloud ones require either your own key paid directly to the provider or a Pro subscription. For those who want one clear price, sorting out this fork can be inconvenient.
Among ready alternatives focused specifically on Russian and offline mode, look at Molvi and GigaType; both programs are reviewed in the articles Molvi voice input and GigaType or Potok.
| 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
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Russian in practice. Do not rely on a general list of supported languages: dictate real text with names, terms and mixed Russian and English speech before paying.
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The recognition model. Find out whether it is the service's own development or a layer on top of someone else's engine such as Whisper; this is neither better nor worse in itself, but it affects what to expect in terms of accuracy and updates.
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Payment from Russia. Check whether the payment goes through in rubles directly before relying on an international subscription in dollars.
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Ease of setup. Decide whether you are ready to deal with technical details such as API keys and choosing a provider, or prefer a ready solution without extra steps.
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Offline or cloud. If it is essential for you that the sound never leaves the computer, look for a program with local recognition by default rather than as an option, as with Molvi or GigaType.
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Platforms. Make sure the system you need is supported: not all alternatives have Linux and iOS, including some popular options.
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Personal dictionary. Find out whether you can add rare terms, names and abbreviations by hand; this reduces the number of repeated recognition errors over time, especially with technical vocabulary.
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Legal entity and closing documents. If the subscription is taken out in the name of an organization, find out in advance who issues the invoice and in which country the service is registered; Spokenly does not disclose this on its website.
| 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 |
| Spokenly | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS | local models (Whisper/Parakeet) are free forever with no word limit; connecting your own API keys (BYOK) is also free | $9.99/mo (Pro, monthly); $99.99/yr (Pro, yearly (≈$8.33/mo)) | not disclosed | hybrid: locally on the device (Whisper/Parakeet, free) or in the cloud (GPT-4o Transcribe, Deepgram Nova 3, Soniox and others, via BYOK or Pro) |
Where Potok will not replace Spokenly
Potok will not suit those who need the flexibility of choosing a recognition engine: it has no BYOK and no switching between cloud providers, only one model of its own. Nor will it suit those who need iOS support: Potok has clients for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Potok is a cloud service. Recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work at all without the internet. Spokenly's local models win in this respect: they compute right on the device and need no network. For work away from home or the office without a stable internet connection, this may be the deciding argument for staying with Spokenly. Potok also has more mobile limitations: there is no Android app at all, while Spokenly at least has iOS. And Potok does not understand voice commands for editing text: it inserts what you said and does not edit what was written earlier.
Frequently asked questions
The service's website says nothing about it, neither confirming Russian support nor explicitly ruling it out. Before paying for a subscription, check the recognition quality on your own phrases with names and terms.
BYOK (bring your own key) is a mode in which you connect your own API key from a cloud provider such as GPT-4o Transcribe or Deepgram and pay for recognition directly to that provider rather than through a Spokenly subscription.
The potok.now website shows composite reviews that reflect typical user experience; in marketing materials they are not presented as reviews by specific named people.
Only from the official website: potok.now/download. Installation is free, and then a 14-day trial with full access applies, without linking a card.
You can sign up by email with a password or via Google. When you sign up by email, you receive a message with a confirmation link; after following it you can sign in. Your subscription and payments are visible in your account at potok.now/account.
Yes, there are similar voice input services on the market: the foreign Wispr Flow, as well as Talkpad, Voisty and others. Potok differs in that it is made for Russian speech, data is processed on servers in Russia (152-FZ mode) and payment is accepted in rubles from a Russian card.
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: spokenly.app · spokenly.app