Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Most office and PDF apps have no voice input function of their own: what works is what is built into the system, or a third-party program. On macOS, Keynote, Numbers and Pages have Apple's system dictation with Russian; in Excel, Acrobat and Foxit PDF Editor you need Win+H or a program like Potok (potok.now), which gives 2500 words per week for free, then a paid plan.
Voice input in text and office programs works differently: in some places dictation is built into the system itself, in others it does not exist at all and a third-party tool is needed. The difference is especially visible between Apple apps on macOS and Windows programs like Excel or Adobe Acrobat.
All articles in this section (42): potok.now/prilozheniya/docs
The main questions of the topic and where to find the answers
- voice input in Adobe Acrobat: third-party programs like Potok insert text into any active field of a document by hotkey, not through a built-in function of the editor.
- voice input in Keynote: on macOS, Apple's system dictation with the Russian language is available for text in Keynote, with nothing else to install.
- voice input in Numbers: the same Apple system dictation works in any Numbers cell where you can type text.
- voice input in Pages: as in other Apple apps, dictation is started by a system keyboard shortcut, not by a function of Pages itself.
- voice input in Microsoft Excel: programs like Potok insert text into the active cell the same way as into any other text field.
- voice input in Foxit PDF Editor: the same principle suits PDF fields and comments: the text is inserted by hotkey into the active field of the document.
Where a beginner should start
- Check whether you work on macOS or Windows: on macOS, system dictation with Russian is available at once for text in Apple apps, and nothing needs to be installed.
- On Windows 11, for a quick check try Win+H right in the app you need. It is free and needs no installation, although in Windows 10 it has no Russian language.
- If the app has no built-in dictation (Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PDF Editor), compare separate programs by where speech is recognized: in the cloud or on the device.
- Estimate the volume of dictation: occasional signatures in documents and daily work with large texts call for different decisions on accuracy and limit.
- Check free access before paying: Potok has 2500 words per week with no time limit, Molvi has no limit at all, and WhisperU has a 7-day trial period.
Where Potok does not fit
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Where the network is unstable, a program with recognition on the device is more reliable, for example GigaType or Molvi. Potok has no mobile apps for Android and iPhone, only for the computer, so dictation in the mobile versions of Excel or Acrobat through Potok is not available.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if the program inserts text into the active field and is not built into a specific editor: it will work in a PDF comment or signature field the same way as in any other text field. For such a program there is no difference between a PDF editor and, for example, a mail client.
Because on macOS dictation is built into the system itself and is available in any text field, including Apple apps, so it does not need to be turned on separately for each program. Russian is supported in it by default.
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.
Voice input turns speech into text on the fly: the user speaks, 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 this works through a hotkey: hold it, speak, release, and the text is inserted.
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.
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.
How to start
Potok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. For two weeks everything is open for free, after that 2500 words per week without paying. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokExisting recordings are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
Related software: terms compared
| 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) |
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: speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · blog.speakflow.ru