mercuryScribe vs OpenWhispr

mercuryScribe is a locally run web interface for transcribing audio and video, with transcript editing and document export. It uses Faster Whisper for speech transcription and pyannote models to distinguish speakers. Users can edit transcripts in a browser, save changes as VTT files, and generate HTML or DOCX files containing speaker names and timestamps. The FAQ says audio, transcripts, and metadata are not sent to external services; the models are obtained from Hugging Face. Users need a Hugging Face access token and must accept terms for the required models. MAXQDA support is included by default, and custom integrations can be developed. The maker documents Docker, Windows package, and Python package installation options. The software is free and open source under the MIT license for personal, academic, or commercial use, and is listed for Linux, macOS, Windows, and web. The maker describes it as built for researchers and also suitable for journalists, podcasters, organizations, educators, accessibility groups, and professionals. Professional services include installation help, training, workshops, and private server setup with GPUs.

OpenWhispr is an open-source voice-to-text assistant for dictation, transcription, and notes. Dictation works in apps that accept text, including ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, and Teams. It supports more than 100 languages with automatic language detection. For meetings, it can capture computer audio without joining a call as a bot, then create structured notes with decisions and action items. The note taker works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord, Webex, and other apps that play computer audio, without plugins or integrations. Audio can be processed on the device with local speech models or through OpenWhispr Cloud, which says it discards audio without retaining it. The company says user content is not used to train AI models. Free includes 2,000 transcription words per week and five meeting-recording hours per month. Pro costs $6.67/user/mo (annual). OpenWhispr runs on iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows.