Everything you've said, finally taking shape.
Timshel reads your voice recordings together — transcribed locally on your Mac — and surfaces connections you no longer remember.
You already planned the roses a year ago — east wall, morning sun, shelter from the wind. Not by the fence, like your memory suggests today.
Lock the east-wall plan into the garden note — with both quotes as the why.
Draft a spring checklist from everything you've said about the garden this year.
“…roses belong by the east wall — morning sun and shelter from the wind…”
Underfloor heating upstairs was ruled out in February — because of the screed.
tektu reski → Tech to the Rescue
Small wineries keep coming back across six months of trip notes.
Single supplier — moved from assumption to open question after the March workshop.
On Kowalski: option B, documents until May 20 — dictated 12.05, back with date and source.
“…can't remember where the roses were meant to go — by the fence, I think…”
Who signs off if the window date slips a second time?
“…roses belong by the east wall — morning sun and shelter from the wind…”
Underfloor heating upstairs was ruled out in February — because of the screed.
tektu reski → Tech to the Rescue
Small wineries keep coming back across six months of trip notes.
Single supplier — moved from assumption to open question after the March workshop.
On Kowalski: option B, documents until May 20 — dictated 12.05, back with date and source.
“…can't remember where the roses were meant to go — by the fence, I think…”
Who signs off if the window date slips a second time?
For people who think out loud — and do a lot of it.
No note system required. You record when you think — Timshel finds the thread when you come back.
Garden design · a year between the idea and the shovel
“…roses belong by the east wall — morning sun and shelter from the wind…”
“…can't remember where the roses were meant to go — by the fence, I think…”
You already planned the roses a year ago — east wall, not by the fence like your memory suggests.
Trip planning · twenty recordings across six months, one trip
“…if Portugal, then small wineries, not landmarks…”
“…M. recommended the Douro valley — supposedly the best small wineries…”
Across six months you keep coming back to small wineries — that's the spine of this trip.
Renovation · decisions happen on the move — and get lost on the move
“…we're dropping underfloor heating upstairs, too costly with that screed…”
“…or maybe underfloor heating upstairs after all?…”
You ruled out upstairs underfloor heating in February — because of the screed. That decision was already made.
Dictation & interviews · confidential recordings have no business in someone else's cloud
what did I decide on Kowalski?
“…on Kowalski we're staying with option B — waiting for the documents until May 20, then we close it…”
The answer comes back with a date and a source — from an archive that never left your Mac.
Everything you said, one corpus away.
You record when you think. Timshel transcribes locally, learns your vocabulary, and hands the thread back when you return — as files you own.
Start with what you already have
A recorder, an SD card — or just your iPhone. Voice Memos sync over iCloud and become notes on your Mac minutes later. No extra hardware to buy.
Notes that know what you think
Every note carries where each idea now stands — and what's still open. Plain Markdown you can read without Timshel.
A vocabulary of your world
Names, companies, projects — garbled at first, right the next time. A private file in your vault, never on our servers.
kovalski → Kowalski · tektu reski → Tech to the Rescue~/vault/.timshel/vocabulary.md
Because we never hold your data.
It computes, it doesn't remember.
Transcription and your vocabulary are matched locally. For synthesis, only shortlisted snippets of text go to a stateless server — never the audio, never the whole vault. The recording stays on your Mac.
Free forever. Paid is monthly — pause any time.
No annual lock-in. No minute meter, ever.
MIT-licensed. Runs entirely on your Mac.
- Unlimited local transcription
- Markdown notes in a folder you own
- Personal vocabulary
- AI summaries with your own API key
Open source — inspect it, run it yourself.
The synthesis layer — no key setup.
- Every recording summarized, tagged, filed — no API key to configure
- Weekly digest: connections and contradictions across your whole corpus
- Proposes hypotheses — never dictates
- Stateless server: it computes, it doesn't remember
Pause any time; your local core keeps working.
You pay for work being done — not for access to your own data.
The minute meter is their business model. Ours is your archive.
Cloud tools have to meter you — every minute you record costs them server time. Timshel transcribes on your Mac, so free can mean free.
| Timshel | Meeting notetakers(Otter, Fireflies) | AI voice apps(Voicenotes, AudioPen) | AI wearables(Plaud) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transcription | Unlimited, on your Mac, $0 | ~300 free minutes, then a meter | Cloud, per plan | ~300 free minutes, then a subscription |
| Where audio goes | Never leaves your Mac | Their cloud | Their cloud | Their cloud |
| Your notes are | Markdown files you own — readable without us | Locked in their app | Locked in their app | Locked in their app |
| Extra hardware | None — recorder, SD card or just your iPhone | — | — | $159+ device required |
| Across your archive | Weekly digest of connections & contradictions | Per-meeting summaries only | Search & ask, per note | Per-recording summaries |
| Commitment | Monthly, pause any time | Best prices need annual prepay | Best prices need annual prepay | Best prices need annual prepay |
Competitor models as of August 2026 — check their sites for current terms. We compare how products are built, not cents.
Frequent questions
Does it really run locally?
Yes. Transcription (whisper.cpp) happens on your Mac. Audio is never sent to any cloud — not for a moment.
Do I need a dictaphone?
No. Record with the Voice Memos app on your iPhone — iCloud brings it to your Mac and Timshel transcribes it automatically, usually within a minute. A dedicated recorder or SD card works the same way.
Where are my notes kept?
In a folder you own, as plain Markdown. It works with Obsidian; backup and export are entirely on your side.
Why a subscription from an anti-subscription product?
The core is free forever, MIT, with no minute meter. Insights is a server doing real compute for you — you pay for the work, not for access to your own data. Monthly, pause instead of cancel, from day one.
What hardware do I need?
A Mac with Apple Silicon. The transcription models run efficiently on it locally, without reaching for servers.
Be first when it ships.
The open core works today. Join the list for the version that finds things in your archive and proposes connections.
−30% on your first year for everyone on the list.