Handy alternative: Bulbul vs Handy

Handy is a free MIT-licensed speech-to-text app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Press a shortcut, speak, and it pastes the transcript into your app. Whisper or Parakeet runs locally; Handy describes speech transcription as completely offline.

Choose Bulbul if you want dictation without managing a local speech model.

Handy offers CPU-optimized Parakeet and GPU acceleration for Whisper when available. A GPU is not mandatory for all local speech. But model files, model memory, and inference still live on your machine. Bulbul puts that work on Groq.

You should not have to buy a powerful laptop just to dictate an email. Bulbul is designed around supported everyday laptops and phones, with a microphone, internet, permissions, and a Groq key rather than a local-model hardware checklist.

Handy requires speech-model files; the size depends on your choice.

Its README lists a 487 MB Whisper Small file, a 492 MB quantized Medium file, a 1,600 MB Turbo file, and a 1,100 MB quantized Large file. These are download sizes, not RAM requirements. Smaller local models are real options; not every setup needs several gigabytes.

Bulbul needs no local speech-model file at all. App installation, ordinary updates, and audio uploads still use data.

Bulbul removes local speech-model management; Handy removes the internet requirement for speech.

Bulbul avoids local speech inference, but no universal speed or battery win is claimed.

Groq documents a 216x real-time speed factor for Whisper Large v3 Turbo. This is a provider processing metric, not a Bulbul end-to-end benchmark or proof that every local model is slower. Upload time, connection quality, cleanup, service availability, and rate limits still affect when text appears.

Bulbul avoids the local speech-model memory and inference workload. It still runs an interface, records audio, and uses the network. No comparative battery or RAM savings have been measured here. Fully local speech is the better fit for offline use or a rule that audio must stay on-device; keep cloud cleanup disabled too.

Efficient local models and capable hardware can be fast. Bulbul is the choice when you want that inference workload off your machine, not a promise of zero battery drain.

Handy fits a rule that speech must remain on-device; Bulbul fits users who accept off-device inference.

Audio goes directly to Groq for speech transcription and text goes to Groq for cleanup, using your key. No Bulbul-owned transcription relay sits in between. History, dictionary, snippets, and settings stay in a local SQLite database. The README discloses anonymous usage statistics on by default, with an off-toggle in Settings > Privacy; it says these exclude audio and transcripts.

Groq documents retention controls including Zero Data Retention settings, and exceptions for reliability or abuse monitoring. Review those controls before sensitive dictation. Optional cloud post-processing changes the privacy of a local workflow too.

Both apps are free; Bulbul trades local compute for provider usage.

Bulbul is free software with no subscription or Bulbul-imposed word cap. Groq has a rate-limited free tier; paid usage is billed to your own provider account. Speech transcription and text cleanup are separate requests, so speech pricing alone is not the whole cost.

Handy can run on existing hardware without a speech API bill. Bulbul is attractive when you do not want to dedicate storage and compute to speech, or want dictation on Android too.

Groq is not permitted to train or fine-tune models on your API inputs or outputs unless you explicitly grant permission or instruct it to do so.

Section 4.2 of the Groq Services Agreement says: "Groq is not permitted to use Inputs or Outputs for training or fine-tuning any AI Model Services or other models, unless explicitly granted permission or instructed by Customer."

Groq says inference content is not retained by default. Reliability or abuse investigations can temporarily log inputs and outputs for up to 30 days, or longer when legally required. Usage metadata is always retained and does not include customer inputs/outputs.

Groq documentation says all customers can enable Zero Data Retention (ZDR) in Data Controls to prevent content retention for reliability and abuse monitoring. The legal agreement refers to eligible customers. Check your account controls and current terms; Bulbul does not automatically enable ZDR, and this is not a promise that no data of any kind is ever stored.

This gives you a privacy-conscious hosted option without hosting the speech model on your laptop. It does not make cloud speech local: audio is sent to Groq and text is sent for cleanup. If your requirement is that audio never leave the device, a fully local workflow still has an advantage.

The general Groq Privacy Policy covers account, website, and usage information; it explicitly directs API Customer Data to the Services Agreement and DPA. These API-specific terms, not a blanket privacy slogan, support this comparison.

Product facts were checked against official sources on October 9, 2026. Provider performance is not an independent app comparison benchmark.