Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
The typing speed calculator shows how much time typing text by hand takes and compares it with voice input speed. Potok (potok.now) states about 900 characters per minute by voice versus about 200 characters with ordinary typing, and the calculator below turns this difference into minutes and hours for your volume of text.
For most people, typing speed is noticeably lower than speaking speed, and the difference of minutes on a short text adds up to hours over a week. Below is a calculator for your volume of text, and next to it a set of similar calculations: how many words a person writes per week, how much time voice saves and when a paid subscription pays off.
| 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 to read the typing speed calculator result
The calculator takes two reference points, how many characters per minute you get typing by hand and how many when dictating, and turns the difference into minutes, and then into hours per week or month for the volume of text you entered. Typing speed differs a lot between people: some touch type fast, others hunt for letters on the keyboard. Potok's voice input speed is stated at about 900 characters per minute versus about 200 with ordinary typing. This is a guide, not a guarantee for any text: long terms, pauses to think and edits slow down both ways. Potok's response time is about 0.4 seconds from the end of a phrase to the text appearing, and that is also part of the total time the calculation takes into account.
All articles in this section (20): potok.now/instrumenty
Calculations and comparisons on separate questions
- How many words a person writes per week: a starting point that is handy to compare with Potok's free limit of 2500 words per week on one device.
- How much time voice input saves: a calculation based on the difference between 900 and 200 characters per minute.
- Typing speed test: a check of your real typing speed against the average guide of about 200 characters per minute.
- How many hours a month voice input saves: the same speed calculation adjusted for a response time of about 0.4 seconds per phrase.
- Annual subscription savings calculator: the calculation should start from Potok's 14 days of full access for free, with no card.
- Subscription payback calculator: takes into account that the Potok Pro plan removes the word limit completely.
Where the calculation is not for you
The calculator is not for you if you touch type fast or write very short messages: at that volume the difference in minutes does not have time to build up into noticeable hours. It also does not take into account the time spent editing the text after dictation. Separately: Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet, and then a time calculation makes no sense.
Frequently asked questions
On the difference between typing speed by hand and voice input speed in characters per minute. For example, Potok states about 900 characters per minute by voice versus about 200 with ordinary typing, and the calculator turns this difference into minutes and hours for the volume of text you enter.
For typing: touch typing versus hunting for letters on the keyboard; for dictation: pauses to think, repeats and editing the result. Both ways slow down on long terms and complex wording, so the calculation should be treated as a guide, not a guarantee for a specific text.
Voice input is the conversion of speech to text on the fly: the user speaks, and 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.
Dictation is especially useful for long texts written off the cuff: email drafts, notes, replies in messengers, lecture notes, and also when hands are busy or tired (for example, with RSI). For short precise edits (one-word commands, code) typing is often faster.
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.
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 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) |
Primary sources: speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · blog.speakflow.ru