Kana as an Aqua Voice alternative
A cloud dictation app built on Avalon, its own recognition model, and aimed at people who dictate technical writing: code identifiers, acronyms, product names.
What Aqua Voice does better
Aqua is better at technical vocabulary than Kana is. Avalon is trained for it, so it holds up on code and jargon where a general model guesses, and its custom dictionary holds up to 800 terms on Pro. It runs on Mac, Windows and iPhone under one account, covers 49 languages against Kana's 26, and ships a native Intel Mac build, which Kana will never have.
Where Kana is different
- Recognition happens on your Mac. Aqua sends your audio to its servers, which is the trade it makes for the Avalon model.
- Dictation is unlimited rather than a 1,000-word trial.
- No account and no sign-in to dictate.
Side by side
| Kana | Aqua Voice | |
|---|---|---|
| Audio stays on device | Yes | No, cloud |
| Technical vocabulary | General model | Model tuned for it |
| Intel Macs | No | Yes, native build |
| Windows and iPhone | No | Yes |
Aqua Voice pricing: Free for 1,000 words, then $8 a month. Max $24, Team $12 a user.