diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index f1af0d5..856dc4b 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -21,6 +21,18 @@ FILESYSTEM_DISK=local
 QUEUE_CONNECTION=sync
 SESSION_DRIVER=file
 SESSION_LIFETIME=120
+TRANSCRIPT_STORAGE_DISK=public
+WRITEOUT_ALLOW_GUEST_UPLOADS=true
+WRITEOUT_MOCK_AI=true
+WRITEOUT_TRANSCRIPTION_DRIVER=local_whisper
+WRITEOUT_TRANSLATION_DRIVER=mock
+WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_COMMAND=py
+WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_MODEL=tiny
+WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_DEVICE=cpu
+WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_COMPUTE_TYPE=int8
+HF_HUB_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_WARNING=1
+HF_HUB_DISABLE_PROGRESS_BARS=1
+# HF_TOKEN=
 
 MEMCACHED_HOST=127.0.0.1
 
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f0d10af..951a84d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,5 @@ yarn-error.log
 /.fleet
 /.idea
 /.vscode
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 39427f0..cb762c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,7 +21,45 @@ the prompt context limit.
 git clone https://github.com/beyondcode/writeout.ai
 ```
 
-### Create an OpenAI account and link your API key.
+### Configure your environment
+
+1. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`
+2. Add your `OPENAI_API_KEY`
+3. Keep `QUEUE_CONNECTION=sync` for the simplest local setup
+4. Keep `TRANSCRIPT_STORAGE_DISK=public` unless you already have a DigitalOcean Spaces bucket configured
+5. Keep `WRITEOUT_ALLOW_GUEST_UPLOADS=true` if you want to test uploads locally without GitHub OAuth
+6. Set `WRITEOUT_TRANSCRIPTION_DRIVER=local_whisper` if you want real local transcription without OpenAI billing
+7. Keep `WRITEOUT_TRANSLATION_DRIVER=mock` if you only need real transcription locally and do not want local translation work yet
+
+### Prepare the app
+
+```bash
+composer install
+php artisan key:generate
+php artisan migrate
+php artisan storage:link
+```
+
+### Start the app
+
+```bash
+php artisan serve
+```
+
+When guest uploads are enabled, local uploads are stored on the `public` disk and made public automatically so you can reopen the transcript without signing in.
+When `WRITEOUT_TRANSCRIPTION_DRIVER=local_whisper`, uploads are transcribed on your own machine instead of through OpenAI.
+When `WRITEOUT_TRANSLATION_DRIVER=mock`, translations are still mocked for local development.
+
+### Install the local Whisper dependency
+
+```bash
+python -m pip install faster-whisper
+```
+
+The first local transcription run will download the selected Whisper model automatically. `tiny` is the easiest CPU-friendly starting point; if you want more accuracy later, switch the model to `base` or `small`.
+The app keeps the Hugging Face cache under Laravel's `storage/app/huggingface` folder by default, and `HF_HUB_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_WARNING=1` keeps the Windows symlink warning out of normal local runs. If you later need higher download limits for diarization or larger models, add your own `HF_TOKEN`.
+
+### Create an OpenAI account and link your API key
 
 1. Sign up at [OpenAI](https://openai.com/) to create a free account (you'll get $8 credits)
 2. Click on the "User" / "API Keys" menu item and create a new API key
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/DownloadTranscriptController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/DownloadTranscriptController.php
index 66725bc..935558c 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/DownloadTranscriptController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/DownloadTranscriptController.php
@@ -12,11 +12,46 @@ public function __invoke(Transcript $transcript, Request $request)
         $this->authorize('view', $transcript);
 
         $transcriptVtt = $transcript->translations[$request->get('language')] ?? $transcript->transcript;
+        $plainTextTranscript = $this->plainTextFromVtt($transcriptVtt);
 
-        return response($transcriptVtt, 200, [
-            'Content-Type' => 'text/vtt',
-            'Content-Disposition' => 'attachment; filename="transcript.vtt"',
-            'Content-Length' => strlen($transcriptVtt),
+        return response($plainTextTranscript, 200, [
+            'Content-Type' => 'text/plain; charset=UTF-8',
+            'Content-Disposition' => 'attachment; filename="transcript.txt"',
+            'Content-Length' => strlen($plainTextTranscript),
         ]);
     }
+
+    protected function plainTextFromVtt(string $transcriptVtt): string
+    {
+        $normalizedVtt = str_replace(["\r\n", "\r"], "\n", trim($transcriptVtt));
+        $blocks = preg_split("/\n{2,}/", $normalizedVtt) ?: [];
+        $plainTextBlocks = [];
+
+        foreach ($blocks as $block) {
+            $lines = array_values(array_filter(
+                array_map('trim', explode("\n", trim($block))),
+                fn (string $line) => $line !== '',
+            ));
+
+            if ($lines === [] || $lines[0] === 'WEBVTT') {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if (isset($lines[1]) && str_contains($lines[1], '-->')) {
