I am continually seeing advertisements for Wispr Circulation, an AI-powered transcription software. The pitch—that you’ll write quicker by speaking out loud as a substitute of typing—is compelling, particularly for those who’re a sluggish typist. The advertising and marketing guarantees you’ll “write on the velocity of thought, 4x quicker than your keyboard.”
I already sort quicker than I can suppose. (Quick typist, or sluggish thinker? You determine.) However Wispr Circulation’s core promise is not simply transcription—it is post-processing. The software makes use of two steps. First, trendy AI transcription instruments flip your voice into textual content; second, a big language mannequin (LLM) removes filler phrases and codecs your phrases into full sentences and paragraphs. The concept is which you could discuss out your concepts and watch them flip into correctly formatted textual content. This works inside any textual content field in your laptop or cellphone.
I’ve examined this just a few instances and must admit the outcomes are fairly good. Apple’s dictation characteristic, free on all its units, works effectively sufficient—so does Google’s Assistant Voice Typing on Pixel telephones (which is getting one other AI improve quickly). However there’s actual worth in software program that removes filler phrases and codecs all the things into paragraphs. And Wispr Circulation is sleekly designed, guiding you thru the setup course of with snappy graphics.
Courtesy of Wispr Circulation
With all this in thoughts, I have been questioning: Is there a great, free platform-agnostic different to Wispr Circulation? I attempted out a number of purposes—this is what I discovered.
Spokenly, the Finest Free Different
Spokenly provides elective post-transcription formatting. You can even select a unique LLM supplier for the post-transcription formatting of textual content. As a Mac consumer, I opted to make use of Apple Intelligence—it’s very free and labored rather well in my exams. However it helps OpenAI, Anthropic, and Groq, plus just a few different LLM suppliers. The applying additionally lets you write as many customized prompts for post-transcription processing as you want, every with its personal keyboard shortcut.
Certainly one of my favourite issues is that Spokenly can work fully offline. For those who use an area mannequin for transcription and an area mannequin like Apple Intelligence for the post-transcription formatting, your complete factor works with none knowledge leaving your laptop. That is good from a privateness perspective, and from a performance standpoint, the characteristic will work even when your web is shaky.
