{"slug": "ghost-pepper", "name": "Ghost Pepper", "category": "ai", "category_name": "AI tools and apps", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 12, "warners": 0, "score": 5.496, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-04-06", "latest": "2026-08-31", "why": "has been my daily driver (its like superwhisrp but oss/free and local)", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 5, "compare": 3, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "has been my daily driver (its like superwhisrp but oss/free and local)", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/matthartman/ghost-pepper", "official_url": "https://github.com/matthartman/ghost-pepper", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Ghost Pepper", "ghost-pepper", "ghostpepper"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 792232801, "item_id": 49514550, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49514550", "by": "CharlesW", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Or the excellent Ghost Pepper*", "excerpt": "Or the excellent Ghost Pepper*, or many, many other options. *https://matthartman.github.io/ghost-pepper/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FnScribe \u2013 Open-source, offline dictation for macOS"}, {"id": 773917520, "item_id": 48369845, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48369845", "by": "orliesaurus", "date": "2026-06-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "has been my daily driver (its like superwhisrp but oss/free and local)", "excerpt": "As someone who also experience pains in their hands after a couple of hours of typing... I started to use the great open source app called ghost-pepper [1] that i found on github and has been my daily driver (its like superwhisrp but oss/free and local) the maintainer is really nice and replies to DMs really quickly too. [1] https://github.com/matthartman/ghost-pepper", "context": "has hand pain from typing", "use_case": "local dictation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API"}, {"id": 763946961, "item_id": 47746685, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47746685", "by": "aimemobe", "date": "2026-04-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is exactly what I've wanted on macOS.", "excerpt": "This is exactly what I've wanted on macOS. aiME does local offline STT on iPhone/Android too \u2014 no data transmitted anywhere. Useful when abroad or can't risk cloud services. One-time buy, works with zero connectivity. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aime-ondevice-ai/id6754805828", "context": "", "use_case": "Hold-to-talk dictation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762700544, "item_id": 47668784, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47668784", "by": "kwakubiney", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it. I use it all the time to communicate to my agents", "excerpt": "I love it. I use it all the time to communicate to my agents via opencode.", "context": "", "use_case": "Speech-to-text for agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "orliesaurus", "context": "has hand pain from typing", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48369845", "date": "2026-06-02"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["local dictation", "hold-to-talk dictation", "local speech-to-text on macos", "speech-to-text for agents", "speech-to-text dictation", "local speech-to-text"], "compared": [{"slug": "handy", "name": "Handy", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "superwhisper", "name": "Superwhisper", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 762695184, "item_id": 47668449, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47668449", "by": "obrajesse", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm Matt's top contributor to Ghost Pepper", "excerpt": "I'll have you know that I'm Matt's top contributor to Ghost Pepper and I'm nearly fifty But I did it because I wanted it to work exactly the way I wanted it. Also, for kicks, I (codex) ported it to Linux. But because my Linux laptop isn't as fast, I've had to use a few tricks to make it fast. https://github.com/obra/pepper-x", "context": "", "use_case": "Hold-to-talk speech-to-text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47666024", "title": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS", "mentions": 8}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475159", "title": "Show HN: FnScribe \u2013 Open-source, offline dictation for macOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48521236", "title": "item 48521236", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48345896", "title": "The solution might be cancelling my AI subscription", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48369088", "title": "Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48078497", "title": "Show HN: Free OSS transcription app I made and found it's faster than wispr flow", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"compare": 3, "neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 792232801, "item_id": 49514550, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49514550", "by": "CharlesW", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Or the excellent Ghost Pepper*", "excerpt": "Or the excellent Ghost Pepper*, or many, many other options. *https://matthartman.github.io/ghost-pepper/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: FnScribe \u2013 Open-source, offline dictation for macOS"}, {"id": 776537312, "item_id": 48533582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48533582", "by": "infl8ed", "date": "2026-06-14", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I don't mind https://matthartman.github.io/ghost-pepper/ however I do really want speaker recognition", "excerpt": "I don't mind https://matthartman.github.io/ghost-pepper/ however I do really want speaker recognition which it does have but I haven't been able to get it working.