Wispr Flow: what this service is and how it works

Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.

Wispr Flow is cloud voice input for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android, like Potok (potok.now). 2000 words per week are free on the desktop, and after that a paid subscription is needed. The product is English-first: 100+ languages are stated, but Russian is not its focus, and there is no standard payment by a card of a Russian bank.

Wispr Flow is voice input for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android: according to its website, it is an English-first product, meant first of all for English-speaking users. For a reader choosing between foreign and Russian-language voice input services, it is important to understand in advance where Wispr Flow is strong and where the limits begin specifically for a user from Russia.

Wispr Flow: what it is and how it recognizes speech

Wispr Flow is available on four platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. The desktop and mobile apps exist separately from each other.

According to the website, recognition in Wispr Flow is cloud-based: the app sends the recording to a server and gets the text back. Where exactly the servers are physically located, the company does not disclose; this is unconfirmed information, and no conclusion about jurisdiction can be drawn from it.

Wispr Flow states support for more than 100 languages, which looks impressive on paper. At the same time it is an English-first product: no detailed public data on the quality of recognizing specifically Russian has been published. From this it follows neither that Russian works badly nor that it works well: it simply cannot be checked from open sources.

The free plan gives 2000 words per week on the desktop and 1000 words per week on a mobile device: the limit on the phone is half as high. After the free limit a paid subscription applies; the exact plans are in the fact card below.

Sources: wisprflow.ai

Who it suits

• a developer or a manager who works mostly in English and wants to dictate code comments, emails and notes without switching the keyboard layout;
• someone who needs voice input both on a computer and on a phone: Wispr Flow has separate apps for iOS and Android, not only desktop clients;
• a user who already pays with foreign cards and does not depend on payment in rubles;
• a person for whom Russian is not the main working language but one of several;

Those who dictate professional terms and names in Russian every day should first check the recognition quality in practice: it cannot be assessed from open data.

Limits for a user from Russia

You cannot pay for Wispr Flow directly with a card of a Russian bank: on Windows, Mac and the web only dollars are accepted. Judging by the available data, there is a workaround: buying a subscription through the iOS app in the App Store, but the exact sum in rubles is not confirmed, and it should not be relied on as official.

The website states more than 100 languages but nowhere publishes how exactly Wispr Flow handles Russian names, terms or mixed Russian-English speech. You cannot check this before paying for a yearly subscription: you can only rely on the free limit and try it yourself.

When Potok is not a replacement for Wispr Flow

Potok will not replace Wispr Flow for those whose working language is English: the Potok model is trained for Russian speech and mixed Russian-English text, and English input is not its main scenario. It will not fit those who need voice input on a phone either: Potok has no apps for iOS and Android, only clients for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet: neither of the two products covers an offline scenario. A review of similar services is in the general review of voice input solutions and in the article on how Aqua Voice works with Russian.

Frequently asked questions

Primary sources: wisprflow.ai · support.microsoft.com