+                array_shift($lines);
+            }
+
+            if (isset($lines[0]) && str_contains($lines[0], '-->')) {
+                array_shift($lines);
+            }
+
+            if ($lines === []) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            $plainTextBlocks[] = implode(' ', $lines);
+        }
+
+        return implode(PHP_EOL.PHP_EOL, $plainTextBlocks);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/NewTranscriptionController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/NewTranscriptionController.php
index 78af576..5c32ce1 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/NewTranscriptionController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/NewTranscriptionController.php
@@ -3,14 +3,21 @@
 namespace App\Http\Controllers;
 
 use App\SendStack;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Authenticatable;
 
 class NewTranscriptionController extends Controller
 {
     public function __invoke(SendStack $sendStack)
     {
+        /** @var Authenticatable|null $user */
+        $user = auth()->user();
 
         return view('transcribe', [
-            'isSubscribed' => $sendStack->isActiveSubscriber(auth()->user()->email),
+            'isSubscribed' => $user?->email ? $sendStack->isActiveSubscriber($user->email) : false,
+            'guestUploadsEnabled' => config('writeout.allow_guest_uploads'),
+            'mockAiEnabled' => config('writeout.mock_ai'),
+            'transcriptionDriver' => config('writeout.transcription_driver'),
+            'translationDriver' => config('writeout.translation_driver'),
         ]);
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/TranscribeAudioController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/TranscribeAudioController.php
index 6df45cd..dee9148 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/TranscribeAudioController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/TranscribeAudioController.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 use App\Jobs\TranscribeFileJob;
 use App\Models\Transcript;
+use App\Models\User;
 use App\SendStack;
 use Illuminate\Http\Request;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
@@ -14,36 +15,59 @@ public function __invoke(Request $request, SendStack $sendStack)
     {
         $this->authorize('create', Transcript::class);
 
+        $uploader = $this->resolveUploader($request);
+        $isGuestUpload = $request->user() === null;
+        $transcriptDisk = config('writeout.transcript_disk');
+
         $request->validate([
             'file' => [
                 'required',
                 'file',
                 'max:'.(25 * 1024), // max 25MB
-            ]
+            ],
         ]);
 
-        if ($request->get('newsletter')) {
-            $sendStack->updateOrSubscribe($request->user()->email, [config('app.name')]);
+        if ($request->boolean('newsletter') && $uploader->email) {
+            $sendStack->updateOrSubscribe($uploader->email, [config('app.name')]);
         }
 
         $filename = Str::random(40).'.'.$request->file('file')->getClientOriginalExtension();
 
         // Store the file in the public disk
         $path = $request->file('file')
-            ->storePubliclyAs('transcribe', $filename, 'do');
+            ->storePubliclyAs('transcribe', $filename, $transcriptDisk);
 
         // Store the file locally temporarily for OpenAI
         $request->file('file')
             ->storeAs('transcribe', $filename, 'local');
 
         $transcript = Transcript::create([
-            'user_id' => $request->user()->id,
+            'user_id' => $uploader->id,
             'hash' => $path,
             'prompt' => $request->input('prompt', ''),
+            'public' => $isGuestUpload ? true : $request->boolean('public', true),
         ]);
 
         $this->dispatch(new TranscribeFileJob($transcript));
 
         return redirect()->action(ShowTranscriptController::class, $transcript);
     }
+
+    protected function resolveUploader(Request $request): User
+    {
+        if ($request->user() instanceof User) {
+            return $request->user();
+        }
+
+        abort_unless(config('writeout.allow_guest_uploads'), 403);
+
+        return User::firstOrCreate(
+            ['github_id' => 'local-uploader'],
+            [
+                'github_username' => 'local-uploader',
+                'name' => 'Local Uploader',
+                'email' => null,
+            ],
+        );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/TranslateTranscriptController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/TranslateTranscriptController.php
index 5890492..f1cb8b5 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/TranslateTranscriptController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/TranslateTranscriptController.php
@@ -13,14 +13,16 @@ public function __invoke(Transcript $transcript, Request $request)
     {
         $this->authorize('view', $transcript);
 
-        if ($request->get('language') === null) {
+        $language = trim((string) $request->get('language', ''));
+
+        if ($language === '') {
