A curated list of open-source speech-to-text tools for voice typing and dictation across desktop, mobile, and CLI.

These tools let you speak and have text appear wherever you're typing. Some run speech-to-text entirely offline on your own hardware, others use cloud APIs, and many support both. All are open source.

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• Cross-platform default: Handy. Biggest open-source project in this list, runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
• On macOS, want a native feel: VoiceInk or FluidVoice.

Last updated: 2026-10-08

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Mode: Local means on-device speech recognition. Hybrid means the tool supports both local and cloud or BYO-cloud setups. Cloud means speech recognition requires a remote service.

Name	Platforms	Mode	Engine	Summary
Amical	macOS, Windows	Local	Whisper	Context-aware dictation that adapts formatting to the app you are using.
BiBi Keyboard	Android	Hybrid	SenseVoice, FunASR Nano, Qwen3-ASR, Parakeet, BYOK cloud	Voice input keyboard with optional text cleanup and a floating recorder that inserts text into other apps.
CapsWriter-Offline	Windows	Local	Paraformer, SenseVoice, Fun-ASR-Nano, Qwen3-ASR	Hold-to-dictate tool with fully offline Chinese and English recognition, phoneme-based hotword correction, LLM post-processing roles, and date-archived transcripts with audio.
Chirp	Windows	Local	Parakeet TDT	Dictates into Windows apps, runs on CPU only, and is aimed at locked-down corporate environments.
Clovy	macOS	Cloud	Parakeet TDT, GPT-4o Transcribe	Push-to-talk or hands-free dictation with text cleanup, writing styles, and automatic paste into the previous app.
Dictate Keyboard	Android, Wear OS	Hybrid	Whisper, Parakeet, Canary, BYOK cloud	Android keyboard with offline and streaming dictation, a floating input button, and configurable text rewriting.
Elograf	Linux	Local	Vosk (via nerd-dictation)	GUI tray frontend for nerd-dictation with model switching and timeout controls.
Epicenter Whispering	Linux, macOS, Windows, Web	Hybrid	Whisper	Local-first dictation with a global shortcut and multiple Whisper providers; also available as a Chrome extension and web app.
fcitx5-vinput	Linux	Hybrid	sherpa-onnx, BYOK cloud	Fcitx5 voice input with push-to-talk and toggle modes, hotwords, and optional text rewriting.
FluidVoice	macOS	Hybrid	Parakeet, Apple Speech, Whisper	macOS dictation app that can type into any app and switch between local speech engines.
FnKey	macOS	Hybrid	Deepgram Nova-3, Groq Whisper	Rust menu bar app that activates the microphone only while holding Fn, with real-time streaming and batch cloud backends.
Freestyle	Linux, macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, Qwen3-ASR, SenseVoice, Parakeet, BYOK cloud	Hotkey dictation with automatic paste, custom vocabulary, and app-specific formatting.
Ghost Pepper	macOS	Local	WhisperKit	Hold-to-talk menu bar dictation with local LLM cleanup of filler words; runs entirely on Apple Silicon.
Glimpse	macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, Parakeet TDT	Dictation with a custom dictionary, text replacements, and a library for transcribing imported audio and video files.
Handy	Linux, macOS, Windows	Local	Whisper.cpp, Parakeet TDT	Shortcut-driven offline dictation built with Tauri and supporting several ASR model families.
HNS	Linux, macOS, Windows	Local	Faster Whisper	CLI tool that records from your mic, transcribes locally, and copies the result to the clipboard.
hyprwhspr	Linux	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, Parakeet, BYOK cloud	Push-to-talk Linux dictation with a visualizer plus Waybar and systemd integration.
Koe	macOS	Hybrid	Apple Speech, Qwen3-ASR, Zipformer, BYOK cloud	Apple Silicon dictation with automatic paste, configurable text correction, and a plain-text dictionary.
MacParakeet	macOS	Local	Parakeet, WhisperKit, Nemotron, Cohere Transcribe	Apple Silicon dictation with push-to-talk and hands-free modes, custom word replacements, and automatic paste.
Muesli	macOS	Hybrid	Parakeet, WhisperKit, Qwen3-ASR, BYOK cloud	Hold-to-talk or hands-free dictation with a personal dictionary and optional transcript cleanup.
Murmure	Linux, macOS, Windows	Local	Parakeet TDT	Offline dictation with a custom dictionary and optional local LLM processing.
nerd-dictation	Linux	Local	Vosk	Hackable offline dictation that types into any window via simulated keystrokes.
Offline Voice Input (Android)	Android	Local	Parakeet TDT	Offline Android voice input keyboard with live subtitles and a privacy-first focus.
OpenLess	macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Qwen3-ASR, Whisper, BYOK cloud	Hotkey dictation with a custom dictionary and configurable transcript cleanup.
