Transcribe audio & video to text — free and private
Drop in a file or record your voice. Whisper AI runs on your device, so your recordings are never uploaded, never stored, never billed. Export TXT, SRT or VTT with timestamps.
- Free forever
- No signup
- Files never leave your device
Your file is processed on your device. Nothing is uploaded — closing this tab removes every trace.
How it works
Three steps, none of which involve your file leaving this tab.
Add your audio
Drop in an MP3, MP4, M4A, WAV, OGG, WebM or FLAC file — or record straight from your microphone. The file is decoded locally by your browser.
AI transcribes on your device
The Whisper model (downloaded once, then cached) listens and writes, with a timestamp for every segment. Pick Fast, Balanced or Accurate depending on the recording.
Copy or download
Edit the transcript in place, copy it, or download TXT for notes, SRT for subtitles and VTT for web video. Done — close the tab and nothing remains.
Built different, on purpose
Every other transcription tool needs your file on their server. This one needs nothing from you at all.
Private by design
Most transcription sites upload your audio to their cloud and keep a copy. TapeToText cannot do that — the model runs in your browser, so your recordings physically never leave your machine. Confidential interviews, legal audio and family voice notes stay exactly where they belong.
99 languages
English, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Japanese and 93 more, with auto-detect or manual selection.
TXT, SRT & VTT exports
Plain text for notes, SRT for YouTube, VTT for web players — all from the same timed transcript.
No uploads, no accounts
No signup wall, no file history, no database with your audio in it. Open the page and work.
Works offline
Once the model is cached, transcribe anywhere — flights, fieldwork, dead zones.
Free forever
Your device does the computing, so there is no per-minute bill to pass on. Unlimited files, unlimited length of use, no premium tier waiting to ambush you.
Built for people who live in recordings
If your work arrives as audio, this is the fastest private way to turn it into text you can search, quote and share.
Students
Turn lectures and seminars into searchable notes you can actually revise from.
Podcasters
Full episode transcripts for show notes, chapters and quotes — with no per-minute bill attached.
Journalists
Interview audio transcribed on your own machine, so a sensitive recording never sits on a stranger's server.
Researchers
Focus groups and field recordings with a timestamp on every segment, kept confidential by design.
Creators
Accurate SRT and VTT captions for YouTube and web video, straight from the same transcript.
Teams
Record the meeting and share the text — searchable minutes without another subscription.
Every format, its own guide
Same private engine, with format-specific tips, use cases and answers for each file type.
Your audio is yours. Literally.
Cloud transcription has an awkward secret: to turn your speech into text, a company copies your recording onto their computers — and their privacy policy decides what happens next. TapeToText removes the company from the loop. The AI lives in this page, the audio lives in your browser's memory, and when you close the tab, both are gone.
That is why lawyers, journalists, doctors and families can use it for recordings that should never sit on a stranger's server.
The privacy checklist
- No upload endpoint exists — files cannot be sent
- No account, no email, no tracking of your content
- Transcripts live only in the open tab
- The AI model is public, open-source Whisper
- Works offline after the first model download
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about cost, privacy, accuracy and formats.
There is no catch. Transcription runs on your own device, so there is no server bill for us to pass on to you. The Whisper AI model downloads once from a public CDN and is cached by your browser. No accounts, no credits, no per-minute pricing, no watermark — the full tool is free because the compute is yours.
Your next transcript is free — and stays yours
No signup form stands between you and the text. Drop a file and see what your browser can do.
Transcribe a file now