             return redirect()->action(ShowTranscriptController::class, $transcript);
         }
 
-        if ($transcript->translations[$request->get('language')] ?? null) {
+        if ($transcript->translations[$language] ?? null) {
             return redirect()->action(ShowTranscriptController::class, [
                 'transcript' => $transcript,
-                'language' => $request->get('language'),
+                'language' => $language,
             ]);
         }
 
@@ -28,11 +30,11 @@ public function __invoke(Transcript $transcript, Request $request)
             'status' => TranscriptStatus::TRANSLATING->value,
         ]);
 
-        $this->dispatch(new TranslateTranscriptJob($transcript, $request->get('language')));
+        $this->dispatch(new TranslateTranscriptJob($transcript, $language));
 
         return redirect()->action(ShowTranscriptController::class, [
             'transcript' => $transcript,
-            'language' => $request->get('language'),
+            'language' => $language,
         ]);
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Jobs/TranscribeFileJob.php b/app/Jobs/TranscribeFileJob.php
index d657885..60f4ded 100644
--- a/app/Jobs/TranscribeFileJob.php
+++ b/app/Jobs/TranscribeFileJob.php
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 
 use App\Enum\TranscriptStatus;
 use App\Models\Transcript;
+use App\Support\LocalWhisperTranscriber;
+use App\Support\MockTranscriptFactory;
 use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
 use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
@@ -20,29 +22,51 @@ public function __construct(protected Transcript $transcript)
     {
     }
 
-    public function handle()
+    public function handle(LocalWhisperTranscriber $localWhisperTranscriber)
     {
+        $transcriptDisk = config('writeout.transcript_disk');
+        $driver = config('writeout.transcription_driver');
+
         $this->transcript->update([
             'status' => TranscriptStatus::TRANSCRIBING,
         ]);
 
         try {
-            $transcriptionResults = OpenAI::audio()->transcribe([
-                'model' => 'whisper-1',
-                'file' => fopen(storage_path('app/'.$this->transcript->hash), 'r'),
-                'prompt' => $this->transcript->prompt,
-                'temperature' => 0.2,
-                'response_format' => 'vtt',
-            ]);
+            if ($driver === 'mock') {
+                $transcriptionResults = [
+                    'language' => 'English',
+                    'duration' => 14,
+                    'transcript' => MockTranscriptFactory::makeVtt($this->transcript),
+                ];
+            } elseif ($driver === 'local_whisper') {
+                $transcriptionResults = $localWhisperTranscriber->transcribe($this->transcript);
+            } else {
+                $openAiResults = OpenAI::audio()->transcribe([
+                    'model' => 'whisper-1',
+                    'file' => fopen(storage_path('app/'.$this->transcript->hash), 'r'),
+                    'prompt' => $this->transcript->prompt,
+                    'temperature' => 0.2,
+                    'response_format' => 'vtt',
+                ]);
+
+                $transcriptionResults = [
+                    'language' => $openAiResults->language,
+                    'duration' => $openAiResults->duration,
+                    'transcript' => $openAiResults->text,
+                ];
+            }
 
             $this->transcript->update([
-                'source_language' => $transcriptionResults->language,
+                'source_language' => $transcriptionResults['language'],
                 'status' => TranscriptStatus::COMPLETED,
-                'duration' => $transcriptionResults->duration,
-                'transcript' => $transcriptionResults->text,
+                'duration' => $transcriptionResults['duration'],
+                'transcript' => $transcriptionResults['transcript'],
+                'error' => null,
             ]);
         } catch (\Throwable $e) {
-            Storage::disk('public')->delete($this->transcript->hash);
+            report($e);
+
+            Storage::disk($transcriptDisk)->delete($this->transcript->hash);
 
             $this->transcript->update([
                 'status' => TranscriptStatus::FAILED,
diff --git a/app/Jobs/TranslateTranscriptJob.php b/app/Jobs/TranslateTranscriptJob.php
index b79d868..f2681f0 100644
--- a/app/Jobs/TranslateTranscriptJob.php
+++ b/app/Jobs/TranslateTranscriptJob.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 use App\Enum\TranscriptStatus;
 use App\Models\Transcript;
+use App\Support\MockTranscriptFactory;
 use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
 use Illuminate\Foundation\Bus\Dispatchable;
@@ -27,8 +28,28 @@ public function __construct(private Transcript $transcript, private string $lang
     public function handle()
     {
         $chunks = $this->getTranscriptChunks();
+        $driver = config('writeout.translation_driver');
 
         try {
+            if ($driver === 'mock') {
+                $translations = $this->transcript->translations ?? [];
