talkflow

talkflow is an open-source voice typing tool that transcribes speech into text directly at the cursor position without cloud processing.

talkflow is an open-source, local alternative to Wispr Flow that converts spoken voice into text. Users hold down a shortcut key, speak, and the transcribed words appear directly inside any active text field without copying or pasting. The software runs Whisper locally on the user's own computer processor, ensuring that audio never leaves the machine or gets saved to disk. It operates completely offline, requires no sign-in or account, and finishes transcription with clean punctuation. An included menu bar dashboard tracks words transcribed, speaking speed, active streaks, and estimated typing time saved.

talkflow at a glance

Best for: Software engineer, Writer, Product manager
Runs on: macOS, Windows, open source
Pricing: Free and open-source with no word limit.
Released: October 2026
Category: AI audio tool
Website: talkflow.live

Key features

Holding the fn or Globe key to capture voice
Direct typing into any active app or text field
Local speech recognition via on-device Whisper
Offline functionality with zero cloud processing
Voice commands for punctuation and new paragraphs
In-memory audio processing without disk storage
Menu bar dashboard tracking speed, words, and time saved
MIT-licensed open-source code

Use it for

Dictating emails and chat messages in applications like Slack
Speaking complete prompts for AI workflows without typing
Drafting long-form text with spoken punctuation and line breaks
Tracking voice typing speed and accumulated time saved

Companions

Tools that articles about talkflow recommend using with it, each with its job.

Claude Code — Dictate long, context-rich briefs straight into Claude Code.
Raycast — Fast app launching and shortcuts alongside voice input.
Shottr — Quick screenshots to pair with spoken feedback.
Gmail — Dictated replies that sound like you.

Alternatives to talkflow

Wispr Flow — It transcribes natural speech into clean, formatted text 4x faster than typing.
Lipflow — Transcribes silent speech into text via webcam and local processing.
SpeakoFlow — Free and open source voice dictation and AI assistant that runs locally.
OpenLess — Keeps data local and allows the use of your own preferred ASR and LLM providers.
WhisperLive — It provides real-time speech-to-text using multiple backends like Faster Whisper and TensorRT.
Superwhisper — Transcribes speech offline and online with custom AI modes and templates.
SpeechFast — Dictate anywhere on Mac with 100 percent local processing and no cloud servers.
Talkhawk — Speech recognition runs locally on your PC so your audio never leaves your computer.
faster-whisper — Transcribes audio faster with lower memory usage than standard implementations.
SpeakMore — Free and open source voice dictation for Mac.
Blurt — Fast, native open-source dictation with server-side LLM cleanup and no subscription.
FluidAudio — Runs local audio AI models on Apple Neural Engine.

All talkflow alternatives