Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Win+H is free voice input built into Windows. It understands Russian only in Windows 11, recognizes speech in the Microsoft cloud and does not work without the internet. For short notes it is enough. If you dictate in Russian every day and need a personal dictionary, look at Potok (potok.now): 14 days of full access free, then 2500 words per week.
In short. Win+H is free voice input built into Windows. It understands Russian only in Windows 11, recognizes speech in the Microsoft cloud and does not work without the internet. For short notes it is enough. If you dictate in Russian every day and need a personal dictionary, look at Potok (potok.now): 14 days of full access free, then 2500 words per week.
What Win+H is and what it is good for
Win+H opens the built-in Windows voice input panel. You press it, dictate, and the words appear in the active field. It is free, already in the system, and needs no installation or registration. For one-off short dictation this is often enough, and there is nothing to change.
The limits show up when voice input turns from a one-off trick into a daily working tool in Russian.
Russian in Win+H: what there is and what there is not
It is easy to get confused here, because Windows has two similar features.
- Voice typing (Win+H). Built into Windows 10 and Windows 11, but Russian exists only in Windows 11: in Windows 10 it is not in the list of languages. Recognition runs in the Microsoft cloud, so input does not work without the internet. The model is general, not tuned for Russian: on long texts, names and a mix of “Russian plus English terms” there are more corrections.
- Voice Access (Windows 11). A separate feature for controlling the computer by voice. Russian is not supported in it, so it does not fit for dictation in Russian.
Where else the built-in input reaches its limit
Besides the language, Win+H remains a simple panel, not a working dictation tool. A personal dictionary is not described in Microsoft's help, so you cannot explain your own terms, surnames and names to it. There are no snippets or formatting settings of your own either. Recognition runs online, and your voice goes to Microsoft servers in any case. And the scheme “opened the panel, dictated” is convenient for a single phrase, but not when you dictate all day.
What Potok does in these places
Russian as its focus. Recognition is built on its own model tuned for Russian speech: names, professional terms, RU↔EN mixed together.
One hotkey everywhere. You hold Ctrl+Space, speak as long as needed, release, and the text lands in the active field of any app.
Built for a working scenario. A personal dictionary for your terms and brands, voice snippets, the same behavior in messengers, email, documents and IDEs. For business there is a 152-FZ mode and servers in Russia.
About the price, honestly. Win+H is completely free. Potok gives 2500 words per week free, then Pro for 690 ₽/mo (499 ₽/mo when paid for a year). If you dictate rarely and briefly, the built-in input is enough and there is no reason to pay. The difference starts when you need Russian voice input every day and without corrections.
Table: Potok and Win+H point by point
| Potok | Win+H (built-in) | |
|---|---|---|
| Russian language | Its own dedicated Russian model, handles RU↔EN | Only in Windows 11, general model; Windows 10 has no Russian |
| Internet | Needed | Needed |
| Personal dictionary / snippets | Yes | Not described in Microsoft's help |
| Where the data is | In Russia; 152-FZ, on-prem for business | Microsoft cloud (Azure) |
| Ergonomics | Hotkey, speech, text in any field | Panel: open, dictate |
| Price | Free 2500 words/wk, Pro 690 ₽/mo | Free, built in |
| Installation | A separate app | Nothing to install |
When to stay with Win+H
Stay with the built-in input if you dictate rarely and in short phrases, write mostly in English, or simply do not want to install a separate app and pay. In this case Win+H is a perfectly good free option.
A breakdown of typical problems and ways to fix them is on the page “Win+H does not work: what to do”. Where the lag in Russian comes from is explained in the article “Why Windows built-in dictation loses in Russian”. If you need specifically to set up Win+H, the instruction is in the article “Russian dictation with Win+H: setup without reinstalling Windows”.
Potok makes sense to install when Russian voice input is needed every day, your own dictionary of terms matters or you work in a company with data requirements (152-FZ).
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia; it does not work without the internet.
How to try it
Download Potok for Windows, macOS and Linux: the first 14 days are full access for free, no card needed, and after that 2500 words per week remain, so you can keep comparing with the built-in input on your own texts.
Related: Win+H does not work: what to do, why built-in dictation loses in Russian, setting up Win+H in Russian.
Frequently asked questions
Common causes: no internet (recognition runs in the Microsoft cloud), no input language chosen or microphone access not turned on. Microsoft has a separate help page about what to do if voice input does not work. If you need dictation for constant work in Russian, you can try a separate app such as Potok.
No. According to Microsoft's help, Windows 10 voice input knows English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and Chinese, and Russian is not in the list. Russian appeared in Win+H in Windows 11. In Windows 10 you need a separate app for dictation in Russian.
Win+H is a simple panel: Microsoft's help does not describe a personal dictionary or snippets, and recognition is general, not tuned for Russian. A separate app for Russian dictation (for example Potok on its own Russian model) adds a dictionary of terms and works the same in any program with one hotkey.
If you dictate rarely and briefly, the built-in input is enough and there is no reason to pay. Potok is for those who dictate in Russian every day: the first 14 days are full access for free (no card), then 2500 words per week for free, and Pro (690 ₽/mo) removes the limit and adds a dictionary and snippets.
Windows built-in input recognizes speech in the Microsoft cloud (Azure services). Potok recognition is also cloud-based, but the servers are in Russia; for business there is a 152-FZ mode and on-prem deployment, so the data does not leave the company perimeter.
Voice Access is a system feature for controlling the computer and entering text by voice, but it officially does not support Russian (its list of supported languages is English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Italian). Potok is built specifically for Russian speech and works as a separate app on top of any program.
Download Potok
Works with a single key in any program. 14 days of full access, then Free with 2500 words per week or Pro at 690 ₽/mo (499 ₽/mo paid yearly). Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokYou dictate in the app, and recordings and voice messages are transcribed by @potok_now_bot in Telegram. 60 minutes per month are free; the Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot and in the app.
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 |
| 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 |
Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com