Both Shruvi and Willow Voice are push-to-talk dictation apps that paste cleaned-up text into whatever app you're focused on. Willow Voice is a newer paid product in a similar lane to Wispr Flow; Shruvi is free and built on Groq-hosted Whisper. Here's how they actually differ.
Shruvi: gpt-4o-mini cleans filler, casing, and punctuation on every utterance. Willow Voice: built-in cleanup and formatting.
Push-to-talk
Both support hold-to-talk via a global hotkey and paste into any focused app.
Open source
Neither app is fully open source.
Privacy model
Shruvi: audio is processed in the cloud and not retained after transcription. Willow Voice: cloud processing — read their policy for retention details.
Languages
Shruvi: ~99 languages via Whisper. Willow Voice: see their site for current supported languages.
In Shruvi's favor
Where Shruvi is better
Free, with no word limit. No subscription, no usage cap, no card on file. Useful if you dictate full days at a time.
Transparent stack. Shruvi publishes exactly what it uses: Groq whisper-large-v3-turbo for transcription, gpt-4o-mini for cleanup. You know what's running.
Server-side provider switch. When a faster or more accurate model lands, every Shruvi user benefits without an app update.
Mature menu-bar UX on macOS. Shruvi lives in the tray, never opens an extra window unless you ask, and survives sleep/wake cleanly.
In Willow Voice's favor
Where Willow Voice is better
Newer feature surface area. Willow Voice is iterating quickly and may ship category-specific features (e.g. for clinicians, lawyers, or developers) before Shruvi does.
Paid product, paid support. If you need formal vendor relationships or SLA-style support and are happy paying for it, Willow Voice's commercial model is set up for that.
Decision guide
Which one should you pick?
Pick Shruvi if you want a free push-to-talk dictation tool that just works, on macOS or Windows, with one of the best Whisper variants in production. It's the right choice when you want to install something quickly, dictate into any app, and not think about pricing tiers.
Pick Willow Voice if you've evaluated it for your specific workflow — for example a domain-specific writing flow — and the way it formats and structures your speech matches what you're paying for. Always test both on your own voice before committing.
For another head-to-head against the most popular paid alternative, see Shruvi vs Wispr Flow.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Shruvi a free alternative to Willow Voice?
Yes. Shruvi is free with no word limits and no credit card. Willow Voice is a newer paid push-to-talk dictation app; check willowvoice.com for current pricing.
How are Shruvi and Willow Voice different?
Both are hold-to-talk dictation apps. Shruvi is open about its stack — Groq whisper-large-v3-turbo plus gpt-4o-mini cleanup — and is free. Willow Voice is a newer entrant with its own proprietary speech stack and paid pricing.
Does Shruvi support Windows?
Yes, Shruvi has a Windows 10/11 installer alongside the macOS build.
Which is more accurate?
Both are good on clear English speech. Shruvi consistently runs whisper-large-v3-turbo, which is currently one of the best general-purpose speech models for accents and noisy environments. Willow Voice's accuracy depends on its proprietary stack and is best evaluated on your own voice.