Vibe

What does Vibe do?

Vibe's one line is "Transcribe audio and video right on your device". It takes files in batches, system audio, the microphone, website links (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter are named) and a phone recording through a QR code. The README lists Whisper, Nemotron 3.5 and Parakeet TDT v3 models, with custom models added through a link scheme.

It labels speakers (the README uses the term speaker diarization), translates any language to English, and exports SRT, VTT, TXT, HTML, PDF, JSON and DOCX. Summaries use either the Claude API, which is a cloud call, or a local model through Ollama. There is a command line, an HTTP API with Swagger docs, a realtime preview, and a stable-timestamps mode the README says is slower.

Key facts

• Licence: MIT.
• Models: Whisper, Nemotron 3.5 and Parakeet TDT v3, with custom models added through a vibe://download link scheme.
• Inputs: files in batches, system audio, the microphone, website links (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and Twitter are named), and a phone recording through a QR code.
• Speaker diarization, which labels who spoke when, and translation from any language to English.
• Exports: SRT, VTT, TXT, HTML, PDF, JSON and DOCX.
• Summaries through Ollama locally or through the Claude API, which is a cloud call.
• A command line, an HTTP API with Swagger documentation and agent skills, a realtime preview, and a stable-timestamps mode the README says is slower.
• A Tauri app on whisper.cpp with GPU acceleration on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel through Vulkan and CoreML.

What does it replace, and where does it fall short?

Vibe replaces Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai for recordings and for calls captured from your own machine's system audio, with the widest export list on this site. Its README puts privacy first: "fully offline transcription, no data ever leaves your device".

Where it falls short: it does not join calls as a bot. The summary path through Claude sends the transcript to Anthropic; the Ollama path keeps it local. Push-to-talk dictation into other apps is not part of it.

How does Vibe run?

Download from the project site, or build from source per the building guide. It is a Tauri app on whisper.cpp with GPU acceleration on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel through Vulkan and CoreML. Nobody sells a hosted version.

Who is Vibe for?

A person who wants one offline app for files, calls and links, with documents out the other end. A team that needs sharing and search across meetings should look at OpenWhispr.

What limits does the README state?

Stable timestamps mode is slower. Nothing else is listed.

Questions people ask

Is Vibe open source?

Yes. Vibe is MIT licensed. It is built on whisper.cpp, also MIT, and the Whisper, Nemotron and Parakeet models it loads carry their own licences: Whisper is MIT and Parakeet is CC-BY-4.0, as recorded on their pages on this site.

Does Vibe keep my audio private?

Yes for transcription: the README puts it first, "fully offline transcription, no data ever leaves your device". One exception to know: the summary feature can use the Claude API, which sends the transcript text to Anthropic. Choose the Ollama option to keep summaries local too.

Can Vibe transcribe a meeting?

Yes, by recording system audio and the microphone on your own machine, so both sides of a call are captured. It does not join a call as a participant. Speaker labels and the seven export formats then turn the recording into a document.

How does Vibe compare with Fireflies.ai?

Vibe covers recordings, live system audio and files with speaker labels and the widest export list on this site, all offline and free. Fireflies joins calls from a calendar, shares notes with a team and adds conversation analytics, none of which Vibe describes. The alternatives to Fireflies.ai page compares the four options by need.

Does Vibe have an API?

Yes. The README lists an HTTP API with Swagger documentation and agent skills, plus a command line, so other programs and agents can submit audio and read transcripts. It also has a realtime preview mode and a stable-timestamps mode that trades speed for steadier timings.

Sources

• Vibe README and MIT LICENSE: github.com/thewh1teagle/vibe, read 2026-09-16.