Auvi vs Ava
Which transcription app is right for deaf and hard-of-hearing users?
Key difference in one sentence: Ava is purpose-built for the deaf community with strong speaker identification, but sends your audio to the cloud and costs $120–180 per year; Auvi does everything on your device — no cloud, no subscription for core features, and no data collected.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Auvi | Ava |
|---|---|---|
| Price | One-time purchase for core features. Optional Plus and Translation subscriptions for power users. | Free tier (reduced accuracy) / $10–15/month / $120–180/year |
| Processing | Fully on-device. No audio ever leaves your phone. | Cloud-based. Audio is sent to Ava's servers for transcription. |
| Privacy | No data collected. Apple App Store label is "No Data Collected" — verified and accurate. | Collects data. Transcripts stored on Ava's servers. HIPAA opt-in available for medical use but requires explicit setup. |
| Speaker identification | Yes — colour-coded speakers with on-device processing. Colours appear shortly after the text. | Yes — colour-coded speakers. Standout feature; more mature than most competitors. |
| Transcription languages | 40+ languages, entirely on-device, no internet needed. | 16 languages (cloud). |
| Real-time translation | 31 languages, on-device. Translation add-on subscription. | None. |
| Scam detection | Yes — 25 phone scam categories + 10 tourist scam categories in 7 languages. Included free. | No. |
| Sound awareness | Yes — identifies 15 environmental sounds (doorbell, smoke alarm, etc.) with emoji labels and haptic alerts. | No. |
| Accessibility features | Dynamic Type (16–48pt slider), 5 colour schemes including high-contrast and yellow-on-black, VoiceOver support, haptic feedback, colour-blind-friendly palette. All included in Standard. | Dynamic Type support. Accessibility features less comprehensive. |
| Transcript history & export | Yes — local storage only, excluded from iCloud backup. Plus add-on subscription. | Yes — cloud-stored transcript history included in subscription. |
| Internet required | Only for initial model download. Works fully offline after that. | Yes — constant internet connection required for transcription. |
| MDM / enterprise | Yes — Managed App Configuration. IT can enforce privacy settings for healthcare, legal, and government deployments. | No enterprise MDM support. |
| Apple Watch | Yes — live captions stream to your wrist. Start/stop from Watch. | No dedicated Watch app. |
| Free tier accuracy | 7-day free trial with full accuracy and all features. | Intentionally degrades accuracy on free tier to encourage subscription upgrades. |
| Platform | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Android, web |
Why choose Auvi
- No subscription for core accessibility. Ava's minimum viable plan costs $120–180 per year. Over ten years, that's $1,200–1,800 just to follow conversations — a significant cost for a disability accommodation. Auvi's core features cost once.
- Nothing leaves your device. Medical appointments, therapy sessions, legal consultations — Auvi processes all of it on-device. With Ava, audio goes to cloud servers. That matters in regulated industries and in any situation where confidentiality counts.
- Works without internet. Ava requires a consistent internet connection. If you're in a building with poor signal, at a rural event, or travelling abroad, Auvi keeps working. Ava doesn't.
- Scam detection. Auvi is the only transcription app with built-in scam call detection — 25 phone scam categories and 10 tourist scam categories, covering patterns in 7 languages. Deaf and hard-of-hearing users are disproportionately targeted by phone scams; Auvi provides a safety net.
- More transcription languages. Auvi supports 40+ languages for transcription, all on-device. Ava supports 16 via cloud.
- Honest free trial. Ava's free tier intentionally provides lower accuracy to pressure upgrades — a practice widely criticised in the deaf community as exploitative of disability. Auvi's 7-day trial gives you full accuracy and every feature, no strings attached.
- Comprehensive accessibility. Five colour schemes (including yellow-on-black for visual impairment), in-app font slider from 16–48pt, haptic feedback, VoiceOver labels on every control, and colour-blind-friendly speaker palettes — all included in Standard.
Why choose Ava
- Android support. Ava works on Android, Auvi is iPhone and iPad only. If your group includes Android users, Ava is the obvious choice for shared sessions.
- Group conversation mode. Ava's group captioning allows multiple phones to participate in a shared session, making it easier to caption a group where only some people have the app. Auvi handles group conversations through speaker identification from a single device's microphone.
- Professional scribe option. Ava offers a human scribe service for professional settings where maximum accuracy is required.
- More mature product. Ava has been available since 2017 and has a large established user base. It has more App Store ratings and a longer track record.
- Cloud transcript storage. If you want transcripts stored in the cloud and accessible from multiple devices or a browser, Ava's cloud-backed history is more flexible than Auvi's local-only storage.
Bottom line
Ava and Auvi are both designed specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing users, and both offer colour-coded speaker identification. The fundamental difference is where your audio goes and how you pay.
If you're already paying for Ava and find the subscription worthwhile, it may be the right tool for you — especially if you need Android support or group conversation modes. If you're frustrated by the subscription cost, uncomfortable with audio going to cloud servers, or need offline capability, Auvi is worth trying.
Auvi's 7-day free trial is full-featured and requires no commitment. If you try it and decide Ava's cloud processing handles your noisy environment better, you'll have lost nothing.
Try Auvi free for 7 days
Full features, no commitment. No credit card required to start. All processing on your device, nothing sent to any server.
Download on the App Store