Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Claude has no built-in voice input, so long prompts have to be typed by hand. You can dictate text with the operating system's dictation or with the Potok app (potok.now): it inserts the dictated text straight into the Claude message field, in the browser or in the app, and recognizes about 900 characters per minute.
Do you write long prompts to Claude with a detailed description of a task or code, and type them by hand every time? There is no built-in dictation button in Claude, but you can still dictate text into the message field.
What voice input in Claude looks like during the day
In Claude people often type not short replies but long messages: a detailed task description, a piece of code with a question, a list of requirements for a text. Each such message has to be typed in full. Claude (in the browser and in the app) has no dictation button in the interface, and you cannot dictate text with the service's own tools. The situation is similar with voice input for ChatGPT: it has its own voice mode, but that too is not built like line-by-line dictation into the prompt field.
At the same time, the message field itself is an ordinary text field: it accepts pasted text no matter where it came from. So a long prompt can be dictated in another tool and the finished text pasted into Claude, or you can dictate straight into the message field if the tool inserts text into the active field directly. The second way is faster: there is no need to switch between windows and copy text by hand. The general approach to dictating the text of a request itself is covered on the page about voice input of prompts.
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
What to set up once
- Install Potok and give it system access to the microphone; without it dictation does not work.
- Choose the microphone you need in the Potok settings or in the menu of its tray icon.
- Open Claude in the browser or in the app and put the cursor in the message field.
- Hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), dictate the text and release the key: the text appears in the message field, and Potok places punctuation and capital letters itself.
Who is fine with a keyboard
If your messages in Claude are short, such as a question of a couple of words, a short clarification, a “yes” or a “no”, the keyboard is more than enough and you do not need a separate dictation tool.
Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. It has no offline mode and no voice commands, and 2500 words per week are available for free on one device. For someone who types long messages in Claude all day, this limit may not be enough.
Frequently asked questions
Claude has no built-in dictation, but the message field accepts pasted text. You can dictate a task description or a piece of code with the Potok app: it recognizes terms and mixed Russian text with English words and inserts the finished text into the message field.
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.
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.
By a model estimate, the average dictation speed with Potok is about 900 characters per minute versus about 200 characters per minute with ordinary typing, so speech is noticeably faster than the keyboard.
Yes: Windows has built-in voice typing via Win+H (Russian only in Windows 11, Windows 10 has no Russian; it does not work without the internet), and the Mac has system dictation in the keyboard settings. Both are free.
Dictation pays off most for long texts written in one go, such as email drafts, notes, messenger replies and 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.
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 PotokOne subscription, two tools: dictation in any program on your computer and @potok_now_bot in Telegram, which transcribes voice messages, audio and video.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows voice typing (Win+H) | Windows 10 and 11 | Windows 11 only | Microsoft cloud, does not work offline |
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
Primary sources: claude.ai · support.claude.com · support.claude.com · claude.com