Vurb
Product spec Shipped product: figures from vurb.me
A shipped desktop dictation app: hold a key, talk, let go, and the words are typed wherever the cursor is. Speech is transcribed on the user’s own computer, so the audio never leaves it.
- Status
- Live at vurb.me
- Relevant to
- AI and agents
- Live
- vurb.me
Results · Shipped product: figures from vurb.me
- Product specStated on vurb.me. Not an independent benchmark.to transcribe a 12-second clip on Apple Silicon with the best modelProduct spec
- Product specStated on vurb.me. Not an independent benchmark.detected automatically, including switching between languagesProduct spec
- Product specStated on vurb.me. Not an independent benchmark.installers shipped, free to startProduct spec
The problem
Most people talk much faster than they type, but cloud dictation sends your voice to someone else’s servers. I wanted dictation that works in every app, works offline and keeps the audio on the machine.
What I built
- Hold-to-talk in any text field, a hands-free mode on double-tap, and Esc to throw a dictation away.
- Local transcription with OpenAI Whisper via whisper.cpp, with automatic language detection, including switching languages mid-dictation.
- Optional AI cleanup that is off until the user turns it on. When it’s on, only the text goes to Anthropic, using the user’s own API key.
- Custom vocabulary, searchable history and stats, plus a marketing site, pricing and installers at vurb.me.
Limitations
- A small product I build and sell on my own. The numbers here come from vurb.me, not from a published benchmark.
Stack
OpenAI Whisper, whisper.cpp, Anthropic API