PrivateTranscribe
Fast local dictation for AI workflows.
Free and open source, for Windows.
How it works
- Tap your hotkey in whatever app is in front of you. Prefer push-to-talk? Hold it instead.
- Talk. Say the messy version out loud. Whisper writes it down on your own PC.
- Done. Tap again and the text pastes at your cursor. No window to switch to, nothing to copy.
Why it exists
- Your voice stays on your PC by default. Local Whisper does the transcription. Cloud transcription is there if you want it, with your own API key.
- Dictation should not be monthly rent. The whole app is free, with no account and no subscription.
- You think faster than you type. Talk through the long prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or ChatGPT, and let the agent clean it up.
What it is good at
- Prompting coding agents. Explain the bug out loud in a terminal or an editor, the way you would to a colleague, and the full prompt lands where your cursor is.
- Writing anywhere. Mail, chat, documents, forms. It pastes into the app in front of you, and puts your clipboard back afterwards.
- Names and jargon. Add them to the dictionary once, and Whisper gets them right after that.
- Calls and music. While you dictate, other audio drops to half volume. Turn on voice-call mute and the app holds your Discord mute key, so the call does not hear you.
- Reading back. Select text in any app and press a key to hear it read aloud by a voice that runs on your PC.
- Old recordings. Drop in an audio or video file to get a transcript.
Features
- Local Whisper models from tiny to large, with turbo as the fast default
- An optional NVIDIA GPU engine for much faster transcription
- Optional cloud transcription through OpenAI, Groq or your own endpoint
- Tap, push-to-talk, or tap-and-hold, on any key combination or a mouse side button
- Custom dictionary, history and a dashboard of your dictation stats
- Read Aloud with 28 local English voices (beta)
Beta
- AI enhancement cleans up a dictation with a model you choose. OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Groq, a local model, your own endpoint, or the Claude Code CLI.
- Correction Memory learns from the edits you make after a paste.
- Smart Context tells AI enhancement which app, window and field you are dictating into.
Experimental
- Converse is a spoken conversation with Claude Code in a project folder.
- Agent mode turns a dictation into a coding prompt.
- Action Engine runs actions you set up when a dictation matches a trigger phrase.
What leaves your PC
With a local model, your audio and text stay on your PC. They leave only for a cloud service you choose, such as a transcription or AI provider or Claude Code, and then only to that service. Official builds check for updates, and send usage events under a random ID only if you agree. Models download when you ask for them. SECURITY.md lists the parts of the app that reach furthest on your PC, and everything that can leave it.
Requirements
- Windows 10 or later
- An NVIDIA graphics card is optional, for the GPU engine
Development
You need Node.js 22. CONTRIBUTING.md has the full setup and the checks to run before a pull request.
npm ci
npm run dev
Most of the code is written with AI coding agents, mainly Claude Code, directed and tested by one developer.
Building
npm run build:win # Unsigned Windows installer
npm run pack # Unpacked app folder for local testing
Official releases are built and signed by GitHub Actions. Copies you build yourself do not check for app updates or send usage events.
Contributing
Bug fixes and bug reports are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, and see SUPPORT.md for where to ask questions.
License
Copyright © 2026 Julsgaard Products.
PrivateTranscribe is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or (at your option) any later version. See LICENSE.
PrivateTranscribe began as a private copy of OpenWhispr (MIT) in early 2026 and has been rewritten since. The whole history of this repository is released under GPL-3.0-or-later, including the commits from before the code was opened, whose LICENSE file said otherwise. OpenWhispr's MIT notice in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md covers every commit, and the third-party parts listed there keep their own licences.
