BYOAIK (Bring Your Own AI Key) is a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.
MacWhisper
Local Whisper transcription for Mac with bring-your-own-key cloud STT and LLM cleanup
- Category:
- Voice and Transcription Tools
- Pricing:
- Free
- Open source:
- No
- Self-hostable:
- No
- Local-first:
- Yes
- Platforms:
- Desktop, Mobile, Web
- AI providers (bring your own key):
- OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, Ollama, xAI Grok, DeepSeek, Azure OpenAI, Custom / OpenAI-compatible, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, Mistral, Fireworks
- API key storage:
- Stored locally on device
- Key risk level:
- LOW
- Trust score:
- 59/100
MacWhisper (by Jordi Bruin / Good Snooze) is a popular paid macOS transcription app that runs OpenAI's Whisper models locally for private, offline transcription of audio, meetings, and YouTube videos. Beyond local transcription, it offers optional cloud speech-to-text and LLM post-processing using the end user's own API keys. For cloud transcription, users can plug in keys for OpenAI, Groq, ElevenLabs, Deepgram, or any custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint. For AI cleanup, summarization, and translation of transcripts and dictation, users supply their own keys for OpenAI/ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, Groq, Ollama (local), xAI, DeepSeek, Azure AI, and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Official docs explicitly state users must "fill in your OpenAI API key." It is closed-source and sold as a one-time purchase (with an optional hosted Assistant subscription that does not require keys). The app is widely used (220k+ sales, 4.8/5 on Product Hunt across ~1,900 ratings) and actively maintained.
Why this trust score (59/100)
Trust measures how the tool treats your API key and how much of that has been verified. It contains no popularity signal.
- Key Safety 23/25: The key is held on your own device.
- Request Routing 17/20: Requests go straight from you to the AI provider.
- Transparency 3/20: Closed source with no public repository. The key handling cannot be independently inspected.
- Privacy 11/15: Local-first: it works without sending your data anywhere.
- Maintenance 4/10: Maintenance activity has not been established for this listing.
- Verification Confidence 1/10: Compiled from public documentation by an AI-assisted pass, not independently confirmed.
What was checked
Verification tier RESEARCH_ASSISTED, derived from the evidence below and not set by hand.
- [REPORTED ยท RESEARCH] This listing was compiled by an AI-assisted research pass over the tool's public website, README and documentation. No person independently confirmed it.
How your API key is handled
Your API key is stored locally on your device. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider.
Setup
Open settings, paste your provider API key, choose a model, and start. The key stays on your device.