See the difference, live
Aqua Voice refines your words as you speak: punctuation, formatting, and technical terms landed in real time.
Aqua Voice vs Voicy summary
Aqua Voice and Voicy are both cloud dictation apps that need an internet connection, but they bet on different things. Voicy bets on reach: Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, and Chrome, more than 20,000 app integrations, and a $260 lifetime option. Aqua bets on the model: Avalon is its own proprietary engine, and its 97.4% AISpeak-10 score comes from our own public benchmark. The honest tradeoff: Voicy goes more places and can be cheaper over time, while Aqua gives you verifiable accuracy, technical-term tuning, and a SOC 2 Type II audit report at $8/month billed annually ($96/year) with a free 1,000-word Starter tier.
Choose Aqua Voice if accuracy is the thing you care about most and you want a figure you can verify, if you write code or use heavy technical vocabulary, and if you are on Mac, Windows, iPhone, or Android. You will trade Linux support and a lifetime license for a proprietary model with a published benchmark and a SOC 2 Type II audit report.
Choose Voicy if device and app breadth matter more than a verifiable benchmark: if you need Linux, want dictation across 20,000+ apps, or prefer a one-time $260 lifetime purchase over a subscription. You will be trusting Voicy's self-reported accuracy, since it does not publish an independent benchmark.
What model does Voicy use?
Voicy's privacy policy says it uses the Whisper API, with audio sent to Groq for transcription and post-processing. It does not say which Whisper model or version it runs. Its site markets 'over 99% accuracy' without a published benchmark behind the number.
That matters because in dictation the model is the product. Aqua takes the opposite approach: Avalon is built in-house, it is the thing you are paying for, and its accuracy is published against our public benchmark you can check. Without published results, you cannot tell in advance whether accuracy will hold up on your accent, your jargon, or your microphone.
We evaluated Avalon on AISpeak-10, our dataset of technical speech, against Whisper Large v3. The score is the percentage of clips with the key term transcribed correctly:
| Model | AISpeak-10 key-term accuracy |
|---|---|
| Avalon (ours) | 97.4% |
| Whisper Large v3 | 65.1% |
Aqua publishes one number it will stand behind: on the Aqua-authored AISpeak-10 benchmark, Avalon scores 97.4%, versus 65.1% for the widely used open-source Whisper Large v3 baseline on the same set. Avalon also ranked #1 among proprietary systems on the public OpenASR leaderboard at its October 2025 debut. Voicy says it uses the Whisper API but not which Whisper model, so Whisper Large v3 is a reference point here, not a measurement of Voicy.
See the OpenASR leaderboard, or try Aqua Voice free.
AISpeak-10 is Aqua’s English technical-speech dataset. Avalon transcribed the key term correctly in 97.4% of clips, versus 65.1% for Whisper Large v3. This measures key-term recognition, not overall transcript accuracy or a head-to-head test of these apps. See the evaluation and results.
Aqua Voice vs Voicy: Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Aqua Voice | Voicy |
|---|---|---|
| Speech model | Avalon, Aqua's own proprietary model | Whisper API via Groq (model version not stated) |
| Public benchmark | 97.4% on AISpeak-10 (our benchmark) | Self-reported 99%+, no public benchmark |
| Technical-term accuracy | Tuned for code, names, and jargon | Not independently verified |
| Cost | $8/mo ($96/yr), free tier | $8.49/mo, $82/yr, or $260 lifetime |
| Free tier | 1,000 words free forever | 30-minute free trial |
| Setup / Processing | Cloud app, sign in and dictate | Cloud app, sign in and dictate |
| Works offline | ❌ (cloud, needs internet) | ❌ (cloud-only) |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android | Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, Chrome |
| App integrations | Works system-wide across apps | 20,000+ apps and websites |
| Real-time + screen context | ✅ Real-time, context-aware | Dictation with AI commands |
| Best for | Verifiable accuracy, technical writing | Broad device and app coverage, one-time buy |
Speech model
Public benchmark
Technical-term accuracy
Cost
Free tier
Setup / Processing
Works offline
Platforms
App integrations
Real-time + screen context
Best for
Where Aqua Voice is better
Accuracy you can actually check
Avalon scores 97.4% on the Aqua-authored AISpeak-10 benchmark and ranked #1 among proprietary systems on the public OpenASR leaderboard at its October 2025 debut. Voicy reports 99%+ accuracy on its own, with no public benchmark to back it up.
