Scrybe review
A free, open-source desktop captioning app with local speech recognition and OBS support.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Scrybe is a free, open-source desktop app for creators who want live captions on streams. It recognizes speech from a microphone or desktop audio locally, then displays the text in a customizable overlay. Downloads are offered for macOS, Windows, and Linux, making it a fit for solo creators and small teams who want captions without a subscription or transcription API key. Its focus is desktop captioning rather than a broader caption workflow.
The OBS connection is the clearest ecosystem fit: Scrybe's overlay can be added to an OBS scene as a browser source. Users can adjust its position, size, colors, and text, and choose built-in speech-recognition model presets or provide a model file. The website describes OBS overlay support as available, while Twitch native captions are planned. Streamers looking for an OBS-ready on-screen caption layer have a defined use case here; those who need captions delivered through Twitch's native feature now should look elsewhere.
Local audio and text processing is central to Scrybe's approach, and the open-source, free model avoids a recurring subscription or API key requirement. The trade-off is its early-development status: buyers should weigh that maturity signal before relying on it for a production stream. Scrybe also does not present itself as a translation or export tool. Choose it for customizable, local live captions on a desktop, especially with OBS; choose another option if translation, downloadable caption files, or a more mature product is a requirement.
Scrybe pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Transcribes microphone or desktop audio locally
- Customizable captions can appear as an OBS browser source
- Offers built-in model presets and support for a supplied model file
- Where it doesn't
- The website labels the product as early development
- Twitch native captions are planned, not described as available
- No translation or caption export features are listed
Scrybe fact sheet, pricing and score →
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