+                $translations[$this->language] = MockTranscriptFactory::translateVtt(
+                    $this->transcript->transcript,
+                    $this->language,
+                );
+
+                $this->transcript->update([
+                    'status' => TranscriptStatus::TRANSLATED->value,
+                    'translations' => $translations,
+                ]);
+
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if ($driver !== 'openai') {
+                throw new \RuntimeException('Unsupported translation driver: '.$driver);
+            }
+
             $translation = '';
 
             foreach ($chunks as $chunk) {
@@ -45,6 +66,8 @@ public function handle()
                 'translations' => $translations,
             ]);
         } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            report($e);
+
             $this->transcript->update([
                 'status' => TranscriptStatus::COMPLETED->value,
             ]);
diff --git a/app/Policies/TranscriptPolicy.php b/app/Policies/TranscriptPolicy.php
index 17c45db..ca6f514 100644
--- a/app/Policies/TranscriptPolicy.php
+++ b/app/Policies/TranscriptPolicy.php
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ class TranscriptPolicy
 {
     use HandlesAuthorization;
 
-    public function viewAny(User $user): bool
+    public function viewAny(?User $user): bool
     {
         return true;
     }
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ public function view(?User $user, Transcript $transcript): bool
         return $user?->id === $transcript->user_id || $transcript->public;
     }
 
-    public function create(User $user): bool
+    public function create(?User $user): bool
     {
-        return true;
+        return $user !== null || config('writeout.allow_guest_uploads');
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Support/LocalWhisperTranscriber.php b/app/Support/LocalWhisperTranscriber.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..542b1ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Support/LocalWhisperTranscriber.php
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Support;
+
+use App\Models\Transcript;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\File;
+use RuntimeException;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
+
+class LocalWhisperTranscriber
+{
+    public function transcribe(Transcript $transcript): array
+    {
+        File::ensureDirectoryExists(config('writeout.huggingface.home'));
+        File::ensureDirectoryExists(config('writeout.huggingface.hub_cache'));
+
+        $command = [
+            config('writeout.local_whisper.command'),
+            base_path('scripts/local_whisper_transcribe.py'),
+            '--input',
+            storage_path('app/'.$transcript->hash),
+            '--model',
+            config('writeout.local_whisper.model'),
+            '--device',
+            config('writeout.local_whisper.device'),
+            '--compute-type',
+            config('writeout.local_whisper.compute_type'),
+        ];
+
+        if (filled($transcript->prompt)) {
+            $command[] = '--prompt';
+            $command[] = $transcript->prompt;
+        }
+
+        $process = new Process($command, base_path(), [
+            'PYTHONIOENCODING' => 'utf-8',
+            'HF_HOME' => config('writeout.huggingface.home'),
+            'HF_HUB_CACHE' => config('writeout.huggingface.hub_cache'),
+            'HF_HUB_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_WARNING' => config('writeout.huggingface.disable_symlinks_warning') ? '1' : '0',
+            'HF_HUB_DISABLE_PROGRESS_BARS' => config('writeout.huggingface.disable_progress_bars') ? '1' : '0',
+            'HF_TOKEN' => (string) config('writeout.huggingface.token'),
+        ]);
+
+        $process->setTimeout(3600);
+        $process->run();
+
+        if (! $process->isSuccessful()) {
+            $error = trim($process->getErrorOutput());
+
+            throw new RuntimeException(
+                $error !== ''
+                    ? $error
+                    : 'Local Whisper transcription failed to start.',
+            );
+        }
+
+        $payload = json_decode($process->getOutput(), true);
+
+        if (! is_array($payload)) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('Local Whisper returned an invalid response.');
+        }
+
+        if (! isset($payload['language'], $payload['duration'], $payload['transcript'])) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('Local Whisper returned an incomplete response.');
+        }
+
+        return $payload;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/Support/MockTranscriptFactory.php b/app/Support/MockTranscriptFactory.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdfd712
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Support/MockTranscriptFactory.php
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Support;
+
+use App\Models\Transcript;
+use Illuminate\Support\Str;
+
+class MockTranscriptFactory
+{
+    public static function makeVtt(Transcript $transcript): string
+    {
+        $prompt = Str::of((string) $transcript->prompt)->squish()->trim();