A purpose-built model, not a general one
Avalon is Aqua's own model, tuned for the things dictation usually mangles: code, product names, and technical jargon. Voicy says it uses a general-purpose Whisper API hosted by Groq, and publishes no benchmark for it.
Real-time and context-aware
Aqua transcribes as you speak and uses on-screen context to format and punctuate, so the text that lands in the field needs less cleanup afterward.
A brand you can put on record
Aqua has a SOC 2 Type II audit report and is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR and HIPAA compliant, supports 49 languages, and prices transparently at $8/month billed annually ($96/year) with a free 1,000-word Starter tier, so you can try it before paying anything.
Where Voicy wins
Voicy's real strength is reach. It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux on the desktop, on iPhone and Android on mobile, and as a Chrome extension in the browser. Aqua covers Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android, with no Linux, so if you live on a Linux machine, Voicy simply goes places Aqua does not.
It is also built to work wherever you type. Voicy advertises compatibility with more than 20,000 apps and websites, from Gmail and Docs to Slack, Outlook, ChatGPT, and Claude, so dictation drops into almost any text field without special integration.
And Voicy sells a one-time license. For $260 you own it for good, which can be cheaper over several years than any subscription. Aqua is subscription-only, so if you dislike recurring bills, Voicy's lifetime plan is a genuine advantage.
Two bets: verifiable accuracy vs maximum reach
Voicy's philosophy is to be everywhere. It spreads across Windows, Mac, and Linux on the desktop, iPhone and Android on mobile, and a Chrome extension in the browser, plugs into more than 20,000 apps and websites, and sells a lifetime license so it can be a one-and-done purchase. The pitch is convenience and coverage: whatever you type on, Voicy is probably there.
Aqua's philosophy is to win on the model. Rather than wrap someone else's engine, Aqua built Avalon and publishes its accuracy against our own public benchmark, betting that dictation lives or dies on how clean the text is when it lands in the field. Aqua covers fewer platforms (Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android) and asks you to trust a number you can actually verify instead of a round marketing figure.
How to decide
Source: Voicy product information, checked September 30, 2026.
Aqua Voice is free to start, so you can compare it against Voicy on the words you actually dictate before paying anything.
Frequently asked questions
Does Voicy use OpenAI Whisper?
Yes, according to its privacy policy: Voicy says it uses the Whisper API, with audio sent to Groq for transcription and post-processing. It does not say which Whisper model or version. Aqua, by contrast, runs its own proprietary Avalon model.
Is Voicy or Aqua Voice more accurate?
Voicy self-reports 99%+ accuracy with no public benchmark. Aqua publishes a 97.4% score on the Aqua-authored AISpeak-10 benchmark and ranked #1 among proprietary systems on the public OpenASR leaderboard at its October 2025 debut. The practical difference is verifiable versus self-reported: Aqua's number comes from our own published test set.
Does Aqua Voice work on Android or Linux?
Android, yes; Linux, no. Aqua Voice runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, and Android. Voicy also covers Linux and has a Chrome extension, so if you need those, Voicy is the better fit.
How much do Aqua Voice and Voicy cost?
Aqua Pro is $8/month billed annually ($96/year), with a free Starter tier of 1,000 lifetime words. Voicy is $8.49/month, $82/year, or a one-time $260 lifetime license, with a 30-minute free trial (no credit card). Voicy also offers a Team plan at $6.79/user/month for three or more users.
Does Voicy have a lifetime plan?
Yes. Voicy sells a one-time $260 lifetime license, which can work out cheaper over several years than a subscription. Aqua Voice is subscription-only at $8/month billed annually, with a free 1,000-word Starter tier to try first.
Do Aqua Voice and Voicy work offline?
No. Both are cloud dictation apps and need an internet connection to transcribe. Neither runs fully offline, so if offline capture is a hard requirement, neither is the right tool.
Which one should I choose?
Choose Aqua Voice for verifiable accuracy and technical writing on Mac, Windows, iPhone, or Android. Choose Voicy for the widest device and app coverage (including Linux) or a one-time lifetime purchase, accepting that its accuracy is self-reported.
