# trnscrb

According to OpenAITools.app telemetry verified on 2026-11-11, trnscrb (trnscrb.com) is an AI platform indexed under AI Meeting Assistant generating 0 monthly visits with a month-over-month traffic delta of +0 (0%). Its primary geographic market is Global (— traffic share), and it operates on a Free pricing model. Top competing alternatives by monthly volume include Meetily AI (99.06K visits/mo), Fireflies.ai (4.41M visits/mo), Otter AI (7.36M visits/mo).

Offline, private meeting transcription for macOS — Whisper on device, transcripts searchable from Claude Desktop

## Key Telemetry & Specifications

| Metric | Value |
| :--- | :--- |
| Tool Name | trnscrb |
| Handle | trnscrb |
| Status | active |
| Origin | open_source |
| Maintenance | active |
| Official Domain | trnscrb.com |
| Website URL | https://trnscrb.com |
| Categories | AI Meeting Assistant, AI Transcription, AI Transcriber, AI Speech-to-Text, AI Note Taker |
| Pricing Model | Free |
| Monthly Visits | 0 |
| MoM Traffic Change | 0 |
| MoM Growth Rate | 0% |
| Primary Market | Global |
| Market Share | — |
| Direct Visits | 0 |
| Organic Search Visits | 0 |
| Social Visits | 0 |
| Referral Visits | 0 |
| Email Visits | 0 |
| Review Score | 4.7 |
| Saved Count | 1 |
| Supported Platforms | Website |
| Billing Platforms |  |
| Attributes | Pricing: Free; Features: Website |
| Tags | macOS, Meeting Transcription, Whisper AI, Offline AI, Claude MCP, Privacy, Open Source, Apple Silicon, Meeting Notes, Local AI |

## Overview

trnscrb is a free and open-source macOS tool built for people who want meeting notes without sending their conversations to a cloud service. It lives in the menu bar and watches for the signs of a live meeting — your microphone becoming active for a few seconds while Google Meet, Zoom, Slack Huddle, Microsoft Teams, or FaceTime is running. When both conditions are met it starts capturing audio locally, either just your microphone or your mic plus system audio through the free BlackHole virtual driver.

Once the call ends, the audio is transcribed on device with the Whisper small model accelerated by Apple Silicon Metal, so no internet connection is required and no recording is uploaded anywhere. Audio is deleted after transcription. Output is deliberately simple: plain .txt files written to your ~/meeting-notes/ folder, with no database and no proprietary format.

The clever part is the Claude Desktop integration. trnscrb registers a set of MCP tools that let Claude start and stop recordings, check recording status, pull the latest or a specific transcript, read your current calendar event, and search across meetings. That turns your local transcript folder into a queryable memory — you can ask what your action items were, what a colleague committed to, or how often a topic has come up. Speaker labels require a free HuggingFace account; optional summarisation and action-item extraction require running the enrich command, which is the only step that sends transcript text to an API.

## Pricing & Plans

trnscrb is free and MIT-licensed; the project accepts optional donations via Buy Me a Coffee. There are no paid plans or seat licences.

## Key Features & Capabilities

- **Automatic meeting detection:** Watches for microphone activity combined with a running meeting app (Google Meet, Zoom, Slack Huddle, Teams, FaceTime) and starts recording on its own, including browser-based calls.
- **Whisper transcription on device:** Runs the Whisper small model locally with Apple Silicon Metal acceleration, so transcription works offline and audio never leaves the Mac.
- **Claude Desktop MCP toolset:** Exposes eight MCP tools — start/stop recording, status, list and read transcripts, calendar context, and enrichment — so Claude can control recordings and search your meeting history.
- **Plain text, portable output:** Transcripts are saved as .txt files in ~/meeting-notes/ with no database or lock-in, so you can grep, sync, or archive them however you like.
- **One-command setup:** Homebrew, pip, or uv installs the tool, then a single install command wires up BlackHole, the Whisper model, HuggingFace token, Claude Desktop MCP config, and launch-at-login.

## Primary Use Cases

- **Never take notes in a call again (Remote knowledge worker):** Let trnscrb record and transcribe every standup, review, and interview in the background, then summarise the transcript afterwards with a single Claude prompt.
- **Keep conversations on the machine (Privacy-conscious team lead):** Run fully offline transcription for sensitive one-on-ones, board calls, or legal conversations, with audio deleted after processing and no cloud vendor in the loop.
- **Build a searchable meeting memory (Consultant or project manager):** Ask Claude across weeks of transcripts what a client committed to, which decisions were made, and which action items are still open.
- **Extend it through MCP (Developer or tinkerer):** Use the MCP tool interface as a base for your own automations — piping transcripts into task managers, wikis, or reporting scripts.

