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Meetings · Podcasts · Interviews

Two hours of meeting.
Zero interest in
retyping it.

You already have the recording. What you're missing is the text — and the time to type it out by hand. Drag the file in and get searchable text and subtitles, without sending anything anywhere or paying by the minute. Marco lives in meetings, Giulia ships an episode a week, Luca has to quote it right, Sara studies from endless lectures: same path for everyone, and it's three moves — upload, wait, download.

€0
Really free
IT
Built for Italian
Private
Files stay yours
SRT
Ready to edit
sbobinator — first run
Upload: Tuesday_Client_Workshop.mp4
Marco leaves for coffee while processing continues…
Italian transcription running (1h 12m recording)
Progress: 68% - safe to close browser and return later
Done: transcript ready for decisions and follow-up email
Export: subtitles.srt for Giulia's episode timeline
Stored on your computer so sensitive voices stay yours
Optional summary: off unless you choose to enable it
Try your first file
LICENSE: Yes, really free for personal and non-commercial use. Business or commercial use needs a separate license — details in the docs.

01. Upload and leave

Upload the file, close your laptop, come back to text

The fear is always the same: "I'll spend an afternoon installing it and then it won't work." Here you install once, open the app in your browser, and start with a single file. Nobody asks you to change how you work — just to stop replaying everything by hand. When it's done you have text and subtitles ready for your day, not a demo to show off.

01

Upload

Drag in the file that's been weighing on you: a client call, an episode, a lecture, an interview. No converting anything first, and you can line up more than one. There's one point: pick that file now, instead of pushing it another week.

From browser, no account gate
02

Wait (or walk away)

A long file doesn't glue you to the screen. Start it, close the browser if you want, come back when it's ready. Sara's two-hour lecture or Luca's marathon interview: the length is the computer's problem, not yours.

Progress check when you return
03

Transcribe

Italian text you'll actually use: reread decisions, grab a quote, prep notes. Everything stays on your computer, so even confidential content never leaves. Quality isn't a slogan here — you see it on your own audio, from the very first file.

Italian-first output for real speech
04

Download

You download something usable right away: full text and SRT subtitles for editing or publishing. Giulia goes straight to the cut, Marco sends notes to the team, Sara revises calmly. The summary is there if you want it — but the main thing is already done, no extra steps.

TXT + SRT, ready in minutes

02. Who this is for

Recordings piling up, time running out

Every profile below starts with a real doubt: "Will my PC handle it?", "Is it good in Italian?", "Can it handle long files?", "Does it stay private?", "Is it really free?" The answer isn't a slogan: take one of your files, try it, and judge the result. If it works on your material, the rest follows.

MEETINGS

Marco: Consultant Meetings

Marco walks out of a 90-minute call and has to send follow-up before the day ends. Instead of replaying everything, he uploads the recording and gets text he can pull decisions, open points, and client-ready lines from. And if the meeting had sensitive data, he doesn't have to upload it anywhere to move faster.

  • Board calls, client workshops, internal retrospectives
  • Recover decisions quickly instead of replaying audio
  • Keep recurring meeting notes consistent week after week
What you get
Full transcript Find the points fast
SRT subtitles Ready to import
Summary Only if you ask
Personal use cost Stays at zero
Also used by
Giulia, podcaster - uploads drafts, gets captions, and ships episodes without buying another cloud subscription.
Luca, journalist - searches interviews quickly and verifies quotes with fewer late-night rewinds.
Sara, student - turns lectures into study material she can revisit before exams.
People with archives - process old recordings in batches instead of letting them sleep in folders forever.
CREATORS

Giulia: Podcast and Video Workflow

Giulia has to ship every week — she can't wait days or pay by the minute. Locally she preps subtitles and episode text, even across multiple files, and decides when to run them. The moment everything changes is when the first episode goes from "I need to transcribe it" to "the files are already ready."

  • Captions for episodes and short clips
  • Queue several files when deadlines stack up
  • Keep unreleased audio under your control
OPTIONAL

When You Want, Summaries Too

Start with transcription; add the summary later if you need it. That way you begin right away without extra complexity — text and subtitles are enough for most cases. When you want to read and share faster, turn the option on and stay on the same workflow.

