SayControl vs Aqua Voice: which Mac dictation app fits you?

Both do the core job well: hold a key, talk, and clean text lands in whatever app you’re in, with your words spelled your way. Both rewrite a selection by voice, and both send a message when you say “send it”.

Pick Aqua Voice if you dictate on Windows, iPhone or Android too, want the cheapest Pro, or want to edit by voice without paying. Pick SayControl if you want your voice to do things while you write, hear your coding agents when they need you, or want free words that come back every week.

SayControl and Aqua Voice at a glance

Feature	SayControl	Aqua Voice
Free plan	2,000 words a week, every week	1,000 words, once
Pro, monthly	$12 a month	$10 a month
Pro, yearly	No yearly plan	$96 a year
Cleanup and style per app
Rewrite selected text by voice	Pro	Every plan
Say “send it” to send		Max, $30 a month
Screenshots, files, links by voice		Not available
Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Perplexity		Not available
Coding agents that talk back		Not available
Runs on	Mac	Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android
Languages	60+	49

On both, the “um”s go, the sentence you restarted is tidied, and the style changes with the app. Aqua Voice does it with custom instructions you write (“in Slack, use all lowercase”); SayControl has Personal, Work, Email and Agents tones that switch on their own.

• Hold a key, talk, and it types in any app
• Fillers and false starts cleaned up
• A different style for each app
• A dictionary and text replacements
• Rewrite selected text by voice
• Say “send it” to send

One small difference: “send it” is on Aqua Voice’s $30 Max plan. In SayControl it’s part of the app.

Aqua Voice’s pitch is speed and accuracy. It trains its own speech model, Avalon, publishes benchmarks for it, and on Max streams words onto the screen as you speak. If the words themselves are the bottleneck, that focus shows.

SayControl spends its effort on everything around the words. Most of a message isn’t the typing: it’s grabbing a screenshot, finding the file, copying the link, switching to ChatGPT to ask something, checking whether Claude Code is done. In SayControl you say those too, in the same breath.

SayControl

The steps, gone

• Screenshots, files and links land mid-sentence
• “ask ChatGPT” opens the question there, already asked
• Terminals open in the folder you name
• Agents speak up when they need you

Aqua Voice

The words, faster

• Its own speech model, Avalon
• Realtime Mode streams words as you speak (Max)
• Edit Mode on every plan
• Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android

Say “copy the link” while writing in Slack and the address of the page you were reading lands in your sentence. Say “take a screenshot” and the picture is pasted where you are. Say “attach the second PDF from downloads” and that one is attached.

Aqua Voice doesn’t do this. In Cursor and Windsurf it turns a spoken file name into a tag, and “send it” presses Return; beyond that, its voice writes text. SayControl’s controls work in any app and come with Pro. See everything you can say.

Aqua Voice connects to coding agents the other way round: its command-line tool and MCP server let Claude Code or Codex change your Aqua dictionary and settings, or search what you’ve dictated. Useful, but the agent still can’t get your attention.

SayControl sums up what each agent did and says it out loud: that a session finished, hit a limit or wants permission. You answer by voice and it goes into that session. Ask “any updates?” and you hear from all of them at once.

Free accounts get 10 conversations to try it, and Pro includes 300 a month.

Aqua Voice is a strong app, and in these places it’s the better pick:

• 

  It runs everywhere. Mac, Windows, an iPhone keyboard and, since this month, Android, on one subscription. SayControl is Mac only.

• 

  Pro costs less. $10 a month, or $8 a month paid yearly, against SayControl’s $12 a month.

• 

  Edit Mode is free. Select text, hold the key and say the change, on every desktop plan. SayControl’s command mode comes with Pro.

• 

  Its speech model is its own. Aqua Voice trains its own model, Avalon, and publishes accuracy and speed figures for it. Its Max plan streams words onto the screen as you speak.

• 

  It’s ready for teams. A Business plan with SSO and SCIM, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, and a HIPAA programme. SayControl’s team plan is a conversation for now.

Aqua Voice Pro is cheaper: $10 a month, or $96 for a year. But its free plan is 1,000 words once, a test drive, where SayControl’s is 2,000 words every week. And “send it” and Realtime Mode need Max, at $30 a month. SayControl Pro is $12 a month, with no year up front.

