Recitey vs Aqua Voice.
Aqua Voice is the Y Combinator option in voice writing. They are well-funded for their stage, the product is genuinely fast, and the refine-as-you-speak experience is the slickest in the field. Their pitch is the input layer for the agent era: dictate into Cursor, Claude Code, and ChatGPT. We respect the work. This page is the honest version of when one is right for you and when the other is.
The short answer
If you want the model to rewrite your words in real time as you speak, you live inside Cursor and Claude Code, or you write across Mac, Windows, and iPhone, stay with Aqua. The refine-as-you-talk experience is theirs and it is good.
If you want a free tier you can actually live in, you want the transcription to run on your own machine, or you write primarily on Windows, try Recitey. Aqua Free is 1,000 words one time. Recitey Free has no word cap.
Quick comparison
When to stay with Aqua Voice
You want the rewrite to happen live, as you speak. Aqua refines your words while you are still talking. The sentence reshapes itself in real time. Recitey cleans the text after you finish the thought, not mid-sentence. If the live refine is the part of Aqua you love, we do not do it the same way, and you should stay.
You write across Mac, Windows, and iPhone. Aqua ships on all three with the same cloud model behind them, so the experience follows you between devices. Recitey runs on Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon) but not on phones, and nothing syncs between devices. If half your dictation happens on a phone, Aqua covers what we do not.
Price on Pro is the deciding factor. Aqua Pro is roughly $10 per month, $8 on annual. Recitey Pro is $13, $10 on annual. That is a real gap and we are not going to pretend otherwise. If the cheapest competent Pro tier is your rule, Aqua wins it.
When to try Recitey
You want a free tier you can actually use every day. Aqua Free gives you 1,000 words, one time. That is about eight minutes of talking, and then it is over. It is a trial wearing a free-tier label. Recitey Free has no word cap because the model runs on your GPU, so the cost of every word is zero. If you want to dictate every day without paying, that is the difference that decides it.
You want the transcription to stay on your machine. Aqua runs its model on its own servers, so your audio leaves your device to be transcribed. Recitey's free tier runs Whisper locally on your hardware, and the cloud rewrite is an optional toggle you control, not the default path. If you would rather your speech not travel to a vendor's cloud to become text, Recitey's free local mode is built for that.
You are on Windows and want a tool built for it. Aqua is cross-platform with a cloud model behind it. Recitey is built natively for Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon). The build, the latency, and the install are optimized for both, and platform features ship on day one of every release rather than fifteen days later.
How the pricing actually compares
Recitey Pro is $13 per month, $120 per year. Aqua Pro is roughly $10 per month, about $8 on annual billing. Aqua is the cheaper Pro tier. We will not argue that point.
The comparison that actually matters is the free tiers, because that is where most people will live. Aqua Free is 1,000 words, granted once. Recitey Free is uncapped, because nothing is metered when the model runs on your own machine. For a daily user, an uncapped local free tier is worth more than a $2 monthly difference on Pro.
The second comparison that matters is where your audio goes. Aqua transcribes in its cloud. Recitey's free tier transcribes on your device. If that distinction matters to you, it outweighs the price gap.
What Aqua Voice does well
Three things Aqua genuinely does well:
- Real-time refinement. The words reshape as you speak, not after. It is the most distinctive interaction in the category and it is theirs.
- Built for the agent workflow. Dictating prompts into Cursor, Claude Code, and ChatGPT is the use case they designed around, and it shows.
- Cross-platform reach. Mac, Windows, and iPhone on one account. If you move between devices, that coverage is real.
If we were a cross-platform power user who lives inside an agentic coding workflow and wanted live refinement, we would pick Aqua.
What we think we do well
Three structural commitments that distinguish Recitey from Aqua:
- An uncapped free tier, not a one-time sample. 1,000 words once is a trial. Uncapped local is a free product. That is an architectural difference, not a pricing tactic.
- Local transcription on the free tier. Your speech becomes text on your machine, not on a vendor's server. The cloud rewrite is a toggle, not the default.
- Built natively for Windows and macOS. Not a cloud app that also runs locally. A native build for Windows and macOS, optimized for each, shipping platform features first.
Common questions
Is there a free Aqua Voice alternative for Windows?
Recitey is a free voice dictation app for Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon) with no word cap. Aqua Voice's free tier is 1,000 words granted one time, so it works more like a short trial. Recitey Free runs the transcription model on your own machine, which is why it can stay uncapped.
Does Aqua Voice work offline?
No. Aqua Voice runs its model on its own servers, so it needs a connection and your audio leaves your device to be transcribed. Recitey's free tier runs Whisper locally on your own machine, so the transcription happens on-device.
Is Recitey cheaper than Aqua Voice?
On Pro, no. Aqua Pro is roughly $10 per month and Recitey Pro is $13. The difference is the free tier: Recitey Free is uncapped and local, while Aqua Free is 1,000 words one time.
Try Recitey free
Recitey Free is uncapped and runs locally. No credit card. Windows 10/11 or macOS (Apple Silicon).
If you read this and decided Aqua is right for you because you want live refinement or you write across three devices, that is a good outcome. Pick the tool that fits how you work.