WhisperBuddy

WhisperBuddy is a native macOS app for people who need transcripts, subtitles, or voice dictation while keeping their recordings on their own computer. It transcribes audio and video files, listens to live input, and translates transcripts offline. Audio and text stay on your Mac.

You can record through a MacBook microphone or AirPods, or capture sound from other applications, including a browser. Live transcription displays text as you speak and also supports live translation. For existing recordings, the app accepts common formats such as MP3, MP4, WAV, M4A, FLAC, and AAC, with batch processing for multiple files.

Transcripts include timestamps. You can correct individual segments while listening to synchronized audio playback, then export plain text, SRT or VTT subtitles, or structured JSON. These editing and export tools suit people preparing captions, reviewing interviews, or turning recorded conversations into written material.

Voice dictation inserts text into the app where you're typing, including Slack, Notes, Cursor AI, and email. Transcription supports multiple languages and dialects, and translation also runs locally without an internet connection.

WhisperBuddy is proprietary software. It runs on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14.6 or later. The app downloads AI models to local storage and recommends at least 8GB of RAM.