Vibe Transcribe: free, private,
offline transcription on your computer
Turn recordings into text without sending them to the cloud. No subscription, no account, and no uploads during transcription. Works with many languages and common audio and video formats.
What is Vibe Transcribe?
Vibe Transcribe (often called “Vibe”) is a free desktop app that turns audio and video files into text using OpenAI’s Whisper speech model. It runs on your own computer, so everyday recordings stay on your device instead of being uploaded to a company server.
Unlike many online transcription services, Vibe is built for people who want privacy and control: meetings, interviews, lectures, and personal notes can stay local once you’ve installed the app and downloaded a model.
On supported hardware you can enable faster processing with GPU acceleration. If you’re new to the app, start with the download guide and the step-by-step tutorial.
What you can do with Vibe
Privacy-first
Transcription runs on your machine. Your files are not sent to the cloud for processing.
Free to use
MIT-licensed app with no subscription or per-minute fees.
Many languages
Transcribe audio in many languages with multilingual Whisper models.
Audio and video
Common formats like MP3, MP4, WAV, MKV, MOV, and more via FFmpeg.
Links from the web
Paste supported URLs (for example YouTube) when you want to work from a link.
Speaker labels
Optional speaker separation when your recording has multiple people.
Export options
Save transcripts as SRT, VTT, TXT, HTML, PDF, JSON, DOCX, and more.
Faster on good hardware
GPU acceleration can speed things up on supported Windows, Mac, and Linux setups.
Optional power tools
Command line use and a local HTTP mode for people who want automation (see your app version’s help).
Batch work
Process multiple files when you have a folder of recordings.
Summaries (optional)
Optional summaries using Claude or local Ollama, if you choose to set them up.
Microphone and system audio
Record from a mic or system audio when you need live-style capture.
See it in action
Short walkthrough of turning a file into a transcript:
Platforms
Why offline matters
When you upload audio to a web service, you are trusting that provider with the contents of the recording. Vibe is aimed at anyone who prefers to keep sensitive conversations, client calls, or personal notes on their own computer.
After you install the app and download a model, you can use Vibe without an internet connection for transcription. That also means no per-minute pricing for long files—your limit is mostly your time and hardware.
Who it’s for
Creators
Captions and subtitles (SRT/VTT) for videos and podcasts.
Journalists and researchers
Turn interviews into text while keeping files local.
Students
Lecture notes and searchable transcripts.
Legal and professional use
Private workflows when cloud upload is not appropriate.
Healthcare contexts
Local processing can help with privacy-sensitive workflows (check your own compliance needs).
Teams
Meeting archives and documentation from recordings.
How transcription works (simple version)
Vibe uses the Whisper speech recognition model. You pick a model size in the app; larger models are often more accurate but slower and need more disk space and RAM.
When you transcribe, Vibe reads your file, runs the model on your computer, and shows text with timing you can export. For model choices, see the Whisper models guide.
Download Vibe Transcribe — free
Open source · Works offline · No account needed · v3.0.19
Free downloadMore guides
Open source, privacy, and what Windows SmartScreen messages usually mean.
Windows, macOS, and Linux steps in one place.
From first launch to exporting your transcript.
What runs locally and when the app may use the network.
Frequently asked questions
What is Vibe Transcribe?
Vibe Transcribe is a free, open-source desktop application that converts audio and video files into text using OpenAI's Whisper AI model. It runs entirely on your local machine — no internet connection required after the initial model download.
Is Vibe Transcribe free to use?
Yes, Vibe is completely free. It's licensed under MIT, meaning you can use it for personal and commercial projects at no cost, with no subscription, no usage limits, and no API fees.
What platforms does Vibe Transcribe support?
Vibe supports Windows 10/11, macOS 11+, and Linux. Android and iOS support is listed on their roadmap but not yet available as of 2026.
Does Vibe Transcribe require an internet connection?
Only for the initial model download. Once you've downloaded a Whisper model, Vibe works completely offline. Your files never leave your device.
What audio and video formats does Vibe support?
Vibe supports MP3, MP4, WAV, M4A, MKV, MOV, AVI, FLAC, OGG, and most other common audio/video formats via FFmpeg integration.
Can Vibe transcribe YouTube videos?
Yes! You can paste a YouTube URL directly into Vibe and it will download and transcribe the audio automatically. This also works for Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, and other supported sites.
What languages does Vibe Transcribe support?
Vibe supports 99+ languages through the multilingual Whisper models, including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, and many more.
How accurate is Vibe Transcribe?
Accuracy depends on the model chosen. The Large model achieves approximately 2.7% Word Error Rate (WER) on clean English audio. For clear audio with a single speaker, even the Small model produces very accurate results.