On-device · Offline · Private
Local meeting transcription on your Mac
Most meeting tools upload your audio to a server to transcribe it. Mumr doesn't. It turns speech into text entirely on your Mac — offline, private, free — with the AI you choose handling the summary. No cloud, no account.
The short version
- Capture and transcription run 100% on your Mac — your audio never leaves the machine.
- Three engines, your choice: Apple Speech, WhisperKit, and FluidAudio Parakeet.
- Works offline, with no minute caps, no per-seat fee, and no account.
- The summary is yours to pick — and with Apple Intelligence or a local CLI, even that stays on-device.
What "local transcription" actually means
Cloud meeting assistants send your audio (or a live stream of it) to their servers, transcribe it there, and store the transcript in their cloud. Local, on-device transcription flips that: the speech-to-text model runs on your own Mac, so the audio and the resulting transcript never leave your machine. There's nothing to upload, nothing stored on a vendor's server, and nothing that can be used to train someone else's model.
Three on-device engines, your choice
Mumr ships three local transcription engines so you can trade speed for accuracy:
- Apple Speech — built into macOS, instant, nothing to download. The fastest way to get a usable transcript.
- WhisperKit — a Metal-accelerated build of OpenAI's Whisper that runs on your Mac's GPU. A strong balance of speed and accuracy.
- FluidAudio Parakeet TDT v3 — the highest accuracy on Apple Silicon. Best when you need the cleanest transcript.
WhisperKit and Parakeet download their model files once (from Hugging Face) and then run entirely offline; Apple Speech needs no download at all. Apple Silicon is recommended for the heavier engines.
Why keep transcription on your Mac
- Privacy. For confidential calls — legal, healthcare, hiring, finance — you often can't send audio or transcripts to a third-party cloud. On-device transcription removes that exposure entirely.
- It works offline. On a plane, on hotel Wi-Fi, or in a locked-down corporate environment, local transcription keeps working.
- No caps, no per-seat fee. Cloud transcription is metered by the minute or the seat. Local transcription on your own hardware isn't.
- No training on your words. Several cloud notetakers use customer audio to improve their models. Nothing you record in Mumr is ever used that way — there's no Mumr server to send it to.
Where the summary fits
Transcription is always local in Mumr. The one step that can use the network is the summary — and that's entirely your choice. Apple Intelligence (macOS 26+) runs the summary on-device. A local claude/codex CLI runs as a subprocess on your Mac. Or you can bring your own Anthropic/OpenAI key, in which case only the transcript text — never the audio — goes to that provider under your own account. Pick the on-device options and the whole pipeline, capture to summary, stays on your Mac. See how to record a meeting on a Mac for the full flow.
Local vs cloud meeting tools
Cloud assistants like Otter.ai upload and store your audio; Granola captures locally but sends transcripts to its cloud. Local-first transcription tools like MacWhisper and Superwhisper keep transcription on-device too, but gate meeting recording or larger models behind a paid tier. Mumr keeps capture and transcription on your Mac and is free for the meeting job.
Transcribe on your Mac, free
Mumr records and transcribes your meetings entirely on your Mac — offline, private, with the summary AI you choose.
Download for MacFAQ
What is local (on-device) transcription?
The speech-to-text runs on your own Mac instead of a server, so the audio never leaves your machine. Mumr uses Apple Speech, WhisperKit, or FluidAudio Parakeet.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once a model is on your Mac, transcription runs with no internet. Apple Speech is built in; WhisperKit and Parakeet download their model once, then run locally.
Which engine is most accurate?
On Apple Silicon, FluidAudio Parakeet TDT v3 is the most accurate; WhisperKit is a strong middle option; Apple Speech is built in and instant. You choose per recording.
Is local transcription free?
With Mumr, yes — recording and on-device transcription are free, with no caps and no account. Cloud services charge per minute or seat and upload your audio.