What is Whispering?
Whispering is a fast, open-source transcription app designed to give you complete control over your data and costs. It directly addresses the "black box" problem of typical transcription services, where you pay high monthly fees for a tool you don't own and can't inspect. Whispering puts you in charge, letting you choose your transcription provider and pay only for what you use, all while keeping your audio secure on your device.
Key Features
🗣️ Choose Your Transcription Engine You're not locked into a single ecosystem. Select from ultra-fast cloud providers like Groq and OpenAI by using your own API key, or opt for 100% privacy with the Speaches model, which runs entirely offline on your machine. This flexibility allows you to perfectly balance speed, accuracy, and data security based on your specific needs.
💰 Pay Providers Directly and Save By cutting out the middleman, Whispering helps you save up to 90% on transcription costs. Instead of a fixed $15-30 monthly subscription, you connect your own API key and pay the provider's direct, at-cost rate—often just cents per hour. For many users with light to moderate needs, the total monthly cost is less than a dollar.
⌨️ Transcribe Anywhere with a Shortcut Integrate transcription seamlessly into your workflow. Simply press a global keyboard shortcut from any application, speak your thoughts, and the transcribed text is instantly ready on your clipboard. There’s no need to switch windows or interrupt your focus, making it ideal for capturing notes, drafting emails, or even voice coding.
🔒 Privacy-First by Design Your data and recordings are yours alone. Whispering is built on a local-first principle, storing all audio and transcriptions on your device. When you use a cloud service, your audio is sent directly from your machine to the provider—no middleman servers ever see or store your data. The entire application is open-source, so you can verify its privacy claims yourself.
Use Cases
For the Efficient Note-Taker: During a virtual meeting or while brainstorming, use the keyboard shortcut to instantly capture action items, ideas, and quotes without ever leaving your primary application. Your flow remains uninterrupted, and your notes are accurate and immediate.
For the Privacy-Conscious Professional: If you handle sensitive client or patient information, you can use Whispering in its fully offline mode with the
Speacheslocal engine. Transcribe confidential discussions with the assurance that no data ever leaves your computer.For the Power User on a Budget: If you're a podcaster, writer, or developer who transcribes hours of audio each month, you can bypass expensive subscriptions. Connect to a cost-effective provider like Groq and process high volumes of audio for a fraction of the traditional cost, saving hundreds of dollars per year.
Conclusion:
Whispering offers a fundamentally better approach to transcription. It replaces expensive, closed-off subscriptions with a transparent, powerful, and cost-effective tool that you control. By giving you the choice of provider and a privacy-first architecture, it ensures your workflow is both efficient and secure.
Download Whispering for free and take back control of your transcription workflow!
More information on Whispering
Launched
2023-06
Pricing Model
Free
Starting Price
Global Rank
4041488
Follow
Month Visit
<5k
Tech used
Top 5 Countries
99.55%
0.45%
United States
Japan
Traffic Sources
57.6%
0.05%
42.35%
referrals
search
direct
Source: Similarweb (Sep 25, 2025)
Whispering was manually vetted by our editorial team and was first featured on 2025-08-13.
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