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VibeWhisper – macOS voice-to-text with push-to-talk,cloud or 100% local

VibeWhisper – macOS voice-to-text with push-to-talk,cloud or 100% local

by AleksDoesCode·Mar 3, 2026·2 points·1 comment
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AI Analysis

●●SolidSolve My ProblemSlick

Push-to-talk Whisper client that undercuts $20/mo subscriptions with one-time purchase.

Strengths
  • •Accessibility API injection avoids clipboard workarounds; works system-wide in any text field.
  • •Two engines: cloud ($0.006/min) or local (WhisperKit, fully offline); user chooses economics.
  • •Honest pricing: one-time $19 vs. recurring SaaS; transparent about OpenAI API pass-through costs.
Weaknesses
  • •macOS-only; no Linux or Windows support despite market demand for voice-in-code tools.
  • •Competes directly against Cursor's built-in voice (free), Superwhisper, and Monologue; market already saturated.
Target Audience

macOS developers, technical writers, anyone bottlenecked by typing speed in coding or writing workflows

Similar To

Superwhisper · Monologue · Cursor voice features

Post Description

Hey HN,

I built VibeWhisper because I was using Claude Code all day and the bottleneck wasn't thinking — it was typing. I tried an existing voice-to-text tool, loved the workflow, then saw the price: $20/month for a thin wrapper around OpenAI Whisper where 10 minutes of API usage costs $0.06. So I built my own in a weekend.

How it works: Hold a configurable global hotkey (default: Right Command), speak, release. Transcribed text appears in whatever text field has focus — VS Code, Terminal, Slack, browser, anything. No clipboard hijacking — it uses the macOS Accessibility API to inject text directly at the cursor position (same APIs screen readers use).

Two transcription engines:

Cloud: OpenAI Whisper API via your own key (~$0.006/min, fastest and most accurate)

Local: WhisperKit running on-device via CoreML/Apple Neural Engine. 10 models from Tiny (50 MB) to Large V3 Turbo (1.6 GB). Your voice never leaves your Mac. No API key needed, no internet needed. The app auto-recommends the best local model for your hardware.

Tech details for the curious:

Native Swift/SwiftUI, no Electron. Uses less RAM than a Chrome tab.

CGEvent taps for global keyboard hooks

Accessibility API for text injection

API key stored in macOS Keychain

Universal binary (arm64 + x86_64), macOS 14+

No backend, no accounts, no telemetry

Pricing: $19 one-time. No subscription. 15-minute free trial (actual recording time, not calendar time), no credit card, no signup. If you use cloud mode, you pay OpenAI directly at their rate. If you use local mode, it costs nothing after purchase.

I use it myself 2-3 hours a day. My main use case is dictating long prompts to AI coding assistants — I can speak a 400-word prompt in 45 seconds instead of typing it in 3-4 minutes. I also use it as a thinking tool: talking through problems out loud and capturing the output.

Website: https://vibewhisper.dev

Happy to answer any technical questions.

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