An offline voice to text app for Mac and Windows
PandaScribe converts your speech to text entirely on your computer. Press a hotkey, talk, and clean text appears in any app. Your audio is never uploaded, there is no account, and it keeps working with Wi-Fi switched off.
What runs on your computer
Many apps call themselves private but still send audio to a server for transcription. This is the full dictation path in PandaScribe, and every step happens locally.
1. Speech recognition
Whisper, Parakeet or Moonshine models run on your own computer. Audio is never uploaded; recordings kept in your history stay on disk and can be deleted.
2. Cleanup and punctuation
Built-in rules remove filler words like "um". If you download the optional AI model (Qwen3.5 0.8B), it also fixes grammar, stutters and self-corrections, on your computer. Switch it off for a word-for-word transcript.
3. Spoken edits and layout
Say "scratch that" to remove the sentence you just said, or "new line" and "bullet point" for layout. Emails and chat messages are laid out for the app you are dictating into.
4. Typing into your app
The text is pasted into whatever app has focus: Mail, Slack, Word, Notion, VS Code or a browser field.
5. Custom words and snippets
Your vocabulary list and text shortcuts are stored in a settings file on your computer.
6. License check
After activation, the license is verified against a file on your machine, so the app keeps working with no connection.
When it does use the internet
Fully offline does not mean the app never connects. To be precise, these are the only times it does:
- Downloading the installer, each speech model and the optional AI cleanup model, once each (a few hundred MB per model).
- Activating a license key, one time per device.
- Checking for app updates.
- Crash reports: only OS, app version and CPU details. Never audio, transcripts or clipboard contents.
- Cloud AI providers such as OpenAI or Anthropic, only if you choose to add your own API key. They are off by default.
Check it yourself in two minutes
You do not have to take our word for it. The free trial gives you 10 transcriptions, which is enough to test this.
- Install PandaScribe and let it download a speech model (Parakeet is the default recommendation for English).
- Turn off Wi-Fi and unplug any network cable.
- Open any text field, hold the dictation hotkey and say a sentence.
- The text appears as normal. If you want proof at the network level, watch the app in Activity Monitor (Mac) or Resource Monitor (Windows) while you dictate with the connection back on.
Voice to text with no AI rewriting
Some people want a transcript, not a rewrite. PandaScribe has two modes, and you can switch between them in settings:
Plain transcription
Post Processing off. No language model runs: you get the speech model's words and punctuation, plus any spoken commands.
Cleaned-up text
Post Processing on, with the optional local AI model. Grammar, stutters and self-corrections are fixed. Still offline.
Offline speech models included
| Model | Best for |
|---|---|
| Parakeet V3 | Fast, accurate English and European languages |
| Parakeet Unified (English) | Live English transcription |
| Whisper Base, Small, Medium | Widest language coverage; larger is more accurate but slower |
| Moonshine Base | Lightweight English model for older computers |
Comparing other offline apps?
We keep an honest roundup of the best offline voice to text apps, including free and open-source options, and a guide to the best dictation apps for Mac. If you are moving from a cloud tool, see PandaScribe vs Wispr Flow.
Questions
Does PandaScribe work with no internet connection at all?
Yes. Once the app is installed, a speech model is downloaded and your license is activated, dictation works with Wi-Fi turned off. You can test this yourself during the free trial.
Can I get plain voice to text with no AI rewriting?
Yes. Turn off Post Processing in settings and no language model touches your text: you get the speech model's words, plus any spoken commands like "new line" (those can be switched off too). Leave it on, with the optional local AI model downloaded, if you want grammar fixed as well.
Which speech model should I use offline?
Parakeet is fast and accurate for English and supports many European languages. Whisper Small or Medium covers the widest range of languages. Moonshine Base is the lightest option for older machines.
Is offline dictation as accurate as cloud dictation?
For everyday dictation, modern local models are close enough that most people do not notice a difference. Adding names and jargon to Custom Words closes most of the remaining gap.
Does it work on Windows and Intel Macs?
Yes. PandaScribe runs on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.
What does it cost?
The first 10 transcriptions are free with no account. After that it is $39 once for one device, or $79 for three devices. There is also a $5 monthly plan.