Handy
Handy is a free, open-source dictation app for macOS, Windows and Linux under MIT. You hold a key, speak, and the text is pasted where your cursor is. The speech model runs on your own machine, using Whisper with GPU acceleration or NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU, and its README says no audio is sent to the cloud. It does one job and its README says so.
What does Handy do?
Handy describes itself as "a free, open source, and extensible speech-to-text application that works completely offline". You hold a key to record and release it to stop, or tap the key to toggle. The text is pasted into whatever field is active.
The speech model runs locally. The README lists Whisper in Small, Medium, Turbo and Large sizes with GPU acceleration where available, and NVIDIA's Parakeet V2 and V3, which it describes as CPU-optimised with automatic language detection. Custom Whisper models dropped into the models folder are picked up. Silence is trimmed with Silero VAD before transcription. A command-line flag toggles a post-processing step; the README does not say what that step does.
Key facts
- Licence: MIT on the code. The README excludes the Handy name, logo, icon and brand assets from the grant.
- Models: Whisper in Small, Medium, Turbo and Large sizes with GPU acceleration where available; NVIDIA Parakeet V2 and V3, described as CPU-optimised with automatic language detection; custom Whisper GGML models dropped into the models folder are picked up.
- Push-to-talk or toggle: hold a key to record and release to stop, or tap to toggle.
- Silence is trimmed with Silero VAD before transcription.
- Installers on the releases page and the website, plus a Homebrew cask, a winget package and a .deb; the README notes the Homebrew and winget packages are community-maintained.
- Hardware: for Whisper, an Apple Silicon or Intel Mac, or a discrete GPU on Windows or Linux; for Parakeet V3, a CPU from Intel 6th generation Skylake or equivalent AMD, at about five times real time on a mid-range i5 by the README's figure.
- Built with Tauri, React and Rust; buildable from source.
- Latest tagged release when read: v0.9.6 on 2026-08-24.
What does it replace, and where does it fall short?
Handy replaces Wispr Flow and Superwhisper for the core job: speak, get text where the cursor is, with no subscription and no audio leaving the machine. Its README says "Your voice stays on your computer."
Where it falls short: there is no language-model cleanup you can configure from the app, no meeting capture, no phone version, and the README's own summary is "One tool, one job." The maintainer writes that "Handy isn't trying to be the best speech-to-text app."
How does Handy run?
Installers on the releases page and the website, plus a Homebrew cask, a winget package and a .deb for Debian and Ubuntu; the README notes the Homebrew and winget packages are community-maintained. It is a Tauri app written in React and Rust, buildable from source.
For Whisper it wants an Apple Silicon or Intel Mac, or a discrete GPU on Windows or Linux. Parakeet V3 runs on the CPU with an Intel 6th generation Skylake or equivalent AMD as the floor, and the README quotes about five times real-time speed on a mid-range i5.
Who is Handy for?
Anyone who wants a dictation key on a laptop and does not want an account. Someone who wants polished prose from rough speech should look at VoiceInk or OpenWhispr, which add a language-model step.
What limits does the README state?
Whisper models "crash on certain system configurations (Windows and Linux)". Wayland support is limited. The fn and Globe key shortcuts work only on Apple keyboards. Bluetooth headset microphones on macOS may reduce playback quality while recording. The recording overlay can interfere with pasting on Linux under X11.
Questions people ask
Is Handy open source?
Yes. The code is MIT, an OSI approved licence, with one exclusion the README states: the Handy name, logo, icon and brand assets are not part of the grant. That is a trademark restriction on the branding, not a restriction on using or changing the software.
Does Handy send my voice to the cloud?
No. The README says "Your voice stays on your computer" and describes transcription happening on your own machine without sending information to the cloud. The Whisper and Parakeet models are downloaded once and run locally.
What does Handy need to run well?
For the Whisper models, an Apple Silicon or Intel Mac, or a discrete GPU on Windows or Linux. For Parakeet V3, which runs on the CPU, an Intel 6th generation Skylake or an equivalent AMD processor is the stated floor, at about five times real time on a mid-range i5. Below that the README says performance may be degraded.
How does Handy compare with Wispr Flow?
Handy does the core of Wispr Flow, speak and paste, with no subscription, no account and no cloud, on all three desktops. Wispr Flow's product is the polished prose; Handy pastes what you said, and its post-processing toggle is undocumented. The open-source alternatives to Wispr Flow page sets it beside VoiceInk and OpenWhispr, which add a cleanup step.
What are Handy's known problems?
Its README lists them: Whisper models crash on certain Windows and Linux configurations, Wayland support is limited, the fn and Globe key shortcuts work only on Apple keyboards, Bluetooth headset microphones on macOS may reduce playback quality while recording, and the recording overlay can interfere with pasting on Linux under X11.
Sources
- Handy README and LICENSE: github.com/cjpais/Handy, read 2026-09-16. The README notes the Handy name, logo and brand assets are excluded from the MIT grant.
Compared with the others
On the open-source alternatives to Wispr Flow page, Handy is the pick for all three desktops, nothing else running. MIT, offline, and one job: hold a key, speak, paste. Installers for macOS, Windows and Linux, with Whisper on a GPU or NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU.
Also on that page: VoiceInk for a mac, with modes per application, FluidVoice for a mac with the newest local models, SayIt for windows, with an editable cleanup step.
On the open-source alternatives to Superwhisper page, Handy is the pick for all three desktops, nothing else running. MIT, offline, and one job: hold a key, speak, paste. Installers for macOS, Windows and Linux, with Whisper on a GPU or NVIDIA's Parakeet on a CPU.
Also on that page: VoiceInk for a mac, with modes per application, FluidVoice for a mac with the newest local models, SayIt for windows, with an editable cleanup step.
More voice dictation apps
A GPL-3.0 macOS dictation app that runs Nemotron, Parakeet, Cohere Transcribe, Apple Speech or Whisper on the device, with command and write modes, per-app prompts, and an optional closed local enhancement model.
A dictation and meeting-notes app under MIT that runs Whisper or Parakeet locally or cloud models with your own key, detects Zoom, Teams and FaceTime calls, and labels speakers on device.
A macOS dictation app under GPL-3.0 whose README names Superwhisper and Wispr Flow as the tools it replaces, with local models, per-app modes, a personal dictionary and an AI assistant mode.
A speech-to-text app inside the Epicenter monorepo under AGPL-3.0 that records, transcribes with a provider you choose, cloud or local, optionally polishes the text, and pastes it at the cursor.
An Apache-2.0 macOS dictation app that calls Gemini 3.5 Transcribe with your own key, writes audio to disk from the first millisecond for crash safety, and inserts polished text at your cursor without an account.
A free, open-source dictation app for macOS under Apache-2.0 that holds a shortcut, listens, and pastes the text where your cursor is, with Whisper, NVIDIA Parakeet or Apple on-device speech recognition.
Added September 16, 2026. Every claim above comes from the project's README, LICENSE or model card, read on September 16, 2026, or from the GitHub API on the date shown in the panel. Found an error? Write to reveneau@licheo.com and it is fixed in the next weekly pass. Repository: github.com/cjpais/Handy.
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