The latest articles on DEV Community by Hamin Yovan Antony (@yalnz). https://dev.to/yalnz https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3991366%2F232720ba-60ea-4123-99ed-ead7663ebd83.png https://dev.to/yalnz en Hamin Yovan Antony Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:15:47 +0000 https://dev.to/yalnz/i-built-a-free-offline-cli-alternative-to-otterai-using-python-and-local-ai-2cp8 https://dev.to/yalnz/i-built-a-free-offline-cli-alternative-to-otterai-using-python-and-local-ai-2cp8 <h1> 🎙️ LocalScribe PRO: Free, Private, Offline AI Meeting Assistant </h1> <p>Hey developers! 👋</p> <p>I just finished building <strong>LocalScribe PRO</strong>, a 100% free alternative to Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai that runs entirely on your laptop.</p> <h2> Why I Built This </h2> <p>I was tired of seeing people pay $20/month ($203/year!) for meeting transcription tools that:</p> <ul> <li>Upload all your private data to the cloud</li> <li>Have monthly minute limits</li> <li>Require internet connection</li> </ul> <p>So I built something that:</p> <ul> <li>✅ Runs 100% offline on your laptop</li> <li>✅ Costs $0 (forever free)</li> <li>✅ Never uploads your data</li> <li>✅ Has unlimited usage</li> </ul> <h2> Features </h2> <ul> <li>🎤 <strong>Record meetings</strong> from your microphone</li> <li>🎧 <strong>System audio recording</strong> - Record Zoom/Teams calls directly!</li> <li>🎬 <strong>Real-time transcription</strong> - See text as you speak</li> <li>🤖 <strong>Local AI (Ollama)</strong> - 100% offline, free, and private</li> <li>☁️ <strong>Cloud AI Support</strong> - Plug in OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google APIs</li> <li>📋 <strong>Auto-summaries</strong> - Automatically generates meeting summaries</li> <li>✅ <strong>Action items</strong> - Extracts tasks automatically</li> <li>🔒 <strong>Zero-knowledge</strong> - Your data NEVER leaves your computer</li> </ul> <h2> Tech Stack </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Python</strong> - Core language</li> <li> <strong>Ollama</strong> - Local AI (phi3 model)</li> <li> <strong>faster-whisper</strong> - Speech-to-text</li> <li> <strong>sounddevice</strong> - Audio recording</li> <li> <strong>OpenAI/Anthropic/Google APIs</strong> - Optional cloud AI</li> </ul> <h2> Cost Comparison </h2> <div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Tool</th> <th>Cost</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Otter.ai</td> <td>$203/year</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Fireflies.ai</td> <td>$120/year</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>LocalScribe PRO</strong></td> <td><strong>$0 (FREE)</strong></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <h2> How to Use </h2> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code><span class="c"># Install dependencies</span> pip <span class="nb">install </span>ollama faster-whisper sounddevice <span class="c"># Pull a local AI model</span> ollama pull phi3 <span class="c"># Run the app</span> python localscribe_pro.py <span class="k">**</span>GitHub<span class="k">**</span> <span class="o">[</span>https://github.com/haminyovanantonyfk-netizen/LocalScribe] This Is My First Major Project! I built this as my first major Python project to learn about AI, audio processing, and open-source development. I<span class="s1">'d love your feedback! What features should I add next? GUI interface? Support for more languages? Mobile app? Something else? Let me know in the comments! 👇 </span></code></pre> </div> ai beginners opensource automation