## Strengths

- Fully offline recording and transcription, with local Whisper on Apple Silicon
- Free and MIT-licensed, with no accounts, subscriptions, or seat limits
- Claude Desktop MCP integration turns transcripts into a queryable knowledge base
- Zero lock-in: plain .txt files you own and can process with any tool

## Limitations

- macOS only, and audio-quality plus speed depend on having Apple Silicon
- System-audio capture requires installing the third-party BlackHole driver
- Speaker labels need a HuggingFace account, and summarisation sends text to the Claude API

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does trnscrb work without an internet connection?
Yes. Both recording and transcription are local, so you can capture and transcribe meetings on a plane. The only feature that touches the network is enrichment, which sends transcript text to the Claude API to produce a summary and action items.

### Which meeting apps does it detect?
It recognises Google Meet, Zoom, Slack Huddle, Microsoft Teams, and FaceTime. Detection combines microphone activity with process presence, so browser-based meetings are detected too.

### Do I need to install extra software?
Ideally yes for system audio. BlackHole is a free virtual audio driver that lets trnscrb record the other participants as well as your own mic, and the setup command installs and configures it for you.

### How much does it cost?
Nothing. trnscrb is open source under the MIT licence and free to install, with optional donations to the developer. There are no paid tiers.

### What is trnscrb's monthly traffic and growth trend?
trnscrb currently receives 0 monthly visits, with a month-over-month traffic change of +0 (0% growth rate). Its primary source market is Global (— share), including 0 direct visits/mo and 0 organic search visits/mo.

### Is trnscrb free? What is its pricing model?
trnscrb operates on a Free pricing model. trnscrb is free and MIT-licensed; the project accepts optional donations via Buy Me a Coffee. There are no paid plans or seat licences. Supported billing and checkout platforms include: not listed.

### What are the best trnscrb alternatives in 2026?
Based on OpenAITools.app category traffic and feature fit, the top five alternatives to trnscrb are: 1. Meetily AI (99.06K visits/mo); 2. Fireflies.ai (4.41M visits/mo); 3. Otter AI (7.36M visits/mo); 4. OpenWhispr (291.76K visits/mo); 5. Shadow (17.8K visits/mo).

### Which platforms and core AI capabilities does trnscrb support?
trnscrb is classified under AI Meeting Assistant, AI Transcription, AI Transcriber, AI Speech-to-Text, supports the following platforms: Website, and its core capability tags include: macOS, Meeting Transcription, Whisper AI, Offline AI, Claude MCP, Privacy.

## Alternatives

| Tool Name | Monthly Visits | Pricing Model | Compare |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| [Meetily AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/meetily-ai) | 99,061 | Freemium, Free Trial, Contact for Pricing | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/meetily-ai-vs-trnscrb) |
| [Fireflies.ai](https://openaitools.app/tool/fireflies-ai) | 4,411,502 | Freemium | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/fireflies-ai-vs-trnscrb) |
| [Otter AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai) | 7,360,981 | Freemium | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/otter-ai-vs-trnscrb) |
| [OpenWhispr](https://openaitools.app/tool/openwhispr) | 291,756 | Free | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/openwhispr-vs-trnscrb) |
| [Shadow](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow) | 17,796 | Freemium | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/shadow-vs-trnscrb) |
| [VoiceInk](https://openaitools.app/tool/voiceink) | 42,912 | Free Trial, Paid | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/trnscrb-vs-voiceink) |
| [Sembly AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/sembly-ai) | 111,734 | Freemium | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/sembly-ai-vs-trnscrb) |
| [Fathom](https://openaitools.app/tool/fathom-2-0) | 5,620,385 | Freemium, Free Trial | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/fathom-2-0-vs-trnscrb) |
| [Daisy](https://openaitools.app/tool/daisy) | 2,031 | Free | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/daisy-vs-trnscrb) |
| [Noota](https://openaitools.app/tool/noota) | 283,526 | Freemium, Paid, Contact for Pricing | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/noota-vs-trnscrb) |
| [TurboScribe](https://openaitools.app/tool/turboscribe-ai) | 27,661,771 | Freemium | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/trnscrb-vs-turboscribe-ai) |
| [Read Speaker Coach](https://openaitools.app/tool/read-speaker-coach) | 4,071,302 | Freemium, Paid | [Compare](https://openaitools.app/compare/read-speaker-coach-vs-trnscrb) |

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Source: https://openaitools.app/tool/trnscrb