Dictation software for doctors & physicians
Speak the referral. Send it before the patient leaves.
Choose a local model at setup and the referral, report or patient letter is typed and drafted on your own computer. No transcription service, no per-seat licence, no one else hearing the audio.
Open source · 80,000+ downloads
The problem with dictation services
You already dictate. Now choose where it runs.
Choose local processing for sensitive or offline dictation, or Cloud for top accuracy and speed without models to download.
Keep sensitive dictation on your device.
With a local model, OpenWhispr transcribes the recording on your machine.
Get the text while the case is still fresh.
OpenWhispr turns your dictation into text as you work, so you can review it before sending.
Free local dictation for every doctor.
OpenWhispr includes unlimited local AI models on every plan, free. Choose Cloud when you want top accuracy and speed without models to download.
The code is the confidentiality agreement.
Closed tools hand you a privacy policy and ask for faith. OpenWhispr's code is public on GitHub, so anyone in the practice can verify that in local mode, patient audio never leaves the machine.
What you get
Instant turnaround. Nobody else in the loop.
Doctor dictation software used to mean a slow service or a per-seat licence. Keep the typed letter and drafted report without sending dictation through a service or buying another seat.
Typed on your machine, in seconds
Dictate the referral, report or reply into your mic. The words land on your screen seconds after you stop talking, transcribed locally and never uploaded.
Dictate the detail. Review the text.
Speak the gist, then review the transcription, edit it and use it in your referral, report or patient instructions.
One hotkey. Any window, any EHR.
Press the hotkey and speak into whatever is open: the chart, a reply to a colleague, a report in Word. The text lands at your cursor, punctuated, processed locally.
Audio sent to a transcription service
None
in local mode, dictation is transcribed on your device and goes nowhere else
Cost per doctor
$0
unlimited local dictation with no per-doctor licence
Local setup
Choose your model
install the app and choose local models
How it works
Turnaround time: the length of the dictation.
Old dictation goes out to a service and comes back tomorrow. Local mode runs on your machine, with no account or card required to start.
Download for free.
Mac, Windows or Linux. Install the app and choose a local model.
Dictate as you always have.
Speak the referral, report or note. It's typed on your device seconds after you stop.
Review, send, delete.
Check the draft, paste it into the EHR or an email, and delete the audio. You keep control of all of it.
No convincing needed
10 reasons doctors choose OpenWhispr
Your dictation carries a patient's history, so check the code and the settings, not just the brochure.
No transcription service in the loop
The recording stays on your device instead of going out for overnight transcription.
The audio has nowhere to go
Local mode has no upload step. The recording is transcribed on your machine and stays there.
Free for every doctor in the practice
Unlimited local dictation at $0, every seat, forever. No per-doctor licence to renew each year.
Works fully offline
Home visits, a locum shift on a ward with no signal, a flight to a conference. Once the model is on your machine, dictation never stalls.
Types into the chart, the inbox and Word
One hotkey puts the text at your cursor: a referral template, a colleague's inbox, the record itself.
Letters and reports, not just transcripts
Run a local AI model, or connect your own key, to turn a dictated summary into a formatted referral, report or patient letter.
Your letters are your files
Recordings and drafts sit on your disk. Keep, encrypt or shred them on your schedule, not a vendor's retention policy.
Auditable by whoever runs your IT
Your IT team can inspect the public code instead of relying only on a vendor claim.
Learns your drug names and eponyms
A custom dictionary picks up the drugs, procedures and abbreviations your specialty uses, so they come out spelled right.
100+ languages
Dictate in the language you think in, transcribed locally. Useful when the note is in one language and the referral goes out in another.
Before you download
What doctors ask before switching dictation software.
Confidentiality, cost and accuracy, answered straight. Anything else, ask in Discord.
What's the best dictation software for doctors?
Who hears my dictation?
Can I use it with patient information under HIPAA?
Will it get the drug names right?
Does it work on home visits, or on a ward with no signal?
Is it really free for the whole practice?
What users say
Nobody here mails their voice to a stranger either.
From our Discord, GitHub and inboxes.
0
Consults heard by a transcriber
In local mode the audio never leaves your device. No server stores it, and no transcriber ever hears it.
Started using OpenWhispr with my local models and hardware. I have to say, this is better than typing.
I switched to voice input for my Claude Code chats. Even when I stumble and rephrase mid-sentence, the transcription comes out clean and polished.
I needed a local model for when I'm travelling or have no WiFi, and this perfectly solves it. The UI and performance are great.
Pricing
Free forever.
Upgrade when you want more.
FreePopular $0No card details needed | Pro $6.67/user/mo$80/user billed annually Start with Pro | Business $13.33/user/mo$160/user billed annually Start with Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Doctors who want free, private, offline dictation and are comfortable choosing local models during setup | Doctors who want easy, reliable cloud transcription and mobile dictation | Practices documenting at volume, or that need a signed BAA |
| Main reason to choose | Free offline dictation, with patient audio staying on your device | Unlimited cloud transcription with no local models to manage | Unlimited recordings plus advanced workflow features for a practice |
| Offline speech-to-textOffline speech-to-text runs entirely on your own device, it works without internet connection, and it's unlimited and free. | Included | Included | Included |
| Cloud speech-to-textCloud speech-to-text sends audio to OpenWhispr Cloud for the highest accuracy and speed, with no local models to download. | 2,000 words/week via OpenWhispr Cloud, or unlimited using your own API keys | Unlimited OpenWhispr Cloud speech-to-text | Unlimited OpenWhispr Cloud speech-to-text |
| Meeting recordings | 5 hours/month | 20 hours/month | Unlimited |
| Privacy & data handling | Offline audio stays on your device. Cloud audio is sent only to transcribe it, then never stored. | Offline audio stays on your device. Cloud audio is sent only to transcribe it, then never stored. | Offline audio stays on your device. Cloud audio is sent only to transcribe it, then never stored. |
| Setup experience | Hands-on: install app, choose local models, optionally add API keys | Easy: install app, upgrade, use unlimited cloud speech-to-text | Moderate: configure users, Agent mode, and data workflows |
| Advanced features |
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| Team management | None | None | Basic team / workflow use |
| Support | Community support | Email support | Priority support |
Need SSO, compliance features, admin controls, or dedicated support for a larger team?
We also offer a custom Enterprise plan with managed onboarding and tailored features.
Talk to us
Built in the open
A patient's history is not training data.
OpenWhispr started with a simple objection: turning speech into text shouldn't mean the audio lands on someone else's server, or in someone's training set. A patient's history least of all.
We build in public on GitHub. When we say local-mode dictation stays on your device, your practice can inspect the code instead of relying only on a privacy policy.
And if anything breaks, you talk to the people who built it, in Discord.
Free · open source · local-first
Keep dictating. Just stop paying someone to type it.
Your next referral goes from your voice to the recipient without passing through anyone else's hands. No service, no seat licence, no waiting.
Loading...Takes 5 minutes to set up. If it doesn't work, we'll fix it with you in Discord. Free forever on Mac, Windows & Linux.