Compare
blabe vs Aqua Voice
Aqua Voice formats what you say for the app you are in, and can send a message when you say “send it”. blabe types your words as you said them, in any app on your Mac, on one plan.
The short version
Aqua Voice suits you if you want polished, formatted text and voice editing. It cleans up dictation for each app, can rewrite a selection when you say the change, and runs on Mac, Windows and iPhone. Live words in Realtime mode and the “send it” command are on its Max plan.
blabe suits you if you want your speech typed as you said it, wherever your cursor is. It runs on Microsoft’s MAI-Transcribe 2, benchmarked 5–10× faster than OpenAI’s, ElevenLabs’ and Google’s transcription models . Every blabe feature is in the one plan, with transcription included.
Side by side
| Feature | blabe | Aqua Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year, transcription included within a fair-use monthly limit. 2-day free trial, no card. | Free for 1,000 words. Pro is $10 a month or $96 a year. Max, which adds “send it”, is $30 a month or $288 a year. |
| Rewrites your words by default | No. It removes “um” and “uh” (you can turn that off) and never rewrites with a language model. | It formats text for the app you are in. It rewrites a selection only in Edit Mode. |
| Transcription model | Microsoft’s MAI-Transcribe 2, through blabe’s transcription service. | Avalon, Aqua’s own model, in the cloud. |
| Account or key needed | No provider account or API key. You activate a paid plan with a license key. The trial needs no card, email or signup: install blabe and click Start Free Trial. | Yes. You install and sign in. |
| Works offline | No. It needs the internet to transcribe. | Cloud dictation needs the internet. Offline availability varies by platform, version and mode. |
Which one to choose
When to choose Aqua Voice
- You dictate on Windows or iPhone as well as a Mac.
- You want text cleaned up and formatted for each app, and to change a selection by saying the edit.
- You want to see your words appear as you speak. Realtime mode is on the Max plan.
- You want a hands-free “send it” command in chat and coding apps.
When to choose blabe
- You want your words pasted as you said them, with “um” and “uh” removed and no language model rewriting.
- You want the same plain behavior in every app. blabe pastes your words at the cursor and formats nothing.
- You want every feature in one plan. blabe is $49.99 a year with transcription included within a fair-use monthly limit; Aqua Voice keeps Realtime mode and “send it” for Max at $288 a year.
Before you pick blabe. blabe needs the internet and macOS 14 or later. After the 2-day trial it is a subscription: $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year for up to 3 Macs, with transcription included within a fair-use monthly limit. When your trial or subscription ends, new dictation stops until you subscribe. What you've already dictated isn't affected. There is no Windows, Linux or phone app.
Try blabe free for 2 days.
No card. No email, no signup. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel.