Transcription Models
Overview of local and cloud transcription models — speed, accuracy, and privacy trade-offs.
VivaDicta supports a wide range of transcription models — from fully local and private to lightning-fast cloud services.
Local Models
Local models run entirely on your Mac. No internet required, no data leaves your device.
Whisper
- OpenAI's Whisper model running locally on your Mac.
- Multiple model sizes: Tiny, Base, Small, Medium, Large, Large Turbo.
- Larger models are more accurate but require more RAM and processing time.
- Best on Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and later).
- Supports 100+ languages.
Parakeet
- NVIDIA's Parakeet model optimized for Apple Silicon.
- Supports 25+ languages with automatic language detection (v3).
- Fast and accurate — a great alternative to Whisper.
Apple Speech
- Uses macOS built-in speech recognition.
- No model download needed — works immediately.
- Good for quick dictation, less accurate for longer recordings.
Cloud Models
Cloud models send your audio to a remote server for transcription. They're typically faster and more accurate than local models, especially on older Macs.
| Provider | Free Tier | Strengths | API Key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groq | Free forever (rate-limited) | Fastest cloud transcription | Get key |
| Deepgram | $200 free credits | High accuracy (Nova-3) | Get key |
| ElevenLabs | Free tier (limited) | Great multi-language (Scribe 2) | Get key |
| Mistral (Voxtral) | Free Experiment plan | Open-source, multilingual | Get key |
| Google Gemini | Free tier + $300 credits | Google ecosystem | Get key |
| Soniox | Check their site | Real-time, diarization | Get key |
| OpenAI | Pay-as-you-go | Original Whisper API | Get key |
How to Choose
- Want free & fast? Groq — our #1 recommendation.
- Want maximum privacy? Local Whisper Large Turbo or Parakeet.
- Want best accuracy? Deepgram Nova-3 or ElevenLabs Scribe 2.
- On an older Mac? Cloud models offload compute — try Groq.
See Recommended Models for detailed recommendations by use case.