Free · Open source · macOSTranscribe and search your meetings — free, and entirely on your Mac
AlmRecorder is a free, open-source macOS app that records and transcribes meetings, calls, and voice memos completely on-device — then lets you search every conversation by meaning. No cloud, no subscription, no account.
A private meeting transcription tool that runs on your Mac
Most transcription services upload your audio to the cloud and charge a monthly fee. AlmRecorder does the opposite: recording, transcription, embeddings, and semantic search all happen locally on Apple Silicon. Your meetings never leave your computer — and it is completely free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license.
How it works
- 1
Record or import
Capture audio live with a waveform, or import from Apple Voice Memos and drag in existing audio files.
- 2
Transcribe locally
On-device models — Whisper, Voxtral, or Gemma via llama.cpp — turn speech into accurate, speaker-labeled text, fully offline.
- 3
Search and organize
Every transcript is embedded locally, so you can search across all your meetings by meaning, with automatic titles, summaries, and tags.
Everything you need to capture a conversation
Fully on-device
Recording, transcription, embeddings, and search all run locally. No cloud, no account, no audio leaving your Mac.
Multiple transcription engines
Transcribe with whisper.cpp, or Voxtral / Gemma via llama.cpp — pick the model that fits your Mac and your languages.
Semantic meeting search
Every transcript is embedded locally, so you can search across all your recordings by meaning — not just keywords.
Speaker diarization
“Who spoke when,” with speaker labels you can correct — and the app learns to recognize recurring voices.
Automatic summaries
Titles, summaries, and tags are generated on-device for every recording, so your library stays organized.
Export anywhere
Copy a single line or a whole transcript, or export as TXT, CSV, or JSON.
Free, private, and open source
No subscription and no usage limits — download it and keep it. Because everything runs on your Mac, it is safe for sensitive material like client calls, interviews, and personal notes. And because it is open source, you can read exactly what it does, or build it yourself.
Built on the best open speech models
AlmRecorder runs OpenAI Whisper, Mistral Voxtral, and Google Gemma locally through whisper.cpp and llama.cpp. Swedish is supported through KB-Whisper, alongside dozens of other languages.
Frequently asked questions
Is AlmRecorder really free?
Yes — it is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license. There is no subscription, no account, and no usage limit.
Does my audio or transcript leave my Mac?
No. Recording, transcription, and search all run on-device. Nothing is uploaded — the only network use is a one-time model download.
Does it work offline?
Yes. After the initial model download, AlmRecorder works completely offline.
Can I search across all my meetings?
Yes. Each transcript is embedded locally, so you can search every recording by meaning, not just exact keywords.
Which Macs are supported?
Apple Silicon Macs (M1 or later) running macOS 13 Ventura or newer.
What languages does it support?
Many — through Whisper, Voxtral, and Gemma — including dedicated Swedish models (KB-Whisper).
Start transcribing your meetings — for free
Download the macOS app, or clone the repository and build it yourself.
The download is unsigned (not yet notarized) — on first launch, right-click the app and choose Open, or remove the quarantine flag. Requires Apple Silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 13 or newer.