Self-hosted transcription that keeps recordings on your infrastructure
Otter.ai and the online transcribers upload your recordings to their servers to turn them into text. SnapOtter runs Whisper locally, so meetings and interviews stay on infrastructure you control.
Local AI, one-time bundle install
What most teams do today
You upload a recording to a transcription service and get text back a few minutes later. The audio, and everything said in it, is processed and stored on the vendor's servers.
Why that's a problem for sensitive files
Recordings are dense with sensitive content: internal meetings, customer calls, interviews, legal discussions. Transcription SaaS processes and retains that audio under terms you do not set, which is a hard fit for confidential or regulated material and impossible to audit after the fact.
How SnapOtter does it privately
SnapOtter transcribes with faster-whisper inside your instance. Install the transcription bundle once, then it runs offline, air-gapped included. The audio never leaves your network, and there is no per-minute charge. Export plain text, SRT, or VTT.
Self-host in one command
Process a file over the REST API
Last reviewed July 10, 2026. Commands match the current single-container image and REST API. Competitor references: Otter.ai
Frequently asked questions
- Does it work offline?
- Yes. After the one-time transcription bundle install it runs fully offline, so recordings never need a network round-trip.
- Is the audio retained anywhere?
- No. The recording is processed inside your instance. There is no auto-save; you choose whether to keep the transcript.
- Which languages and formats?
- Whisper handles a wide range of languages, with plain text, SRT, or VTT output selected in the tool settings.
More self-hosted workflows
Deploying this across a team?
Audit trails, per-tool permissions, SSO, and air-gapped deployment for regulated environments. Talk to us about running SnapOtter as shared infrastructure.