OpenSuperWhisper	macOS	Local	Whisper, Parakeet	Native Swift menu bar dictation app optimized for Apple Silicon and global shortcuts.
OpenTypeless	Linux, macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Whisper-compatible, Deepgram, AssemblyAI, Groq	Cross-platform voice input with AI polishing, selected-text rewriting, translation, and provider choice.
OpenWhispr	Linux, macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, Parakeet, BYOK cloud	Cross-platform dictation with local models, optional cloud providers, and a custom dictionary.
OSTT	Linux, macOS	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, BYOK cloud	CLI dictation with a hotkey popup, automatic paste, and transcript processing through shell commands.
Pindrop	macOS	Local	WhisperKit	Offline menu bar dictation app with optional AI-based transcript cleanup.
Speak to AI	Linux	Local	Whisper.cpp	Minimal Linux dictation tool that inserts text into the active window and can also run from the CLI.
SpeakoFlow	Linux, macOS, Windows	Local	Whisper.cpp, Parakeet	Offline dictation that can also turn a spoken request into finished text, with tone-based cleanup and an optional screen-aware assistant panel.
SpeakType	macOS	Local	WhisperKit	Hold-to-talk offline dictation with a global shortcut and automatic paste into the active app.
Talk-type	macOS	Hybrid	Apple Speech, Whisper.cpp	Chinese, English, and mixed-language dictation with live previews, optional text cleanup, and local Whisper fallback.
Tambourine Voice	macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Faster Whisper, BYOK cloud	Voice interface for any app with configurable STT and LLM providers.
Transcribro	Android	Local	Whisper.cpp	Private and on-device speech recognition keyboard and service for Android.
TranscriptionSuite	Linux, macOS, Windows	Local	Faster Whisper, Whisper.cpp, Parakeet	Dictation with global shortcuts and automatic paste, using a local or self-hosted transcription server.
Typeflux	macOS	Hybrid	SenseVoice, Paraformer, WhisperKit, Qwen3-ASR, BYOK cloud	Hold Fn to dictate into the active app, with streaming previews, local history, and voice-driven text rewriting.
TypeWhisper	macOS	Hybrid	Whisper (local and/or cloud)	Voice typing app with both local and cloud engine options.
Vocalinux	Linux	Local	Whisper.cpp, Whisper, Vosk	Linux dictation with distro-specific setup guides and Vulkan acceleration notes.
VoiceFlow	Linux, Windows	Local	Faster Whisper	Tray dictation with hold or toggle shortcuts, automatic paste, and searchable transcript history.
VoiceInk	macOS	Hybrid	WhisperKit, BYOK	Native macOS dictation with per-app tuning, a custom dictionary, and optional commercial distribution.
VoiceTypr	macOS, Windows	Local	Whisper-based	Voice-to-text dictation built with Tauri; the repository is open source, but binaries require a one-time license purchase.
Voquill	Linux, macOS, Windows	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, BYOK cloud	Cross-platform voice typing with a personal glossary and AI-assisted cleanup.
VOXD	Linux	Local	Whisper.cpp	Linux dictation with GUI, tray, and CLI modes plus optional LLM post-processing.
VoxType	Linux	Hybrid	Whisper.cpp, Parakeet, Moonshine, SenseVoice	Push-to-talk Linux dictation with seven engine choices, CJK support, and Wayland-optimized text insertion.
Whisper IME	Android	Local	Whisper.cpp	Android keyboard and standalone app powered by Whisper, fully offline, and available on F-Droid.
whisper_dictation	Linux	Local	Whisper.cpp	Feature-rich Linux voice keyboard with dictation, voice commands, and webcam integration.
Yap	macOS	Local	Apple Speech	Native macOS 26 menu bar dictation using Apple's SpeechAnalyzer for streaming on-device transcription.

Speech recognition engines, models, and APIs that power the tools listed above.

• Whisper - OpenAI's ASR model weights; tiny through large, English-only and multilingual.
• whisper.cpp - Pure C/C++ Whisper inference with zero dependencies; runs on Apple Silicon, CUDA, Vulkan, and WASM.
• Faster Whisper - CTranslate2-based Whisper reimplementation; up to 4x faster with lower memory.
• WhisperKit - Swift package for on-device Whisper on Apple Silicon with streaming support.
• Parakeet - NVIDIA's high-accuracy English ASR models in CTC, RNN-T, and TDT architectures.
• Vosk - Lightweight offline ASR with compact models, 20+ languages, and multi-language bindings.
• Apple Speech - Apple's on-device speech recognition framework for iOS, macOS, and watchOS.
• Awesome Whisper - Curated list of Whisper tools and resources.

This list focuses on open-source apps, keyboards, and CLI tools for voice typing and dictation across desktop, mobile, and terminal workflows, with local or cloud speech recognition. Closed-source products, general transcription tools without dictation workflows, meeting bots, note takers, and standalone speech APIs are outside its scope.