Which of the hundred of speech to text apps is free, local, and context aware?
Hello As the title says, I’ve been testing more than 10 of these apps mainly based on the apps comparison spreadsheet. I’m looking for a dictation app with the below requirements: - Free - allows local models (Parakeet) - Context aware (reads the screen and dictates accordingly, like asking to reply to an email) - Has edit mode for selected text The closest I found were: TypeWhisper but I don’t think it’s fully context aware and doesn’t have edit mode, FluidVoice which has the edit mode but I didn’t see a context aware option, spokenly was the closest to what I want but now became another paywall (free version is unusable), Otter seems promising but early phase and no edit mode and not context aware. Any better suggestions? Edit: Spokenly local and API options remain free. Totally recommended.
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spokenly was the closest to what I want but now became another paywall (free version is unusable) When did this happen?
I take it back. Apparently after latest update I manually installed, it reverted all my settings to defaults including the dictation model selection (Online instead of API or Local) which caused the paywall popup to keep appearing with every call. Spokenly continues to be my preferred choice due to its simplicity and robust features.
Handy and FluidVoice - both are open source, free and local.
Thanks for the shoutout, gentle people!
Can it read the screen? Is this planned?
If you need a simple app that just works, I’d recommend Thinkur.app over Handy (both open source)
+1 for fluidvoice. Has everything you asked for. Is free. And solid.
What spreadsheet are you talking about?
See pinned topics of this subreddit
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HtJN4oQ6oBDFmFaF4Qeq5vCGEU1g-KB1DEz5Sp_OwXo/edit?gid=863268287#gid=863268287
What do you mean by "context aware"? I was always thinking of these apps as simple transcribers. What have I missed already? 😃
It simply takes a screenshot as you voice record, extracts the screen text, and passes as a context to AI, so it’s aware of what is on the screen. Very helpful for replying to emails at no time.
I have https://hitoku.me/draft/, it is context aware. It is open source. For compiled version is 5 dollars (free with code HITOKULANG, valid for 50 downloads)
Looks good. Will give it a try later.
I'm using OpenWhispr since a few weeks ago and it's working pretty nice. I'm running everything locally: - Whisper-small for transcription - Gemma 4 E4B for transcription cleanup No issues so far. The main drawback is that it's a bit slower than using cloud versions, although you can configure those too.
Electron. Ram more than 500mb. Very limited options. No thank you!
VoiceInk is the best dictation app out there IMO. I have used dozens of them. It’s not even close
I used for a few weeks but I still find Spokenley more superior
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FluidVoice is the one I'd go with for your requirements. it's open source, runs Whisper locally, and the edit mode actually works well. the context awareness isn't as polished as a paid app but it gets the job done for most cases. Spokenly is also solid once you get the model settings right. the default online mode is what trips people up.
If you can run Parakeet model it is far more accurate and much faster. V2 for English speakers V3 for the rest of the world.
TypeWhisper was recently recommended by Snazzy Labs , who demonstrates it side by side with a Super Whisper (?), a paid app that he paid $250 for a year or two ago (and which sends your audio to the cloud and processes it there). Review: https://youtu.be/npxlJdxSv4A?si=8h8QGVjGEiPXKYp-&t=589 Direct link to the app: https://www.typewhisper.com/en/ "Run speech-to-text locally on your Mac with no telemetry, no subscriptions, and no mandatory cloud dependency." I haven't tried it so I can't vouch for it personally.
+1 for typewhisper. Amazing on Mac but the iOS alpha is clunky so hopefully it gets better. There is also an app called VivaDicta that is new. Checking it out but seems slow. Can anyone help me out for an app that does transcriptions? Typically 45 minutes to one hour. Basically, I want some sort of automation when I record in the Voice Memos app or a third-party app and it watches a folder on my Mac and automatically transcribes it and outputs a markdown file for me. MacWhisperer does a good job but not watching folder mode.
I would separate the requirements into two buckets: local transcription quality, and app context. Lots of tools can run Whisper or Parakeet locally, but once it can read the screen or rewrite selected text, I would check exactly what data leaves the Mac. For comparing them, I would test the same short script in Mail, Notes, Word, and a browser text field, then separately test selected-text edits and weird proper nouns. FluidVoice/Handy/Spokenly seem to cover different parts of that list, but free + local + screen context + edit mode is still a pretty narrow combination.
I find that the free local model ones are either really slow or don’t do that good of a job. I am on a M1 Mac so I can’t really complain but I’d love to find one that works for it at a decent pace and quality