Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Wispr Flow free gives 2000 words per week on a computer and 1000 words per week on a phone. After the limit you need the paid Pro plan. For comparison, Potok (potok.now) has a higher free limit: 2500 words per week on one device, and recognition runs in the cloud on servers in Russia.
Do you dictate in short bursts, a couple of emails a day, or do you speak text for hours on calls and in notes? The answer decides how long the Wispr Flow free plan will last. The limit of 2000 words per week on a computer is a noticeable amount for one-off tasks, but with daily dictation it usually runs out in less than a week, and then you face a choice between the paid Pro plan and a service with a different limit, for example Potok.
| Service | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Potok | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly |
| Wispr Flow | 2000 words/week on desktop, 1000 words/week on mobile | $15/mo (Pro, monthly payment); $12/mo (Pro, when paid for a year ($144/year)) |
Wispr Flow free: what the plan includes
Wispr Flow works on four platforms: macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. The free plan gives 2000 words per week on a computer and, separately, 1000 words per week on a phone.
Payment is not arranged the way it is in Russian services. On Windows, Mac and the web there is no standard payment by a Russian card, and the plans are priced in dollars. From Russia, paid access can sometimes be arranged through an App Store subscription on iPhone, but the exact amount in rubles for this route is not confirmed, so it should not be counted as guaranteed.
Wispr Flow has a separate story with Russian: the website states support for more than a hundred languages, but the product is built primarily for English, and there are no detailed public data on the quality of Russian speech recognition. This does not mean Russian does not work; it means only that the service has no separate focus on this language, unlike services that bet specifically on Russian speech.
The company does not publish on its website where the recognition servers are located; all that is known is that processing is in the cloud. With Potok it is simpler in this respect: its own model trained on Russian speech, and servers in Russia with no variation by country.
| 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 |
How long the Wispr Flow limit lasts
The model in the block above calculates how many words you get by dictating versus typing in the same time. You can use it to estimate word consumption on a typical working day instead of guessing by eye.
2000 words per week on a computer is a noticeable amount for occasional dictation: sketching a plan or answering a few messages fits within the limit with room to spare. With daily work correspondence or dictating drafts of documents, consumption is higher, and the limit may not last until the end of the week: then you are left with either the paid plan or manual typing until next week.
The mobile limit works separately: 1000 words per week for the phone, a separate counter from the computer one. A detailed account of the weekly dictation norm from personal experience is in the article half a year of voice input instead of a keyboard: an honest account.
For comparison, Potok has a higher free limit: 2500 words per week on one device.
When free Potok is not enough either
Wispr Flow has separate apps for iPhone and Android, and Potok does not: its client exists only for Windows, macOS and Linux. If you need dictation primarily from a phone, Potok will not cover this task, while Wispr Flow with its mobile limit of 1000 words per week will.
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. If you need voice input where there is no network or it is unreliable, neither Potok nor Wispr Flow with its cloud recognition will do: you need a tool with on-device processing.
The free 2500 words per week in Potok will not be enough either for someone who dictates all day on several devices at once: the limit is given per device, not per person. In that case it makes sense to look at the Pro plan without limits right away, rather than fitting your workflow to the free limit. Another option with differently arranged free access is covered in the article on free access to Aqua Voice for Russian speech.
Frequently asked questions
Usually not: with active daily dictation, 2000 words per week on a computer run out before the end of the week. Those who dictate every day will have to either move to the paid Pro plan or use a service with a different limit, for example Potok with 2500 words per week.
Wispr Flow has no standard payment by a Russian card on Windows, Mac and the web: the plans are priced in dollars. Access can sometimes be arranged through an App Store subscription on iPhone, but this scheme should be checked separately, not counted as guaranteed.
Wispr Flow prices are given in dollars: Pro is $15 per month or $12 per month when paid for a year. Acceptance of Russian cards is not confirmed.
Wispr Flow is available on: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android.
Wispr Flow Pro costs $15 per month when paid monthly or $12 per month when paid for a year ($144 per year).
The Wispr Flow free plan works like this: 2000 words per week on desktop, 1000 words per week on mobile.
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 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.
Primary sources: wisprflow.ai · support.microsoft.com