Whipscribe Desktop · run on your Mac, free
Whipscribe Desktop is the only Whisper app that runs locally on your Mac AND scales to the cloud when you need it — same library, same editor, no second login.
Drop a file, paste a YouTube link, or just hit ⌃⌥D anywhere on macOS to dictate. Auto-saves edits, exports SRT/VTT/DOCX, fires webhooks to your n8n + Notion + Obsidian.
Free local pipeline, opt-in cloud for files >30 minutes — your audio never leaves your Mac unless you say so.
First launch: Mac requires you to right-click the app and choose Open the first time you run it. After that it launches like any other app, and updates ship signed.
Local Whisper, Metal-accelerated
Bundled whisper.cpp built for Apple Silicon — nothing to install, nothing to compile, nothing leaves your Mac for the local jobs.
Dictation hotkey · ⌃⌥D
System-wide voice typing in any app — press the hotkey, talk, release. The transcript drops into the focused field.
Editor + library
Click any word to seek the audio. Edits auto-save. Speakers rename in place. Every transcript stays in a local library that searches in milliseconds.
YouTube and podcast URLs
Paste a YouTube, Spotify, or podcast URL. The app fetches, transcribes locally on Mac, and adds the result to your library.
SRT, VTT, DOCX, JSON
Subtitle exports for video editors, DOCX for transcribers, raw JSON for pipelines. One click, every format.
Webhooks: n8n, Notion, Obsidian
Pipe finished transcripts straight to your tools. Configure once in Settings, then every transcript is one keystroke from your second brain.
What runs locally vs. what runs in the cloud
Local pipeline handles every file you drop into Whipscribe Desktop — nothing leaves the device for those jobs. Cloud is opt-in and only kicks in when you ask for it (Settings → Cloud opt-in), typically for files longer than 30 minutes where the larger models pay off. Same Whipscribe account, same library — the cloud-processed transcripts land back in the local library when they finish.
- Local: file transcription, dictation, edits, library, exports, webhooks.
- Cloud opt-in: long-file processing, on-demand insights, multilingual translation.
Full disclosure of data handling and retention is on the privacy policy — the desktop section starts mid-page.
Requirements
- Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4 series).
- macOS 13 (Ventura) or later.
- ~600 MB free disk for the medium English model on first run.
Want to compare against other Mac transcription apps first? See the /tools directory — full feature comparisons across every Whisper-class engine, desktop app, and API.