Guides
Meeting transcription: the complete guide
Capture methods, processing locations, accuracy, consent law, and tool choice — the full map, linking every claim.
How on-device speech-to-text actually works
The models, the WebAssembly sandbox, voice embeddings, and a local LLM — the pipeline behind QuickSpeak, honestly including its limits.
Transcribe meetings in 36 languages, in your browser
The complete language list, how auto-detect works, and the honest notes on accuracy no language page includes.
How to transcribe a Google Meet call for free (no bot)
Record the meeting tab and get a speaker-labeled transcript — no Workspace plan, no announcement, no upload.
How to transcribe a Zoom meeting without a bot
Two routes — browser tab or desktop app — and neither touches Zoom's recording controls.
How to transcribe a Microsoft Teams meeting for free
No Premium license required. The transcript belongs to you, not the tenant.
How to transcribe a meeting without internet
Cache the model once and the whole pipeline works with Wi-Fi off — the trick no cloud notetaker can copy.
How to get speaker names in your transcripts
How diarization works, how to rename "Speaker 2" into a person, and how names persist across meetings.
Use cases
How to record and transcribe lectures for free
A semester of lectures, searchable on your own laptop — online streams or the lecture hall, no minutes meter.
Client calls under NDA: transcription without the upload
Your transcription tool may be the third party your NDA prohibits. The contract question, the local fix, and the caveats.
Therapy session transcription that stays in the room
Consent first, on-device transcription, and an honest section on what the tool is not — no BAA, no clinical claims, no upload.
Transcribing interviews without uploading source audio
The source-protection case for local transcription, with the honest limits spelled out.
Comparisons
Free meeting transcription without a minutes cap
Every free tier measured side by side — minute quotas, storage stops, expiring history — and why unlimited exists.
QuickSpeak vs. Tactiq: same capture, different cloud
The closest mechanical cousin — identical bot-free capture, opposite storage models.
QuickSpeak vs. Granola: no bot isn't no cloud
Granola's security page documents the cloud round trip its "no bot" pitch doesn't mention.
QuickSpeak vs. Fathom: where the free recordings live
The friendliest cloud free tier, compared on the one question that decides it: custody.
QuickSpeak vs. tl;dv: free transcripts, expiring library
Unlimited transcripts on a three-month clock vs. an archive that never expires — clip-and-share vs. keep-and-search.
Meeting transcription without a bot (or the cloud)
Nine tools compared by how they capture audio and where it goes — Otter, Fireflies, tl;dv, Fathom, Granola, Krisp, Tactiq, MacWhisper, and QuickSpeak.
QuickSpeak vs. Otter.ai: where your meeting audio goes
Otter uploads every meeting to AWS and trains on transcripts by default. QuickSpeak has no upload step. Pricing, bots, and privacy compared.
QuickSpeak vs. Fireflies.ai: no bot, no upload, no seat
Fireflies auto-joins your calendar calls with a recording bot and stores audio in a US cloud. QuickSpeak captures the tab directly.