Both turn speech into words in the cloud. The difference is what happens to the text after. SayControl never keeps your audio or transcripts on its servers. Aqua Voice’s privacy policy says that unless you turn Privacy Mode on, transcripts may be stored to improve the product, and Privacy Mode starts off.

What SayControl and Aqua Voice keep

Feature	SayControl	Aqua Voice
Transcripts kept on their servers?	Never	May be, unless Privacy Mode is on (off by default)
Used to train models?	No	Only if you opt in, its blog says

Our privacy policy has the whole round trip.

Dictation

• Dictate into any app

  Hold a key, talk, let go.

  SayControlYes

  Aqua VoiceYes

• Cleanup

  Fillers, false starts and spoken corrections.

  SayControlYes

  Aqua VoiceYes

• Style for each app

  SayControlPersonal, Work, Email, Agents tones

  Aqua VoiceCustom instructions (Pro)

• Dictionary and replacements

  SayControlDictionary and phrases

  Aqua VoiceDictionary and replacements

• Reads your screen for context

  SayControlNames read off your screen

  Aqua VoiceDeep Context, off by default

• Languages

  SayControl60+

  Aqua Voice49

Doing things with your voice

• Rewrite selected text by voice

  “make it shorter”, “make it a list” on what you selected.

  SayControlCommand mode, Pro

  Aqua VoiceEdit Mode, every plan

• Say “send it” to press Return

  SayControlYes

  Aqua VoiceMax ($30 a month)

• Spoken controls mid-sentence

  Screenshots, files, links, terminal and apps, in any app.

  SayControlPro

  Aqua VoiceNot available

• Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or Perplexity

  Say the question; it opens in that AI, already asked.

  SayControlPro

  Aqua VoiceNot available

• Coding agents that talk back

  Claude Code and Codex say when they need you; you answer by voice.

  SayControl10 free, 300 a month on Pro

  Aqua VoiceNot available

Privacy

• Your transcripts

  SayControlNever kept on our servers

  Aqua VoiceMay be kept to improve the product unless Privacy Mode is on (off by default)

Plans

• Free

  SayControl2,000 words a week, every week

  Aqua Voice1,000 words, once

• Pro, paid monthly

  SayControl$12 a month

  Aqua Voice$10 a month

• Pro, paid yearly

  SayControlNo yearly plan, so no year up front

  Aqua Voice$8 a month, $96 up front

• Max

  SayControlNo

  Aqua Voice$30 a month, or $24 yearly

• Teams

  SayControlEnterprise, priced with you

  Aqua VoiceBusiness $24 a seat ($19 yearly): SSO, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001

Where it runs

• Platforms

  SayControlmacOS 13 and later

  Aqua VoiceMac, Windows, iPhone, Android

SayControl and Aqua Voice, line by line

Feature	SayControl	Aqua Voice
Dictation
Dictate into any appHold a key, talk, let go.	Yes	Yes
CleanupFillers, false starts and spoken corrections.	Yes	Yes
Style for each app	Personal, Work, Email, Agents tones	Custom instructions (Pro)
Dictionary and replacements	Dictionary and phrases	Dictionary and replacements
Reads your screen for context	Names read off your screen	Deep Context, off by default
Languages	60+	49
Doing things with your voice
Rewrite selected text by voice“make it shorter”, “make it a list” on what you selected.	Command mode, Pro	Edit Mode, every plan
Say “send it” to press Return	Yes	Max ($30 a month)
Spoken controls mid-sentenceScreenshots, files, links, terminal and apps, in any app.	Pro	Not available
Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or PerplexitySay the question; it opens in that AI, already asked.	Pro	Not available
Coding agents that talk backClaude Code and Codex say when they need you; you answer by voice.	10 free, 300 a month on Pro	Not available
Privacy
Your transcripts	Never kept on our servers	May be kept to improve the product unless Privacy Mode is on (off by default)
Plans
Free	2,000 words a week, every week	1,000 words, once
Pro, paid monthly	$12 a month	$10 a month
Pro, paid yearly	No yearly plan, so no year up front	$8 a month, $96 up front
Max	No	$30 a month, or $24 yearly
Teams	Enterprise, priced with you	Business $24 a seat ($19 yearly): SSO, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001
Where it runs
Platforms	macOS 13 and later	Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android