Handy – Free open source speech-to-text app

Posted by tin7in 1/15/2026

Handy – Free open source speech-to-text app(github.com)

247 points | 110 commentspage 2

Jack5500 1/15/2026|

The Parakeet V3 model is really great!

swah 1/18/2026|

I don't get why Apple can't just integrate this and we're done with keyboards..

Jayakumark 1/15/2026||

Its great, i have been using it . Two requests though 1. iOS app 2. API option to use against meeting transcription or route audio from Mic .

blensor 1/15/2026|

+1 on the meeting tranecription

holtwick 1/15/2026||

FluidVoice for macOS is pretty handy as well. Open source under Apache License. https://altic.dev/fluid https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice

jimmydoe 1/15/2026|

Its vibe coded UI feels too complicated.

unutranyholas 1/15/2026||

https://hex.kitlangton.com/ is good

llarsson 1/15/2026||

A question because I'm not using speech-to-text, but find it intriguing (especially since it's now possible to do locally and for free).

How have your computing habits changed as a result of having this? When do you typically use this instead of typing on the keyboard?

tin7in 1/15/2026||

I use it all the time with coding agents, especially if I'm running multiple terminals. It's way faster to talk than type. The only problem is that it looks awkward if there are others around.

johnisgood 1/15/2026||

Interesting. I can think and type faster, but not talk. I am not much of a talker.

stavros 1/15/2026||

Same, whenever I try to dictate something I always umm and ahhh and go back a bunch of times, and it's faster to just type. I guess it's just a matter of practice, and I'm fine when I'm talking to other people, it's only dictation I'm having trouble with.

noneofyour 1/15/2026||

Part of my job is to give feedback to people using Word Comments. Using STT, it's been a breeze. The time saving really is great. Thing is, I only do this when working at home with no one around. So really only when WFH.

dumbmrblah 1/15/2026||

I just set this up today. I had Whispering app set up on my Windows computer, but it really wasn't working well on my Ubuntu computer that I just set up. I found Handy randomly. It was the last app I needed to go Linux full-time. Thank you!

wi5eif6E 1/15/2026||

This looks and works great! A settings option to keep no recording history at all would be terrific.

sipjca 1/16/2026|

It’s in the debug menu right now (ctrl/cmd+shift+d)

vladstudio 1/15/2026||

Use it daily. Looks and works great.

mrroryflint 1/15/2026||

On a M4 Macbook Air, there was enough lag to make it unusable for me. I hit the shortcut and start speaking but there was always a 1-2sec delay before it would actually start transcribing even if the icon was displayed.

jborichevskiy 1/15/2026||

Curious if you were using AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones for this?

If so, there should be "keep microphone on" or similar setting in the config that may help with this, alternatively, I set my microphone to my MacBook mic so that my headphones aren't involved at all and there is much less latency on activation

mrroryflint 1/15/2026||

Airpods Max (is that the name?) - the big ones.

jborichevskiy 1/17/2026||

Makes sense. If you enable the Debug menu (Shift+CMD+D), there is an option for "Always-On Microphone". Might be worth a try to remove that latency.

kuatroka 1/15/2026|||

Yes, I’ve got the same situation too. I kind of learned to wait for one or two seconds before talking. I am using it with the AirPods, so maybe it’s indeed the Bluetooth thing.

sipjca 1/15/2026||

What microphone are you using?

mrroryflint 1/15/2026||

Airpods Max (is that the name?) - the big ones.

sipjca 1/16/2026||

Yeah like the other commenters mentioned, using Bluetooth devices does not work super well at the moment. Hopefully I’ll have a fix at some point. There’s just some time over bluetooth to negotiate the connection and everything, and the app doesn’t do a good job showing this at all right now

On a Mac I definitely recommend using the internal mic even if wearing airpods

mrroryflint 1/20/2026||

Thank you!

miniwark 1/15/2026|

Did this thing (or open-whispr) work well with other languages than english ?

dawkins 1/15/2026||

In Spanish works very well

wi5eif6E 1/15/2026||

German also works great.

More comments...