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": null}, {"id": 774083138, "item_id": 48380196, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48380196", "by": "bsiverly", "date": "2026-06-02", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use an opensource tool called ghostpepper", "excerpt": "OpenClaw and whisper for talking (I use an opensource tool called ghostpepper)", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The solution might be cancelling my AI subscription"}, {"id": 773917520, "item_id": 48369845, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48369845", "by": "orliesaurus", "date": "2026-06-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "has been my daily driver (its like superwhisrp but oss/free and local)", "excerpt": "As someone who also experience pains in their hands after a couple of hours of typing... I started to use the great open source app called ghost-pepper [1] that i found on github and has been my daily driver (its like superwhisrp but oss/free and local) the maintainer is really nice and replies to DMs really quickly too. [1] https://github.com/matthartman/ghost-pepper", "context": "has hand pain from typing", "use_case": "local dictation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API"}, {"id": 769291107, "item_id": 48080694, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48080694", "by": "wunderlotus", "date": "2026-05-09", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "[3] - https://github.com/matthartman/ghost-pepper", "excerpt": "what is the value prop of mumbli vs the myriad of OSS STT tools that already exist like handy [1], hex [2], ghostpepper [3], OpenWhispr [4], any of the ones listed here [5] or here [6]? [1] - https://github.com/cjpais/Handy [2] - https://github.com/kitlangton/Hex [3] - https://github.com/matthartman/ghost-pepper [4] - https://github.com/OpenWhispr/openwhispr [5] - https://github.com/FluidInference/FluidAudio#showcase", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Free OSS transcription app I made and found it's faster than wispr flow"}, {"id": 763946961, "item_id": 47746685, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47746685", "by": "aimemobe", "date": "2026-04-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is exactly what I've wanted on macOS.", "excerpt": "This is exactly what I've wanted on macOS. aiME does local offline STT on iPhone/Android too \u2014 no data transmitted anywhere. Useful when abroad or can't risk cloud services. One-time buy, works with zero connectivity. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aime-ondevice-ai/id6754805828", "context": "", "use_case": "Hold-to-talk dictation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762745232, "item_id": 47671577, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47671577", "by": "ianmurrays", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "I had Claude make this hammerspoon config + daemon that does pretty much the same", "excerpt": "I had Claude make this hammerspoon config + daemon that does pretty much the same, in case anyone is interested. https://github.com/ianmurrays/hammerspoon/blob/main/stt.lua", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762715633, "item_id": 47669727, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47669727", "by": "theturtletalks", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Just added Ghost Pepper", "excerpt": "I'm tracking them all here: https://opensource.builders/alternatives/superwhisper Just added Ghost Pepper, and you can actually create a skill.md with the features you need to build your own", "context": "", "use_case": "Local speech-to-text on macOS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762700544, "item_id": 47668784, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47668784", "by": "kwakubiney", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it. I use it all the time to communicate to my agents", "excerpt": "I love it. I use it all the time to communicate to my agents via opencode.", "context": "", "use_case": "Speech-to-text for agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762683888, "item_id": 47667743, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47667743", "by": "rcarmo", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "Not sure why I should use this instead of the baked-in OS dictation features", "excerpt": "Not sure why I should use this instead of the baked-in OS dictation features (which I use almost daily--just double-tap the world key, and you're there). What's the advantage?", "context": "", "use_case": "speech-to-text dictation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762676896, "item_id": 47667306, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47667306", "by": "MattHart88", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "I've found the \"corrections\" feature works well for most of the jargon and misspelling use cases. Can you give it a try and let me know edge cases?", "context": "", "use_case": "Local speech-to-text", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}, {"id": 762662305, "item_id": 47666394, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47666394", "by": "konaraddi", "date": "2026-04-06", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "Do you know how it compares to Handy?", "excerpt": "That\u2019s awesome! Do you know how it compares to Handy? Handy is open source and local only too. It\u2019s been around a while and what I\u2019ve been using. https://github.com/cjpais/handy", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ghost Pepper \u2013 100% local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS"}]}