  • Install first, then decide if you turn it on
  • Nothing forced on your workflow
  • Stays off until you choose
To get started
Installation Guided and concrete
One-time setup Initial download, then done
After setup You work locally
Personal use Yes, really free

03. Where your files go

Your calls don't end up on someone else's server

If you work with clients, sources, or your own lectures, privacy is the first reason you skip a new tool. Here it's the opposite: you start on your computer and your files stay yours from start to finish. You can try it tonight without wondering where your audio and transcripts end up.

No forced upload step

Transcribe at home and keep your way of working. After setup you don't depend on a website for every file. When you handle sensitive content, that's one less worry.

Install where you already work

Use the computer you already have and start with the file you need right now. If it handles normal office or creative work, you can run a real test and see timing and output. No archive to migrate.

Advanced extras stay optional

Start with the basic workflow; add extras only if you actually need them. In practice you begin today with text and SRT, no extra setup. The first weeks you spend working, not tinkering.

STATUS
Core processing LOCAL
Optional extras OPT-IN
File ownership YOUR DISK

04. Before you ask

"Will this actually run on my PC?"

Straight answers to what actually holds you back: installation, PC requirements, Italian quality, long files, privacy, and real cost. They're here to clear doubts before you try. Then you act.

I have a recording right now. What do I get if I install tonight?
Upload a real file from your week — meeting, episode, interview, or lecture — and get readable Italian text plus subtitles if you need them. Marco uses it for follow-up emails, Giulia for publishing, Luca for quotes, Sara for exam prep. You're not exploring software. You're turning audio you already have into something you can use tomorrow morning.
I'm not technical. Will I get stuck during setup?
Valid fear — and common. Follow the quickstart once: install dependencies, download the speech model one time, launch the app, open it in your browser. If something breaks, the docs walk through each step with fixes. Most people know within one evening whether their PC can run it. No subscription required.
Why not just use Otter, Google, or a per-minute website?
Those paths charge by the minute, require uploads, and keep your audio on someone else's servers. Client calls, unreleased episodes, sensitive interviews — that trade-off gets old fast. Sbobinator is for people who'd rather pay with disk space and patience on their own machine than with recurring bills and account lock-in.
Will Italian quality be good enough for real work?
Honest answer: test your voice, your mic, your room. Italian is the focus, but accents, overlap, and background noise always matter. Run a 10–20 minute sample you know well. If the output saves you time versus typing it out, you have your answer. No marketing page replaces your actual recording.
Can I leave while a long file processes?
Yes. Upload, confirm it started, close the browser if you want. Come back later for the transcript and subtitles. Giulia's 45-minute episodes and Marco's workshop recordings shouldn't glue you to a progress bar all day.
Is it really free? What's the catch?
Personal and non-commercial use: no timer, no credit card. The catch is honest — you need a capable PC, a one-time model download, and you install it yourself. Businesses need a commercial license. No hidden cloud bill for transcription.
My files are confidential. Who sees them?
Transcription keeps files on your computer. That's why consultants, journalists, and creators who don't trust upload services use it. AI summaries are separate — you only enable them if you pick a provider and accept that step.
What formats can I throw at it?
What you already have: MP4 call recordings, phone memos, podcast WAV exports, lecture captures, MKV screen recordings. No manual audio prep for normal use.
Do I need summaries and AI extras?
No. Most people only want the transcript and SRT subtitles. Summaries are for when two hours of meeting need a short recap — turn them on only if that saves you time. Start simple. Get to a first win faster.
What should I do in the first 30 minutes after install?
Pick one file that matters — not a stress test, a real one. Upload it, let it finish, read the output, search for a phrase you remember saying. If that clicks, queue the rest of your backlog. It's a habit change, not a feature tour.

Full reference: MkDocs FAQ

Got a recording you've been putting off for weeks?

Install tonight and upload your first file before you go to bed. In a few steps you'll see on your own audio whether quality, timing, and privacy work for you. If the first run convinces you, tomorrow you already have a new way to work.

git clone https://github.com/sbobinator/sbobinator.git
cd sbobinator
python scripts/install_local.py
python scripts/download_model.py
start.bat # open the app, then try your first file