Whispering
Productivity
dictation
SHOW HN2025
591points
152comments
#52of 3,837 in 2025
Top 2%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
13 positive, 36 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 18 critical, out of 70 comments about the project. Thread score -0.03.
Idea: 5 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 8 againstExecution: 1 for, 3 againstDocs: 2 for, 1 againstPerformance: 2 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Open-source and local-first vision resonates with commenters
From 2 comments
> "I think there should be an open-source, local-first version of every app, and I would like them all to work together. The idea of Epicenter is to store your data in a folder…
chrisweekly on HN> I’m basically obsessed with local-first open-source software. We all should be.
marcodiego on HN
Helpful alternative to paid dictation tools
From 2 comments
Thank you for sharing such a great product. Last week after getting fed up with a lot of slow commercial products and wrote my own similar app that works locally in the loop and…
g48ywsJk6w48 on HNGreat work! I've been using Willow Voice but I think I will migrate to this (much cheaper) but they do have a great UI or UX just by hitting a key to start recording and the…
Johnny_Bonk on HN
Objections
Demo shows cloud API setup, so local-first claim was confusing
From 2 comments
Wait, I'm confused. The text here says all data remains on device and emphasises how much you can trust that, that you're obsessed with local-first software, etc. Clicking on the…
Aachen on HNam I not getting it correctly; it says local is possible but can't find any information about how to run it without any api key? I get the whispers models, and do what? how to…
mrs6969 on HN
Windows Defender flagged the build as infected
From 1 comment
Windows Defender says it is infected.
satisfice on HN
Model download and Linux AppImage failures with unhelpful errors
From 1 comment
Tried it with AppImage on Linux, attempted to download a model and "Failed to download model. An error occurred." but nothing that helps me track down the error :(
emacsen on HN
Lacks Parakeet support and speaker diarization
From 2 comments
Does this support using the Parakeet model locally? I'm a MacWhisper user and I find that Parakeet is way better and faster than Whisper for on-device transcription. I've been…
wkcheng on HNIs there speaker detection?
ideashower on HN
Requests
Parakeet model support
From 2 comments
Does this support using the Parakeet model locally? I'm a MacWhisper user and I find that Parakeet is way better and faster than Whisper for on-device transcription. I've been…
wkcheng on HNI've been interested in dictation for a while, but I don't want to be sending any audio to a remote API, it all has to be local. Having tried just a couple of models (namely the…
Tmpod on HN
Speaker diarization
From 2 comments
Can it tell voices apart?
dllthomas on HNI'd love to find a tool which could recognise a few different speakers so that I could automatically dictate 1:1 sessions. In addition, I definitively would want to feed that to…
mrgaro on HN
iOS or mobile version
From 1 comment
Does this functionality exist on iOS ? I'm looking for an iOS app that wraps Parakeet or whisper in a custom iOS keyboard. That way I can switch to the dictation keyboard, press…
jryio on HN
One-time purchase pricing instead of subscriptions
From 1 comment
Among all the offline transcription apps I've tried, my favorite remains https://whispernotes.app. High accuracy, one-time purchase, and genuinely offline. I love its clean UI.…
mrbig0 on HN
Questions
How does it compare to VoiceInk?
From 1 comment
How does this compare to VoiceInk which is also open-source and been there much longer and supports all the features that you have? https://github.com/Beingpax/VoiceInk
michael-sumner on HN
Does it support semantic correction or cleanup of filler words?
From 2 comments
Does Whispering support semantic correction? I was unable to find confirmation while doing a quick search.
newman314 on HNI've been interested in dictation for a while, but I don't want to be sending any audio to a remote API, it all has to be local. Having tried just a couple of models (namely the…
Tmpod on HN
Which transcription models give best quality?
From 1 comment
Looks like a really cool project. Do you have any opinions on which transcription models are the best, from a quality perspective? I have heard a lot of mixed opinions on this.…
jnmandal on HN
Alternatives named
VoiceInk
From 2 comments
How does this compare to VoiceInk which is also open-source and been there much longer and supports all the features that you have? https://github.com/Beingpax/VoiceInk
michael-sumner on HNReally nice! For OsX there is also the great VoiceInk which is similar and open-source https://github.com/Beingpax/VoiceInk/
oulipo on HN
MacWhisper
From 2 comments
Does this support using the Parakeet model locally? I'm a MacWhisper user and I find that Parakeet is way better and faster than Whisper for on-device transcription. I've been…
wkcheng on HNDoes this functionality exist on iOS ? I'm looking for an iOS app that wraps Parakeet or whisper in a custom iOS keyboard. That way I can switch to the dictation keyboard, press…
jryio on HN
Handy
From 1 comment
Whishper
From 1 comment
Related, just as a heads up. I've been using this for 100% local offline transcription for a while, works well: https://github.com/pluja/whishper
tummler on HN
Hyprnote
From 1 comment
Thank you! And you’re right, I think Whisper struggles with younger voices. Haven’t tested Parakeet or other models for this yet, but that’s a great use case (especially since…
braden-w on HN
Superwhisper and Wispr Flow
From 1 comment