Can AI replace Superscribe?
KINDA · weekend projectThe desktop dictation half is a solved one-sitting build with complete open-source clones to fork. The hero product is not that: live-transcribing calls on your existing iPhone number takes carrier call forwarding, a pooled Twilio number, a CallKit/PushKit softphone, and a dual-track media-stream pipeline that can only be debugged against live phone calls. And a clone gets you a transcript file, not the workspace around it: roughly 45k lines of API and web app that embed every recording, time block, and project (with synced GitHub repo context), auto-file notes and billable time to the right client, and expose it all as reports, semantic search, a public API, and an MCP server. Each piece is a documented recipe; shipping all of them integrated is the multi-week part even before telephony.
Build me a push-to-talk dictation tool for macOS to replace Superscribe's desktop app. Requirements: - Swift menu bar app, SPM only, no Xcode project. A global hotkey (default: hold Option+Space) records while held, stops on release. - Capture the mic with AVAudioEngine, downsample to 16kHz mono PCM, and stream it over WebSocket to ElevenLabs Scribe realtime (key in .env). Show partial transcripts in a small floating panel while I speak. - On release, run one LLM cleanup pass over the final transcript (fix punctuation, drop filler words; key in the same .env), then paste it into the focused app via NSPasteboard + CGEvent Cmd-V and restore my previous clipboard afterwards. - Fallback: with no ElevenLabs key, record to a temp wav and transcribe locally with whisper.cpp instead. Slower is fine. - Menu bar icon shows idle/recording/transcribing states; a history window lists the last 20 transcripts with copy buttons, persisted to ~/Dictation/history.jsonl. - Ad-hoc codesign for my own machine only. README documents the Microphone and Accessibility permission prompts and the whisper.cpp model download. - Out of scope: live word-by-word typing into the field (paste on release only), Windows support, accounts and billing, and the phone-call capture product. If I want call notes I will upload recordings by hand.
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They pay for the phone rail (answer calls normally on the number they already have, no bot, no second device) and for everything downstream arriving pre-filed: transcripts semantically matched to the right client and project using their own GitHub activity as context, then turned into searchable history, invoices, and CRM drafts.
xcall capture on your existing number (carrier forwarding into a CallKit softphone)
xglitch-free live word-by-word insertion tuned per app: terminals, Electron editors, browser contenteditables
xauto-filing: dictations and calls alike are matched to the right project via embeddings (enriched with GitHub repo context) plus live commit activity during the work block, so billable time lands on the right client without tagging
xthe workspace around the transcripts: semantic search, invoice-ready PDF reports, CRM note drafts, a public API, and an MCP server
xWindows parity and signed, notarized auto-updating installers
Can AI replace Superscribe?
Kinda. The core of Superscribe is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: call capture on your existing number (carrier forwarding into a CallKit softphone), glitch-free live word-by-word insertion tuned per app: terminals, Electron editors, browser contenteditables. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does Superscribe cost?
Superscribe costs about $38/month (Business Voice, checked 2026-07-30), which is $456 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Superscribe?
Honestly: call capture on your existing number (carrier forwarding into a CallKit softphone); glitch-free live word-by-word insertion tuned per app: terminals, Electron editors, browser contenteditables; auto-filing: dictations and calls alike are matched to the right project via embeddings (enriched with GitHub repo context) plus live commit activity during the work block, so billable time lands on the right client without tagging; the workspace around the transcripts: semantic search, invoice-ready PDF reports, CRM note drafts, a public API, and an MCP server; Windows parity and signed, notarized auto-updating installers. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Superscribe?
Yes — Handy (MIT cross-platform push-to-talk dictation app in Tauri, built to be forked; covers the whole desktop core loop.), VoiceInk (GPL native Swift macOS dictation app with local whisper.cpp and per-app modes; closest open clone of the mac side.), FreeFlow (Solo-built open Wispr Flow clone; working example of cloud STT plus LLM cleanup with active-window context.), Twilio Media Streams (Official docs and tutorials for streaming live call audio to STT; the happy path of the call-capture half.). Using prior art is also a valid exit; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.