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Question · Dictation software

Aqua Voice vs Wispr Flow: what is the difference?

Aqua Voice is cheaper (Pro $10 a month billed annually against $12) and publishes accuracy benchmarks for its own model, while Wispr Flow has a free plan that renews weekly, 100+ languages and far more user ratings. Both transcribe only in the cloud, so neither is an offline option.

Updated October 27, 20263 min read28 cited facts, each traced to its source

They do the same job and differ mainly on price, free plan, languages and data defaults. Both are AI dictation apps: you hold a key, talk, and cleaned-up text appears in any app. Aqua Voice Pro costs $10 a month billed annually 1 against $12 for Wispr Flow Pro 2. Wispr Flow's free plan renews weekly 3, while Aqua's is a one-time 1,000 words 4. Prices were read on October 27, 2026.

This is the head-to-head from our guide to Aqua Voice; see also our profile of Wispr Flow.

The two side by side

Aqua VoiceWispr Flow
Pro, billed monthly$12 5$15 6
Pro, billed annually$10 a month 1$12 a month 2
Free plan1,000 words, once 42,000 words a week on desktop 3
Student discount70% 750% 8
Languages49 9100+ 10
PlatformsMac, Windows, iPhone, Android 11Mac, Windows, iOS, Android 12
TranscriptionCloud only on desktop 13Always cloud 14
US App Store rating4.39 stars out of 5 from 99 ratings 154.85 stars out of 5 from 18,110 ratings 16

Aqua is cheaper, but Wispr's free plan lasts longer

Aqua wins on paid price at both billing frequencies, and on student pricing. Wispr's free plan is the better long-term deal for light use: its weekly limit shows a warning at 2,000 words and blocks new dictation at 5,000 on desktop 17, and it renews. On a free iPhone account the limit is far tighter, with dictation blocked at 750 words a week 18.

Accuracy claims come from each vendor

Aqua built its own model, Avalon, and says it got the key term right in 97.4 percent of clips on its own AISpeak-10 test 19. Wispr Flow was reported to build on Meta's Llama and OpenAI's Whisper 20, and claimed an error rate of around 10 percent 21. These are different tests, designed by each company, and cannot be compared directly. The one outside test we found, by 9to5Mac, pitted Aqua against Apple's dictation, not Wispr: 17 errors against 1 22.

Privacy defaults differ

Both send audio to the cloud. Aqua may store transcripts unless Privacy Mode is on 23. Wispr deletes audio after transcription unless Dictation cloud storage is on 24, but its model-improvement and cloud-storage switches default to on unless restricted 25. Check the settings in either app on day one. Our question on whether Aqua Voice is safe has the detail.

It depends on you

If you wantLean toward
Lowest Pro price, heavy code and jargon dictationAqua Voice
A free plan that renews, or a language outside Aqua's 49Wispr Flow
Evidence from many usersWispr Flow (far more ratings)
Strictest default privacyWillow, whose default Private Mode retains nothing 26
Free and local, no capSuperwhisper's free plan 27

Our profiles of Superwhisper and Willow Voice cover those two.

What to do

  1. Spend Aqua's free 1,000 words and Wispr's free week on your own real text.
  2. Check platform fit (see Does Aqua Voice work on Windows and iPhone?).
  3. Pick on cost with Is Aqua Voice free? in hand. Remember Aqua's direct fees are non-refundable 28.

Yap, which we make, is on-device dictation for Mac and Windows; see our pages on a Wispr Flow alternative and an Aqua Voice alternative. For the field, see dictation software.

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