openai-whisper

You can transcribe audio locally without an API key by using the Whisper CLI. It processes audio files entirely on-device, ensuring data privacy and enabling offline transcription for sensitive recordings.

Offline speech-to-text is ideal for transcribing lectures, interviews, podcasts, and meetings. The Whisper CLI handles these tasks locally, keeping your audio data securely on your device without uploading it.

You can select a different model for local transcription by passing the desired model name to the Whisper CLI. The selected model is automatically downloaded to your local cache directory on its first run.

Local transcription with Whisper works completely offline after the initial model download. The first run requires internet access to fetch models to the cache, but subsequent transcription tasks process fully offline.

The best way to generate text from audio files on-device is using the Whisper CLI. It transcribes your local audio files into text format directly, bypassing external APIs to maintain strict data privacy.