+
+        $promptLine = $prompt->isNotEmpty()
+            ? $prompt->limit(110)->value()
+            : 'This is a locally generated demo transcript so you can keep building without OpenAI billing.';
+
+        return implode(PHP_EOL, [
+            'WEBVTT',
+            '',
+            '1',
+            '00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000',
+            'Mock transcript generated in local mode.',
+            '',
+            '2',
+            '00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:09.000',
+            $promptLine,
+            '',
+            '3',
+            '00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:14.000',
+            'Set WRITEOUT_MOCK_AI=false when you are ready to use the real OpenAI API.',
+        ]);
+    }
+
+    public static function translateVtt(string $vtt, string $language): string
+    {
+        $lines = preg_split('/\r\n|\r|\n/', $vtt) ?: [];
+
+        $translated = array_map(
+            fn (string $line) => self::shouldTranslateLine($line)
+                ? '['.$language.' demo] '.$line
+                : $line,
+            $lines,
+        );
+
+        return implode(PHP_EOL, $translated);
+    }
+
+    protected static function shouldTranslateLine(string $line): bool
+    {
+        $trimmed = trim($line);
+
+        if ($trimmed === '' || $trimmed === 'WEBVTT') {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (is_numeric($trimmed)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return ! str_contains($trimmed, '-->');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/config/writeout.php b/config/writeout.php
index efd962f..ae10ce6 100644
--- a/config/writeout.php
+++ b/config/writeout.php
@@ -1,6 +1,51 @@
 <?php
 
+$isLocal = env('APP_ENV') === 'local';
+$legacyMockAi = env('WRITEOUT_MOCK_AI');
+$legacyMockEnabled = $legacyMockAi === null
+    ? null
+    : filter_var($legacyMockAi, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOL, FILTER_NULL_ON_FAILURE);
+
+$transcriptionDriver = env(
+    'WRITEOUT_TRANSCRIPTION_DRIVER',
+    $legacyMockEnabled === null
+        ? ($isLocal ? 'mock' : 'openai')
+        : ($legacyMockEnabled ? 'mock' : ($isLocal ? 'local_whisper' : 'openai')),
+);
+
+$translationDriver = env(
+    'WRITEOUT_TRANSLATION_DRIVER',
+    $legacyMockEnabled === null
+        ? ($isLocal ? 'mock' : 'openai')
+        : ($legacyMockEnabled ? 'mock' : 'openai'),
+);
+
 return [
+    'allow_guest_uploads' => env('WRITEOUT_ALLOW_GUEST_UPLOADS', $isLocal),
+
+    'transcript_disk' => env('TRANSCRIPT_STORAGE_DISK', env('DO_BUCKET') ? 'do' : 'public'),
+
+    'transcription_driver' => $transcriptionDriver,
+
+    'translation_driver' => $translationDriver,
+
+    'mock_ai' => $transcriptionDriver === 'mock' || $translationDriver === 'mock',
+
+    'local_whisper' => [
+        'command' => env('WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_COMMAND', PHP_OS_FAMILY === 'Windows' ? 'py' : 'python3'),
+        'model' => env('WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_MODEL', 'tiny'),
+        'device' => env('WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_DEVICE', 'cpu'),
+        'compute_type' => env('WRITEOUT_LOCAL_WHISPER_COMPUTE_TYPE', 'int8'),
+    ],
+
+    'huggingface' => [
+        'home' => env('HF_HOME', storage_path('app/huggingface')),
+        'hub_cache' => env('HF_HUB_CACHE', storage_path('app/huggingface/hub')),
+        'token' => env('HF_TOKEN'),
+        'disable_symlinks_warning' => env('HF_HUB_DISABLE_SYMLINKS_WARNING', true),
+        'disable_progress_bars' => env('HF_HUB_DISABLE_PROGRESS_BARS', true),
+    ],
+
     'translatable_languages' => [
         'English',
         'German',
diff --git a/resources/views/errors/403.blade.php b/resources/views/errors/403.blade.php
index d819338..9db3357 100644
--- a/resources/views/errors/403.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/errors/403.blade.php
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 @section('content')
+    @php
+        $canTranscribeWithoutLogin = config('writeout.allow_guest_uploads');
+        $ctaUrl = auth()->check() || $canTranscribeWithoutLogin ? url('/transcribe') : route('login');
+        $ctaLabel = auth()->check() || $canTranscribeWithoutLogin
+            ? 'Transcribe your own audio'
+            : 'Log in to transcribe your own audio';
+    @endphp
+
     <div class="max-w-7xl mx-auto my-24 h-screen">
         <div class="mx-auto max-w-2xl md:text-center">
             <h2
@@ -11,8 +19,8 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
             </p>
             <div class="mt-12">
                 <a class="group inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-full py-2 px-4 text-sm font-semibold focus:outline-none focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 bg-blue-600 text-white hover:text-slate-100 hover:bg-blue-500 active:bg-blue-800 active:text-blue-100 focus-visible:outline-blue-600"
-                   href="/transcribe">
-                    <span>Transcribe your own audio</span>
+                   href="{{ $ctaUrl }}">
+                    <span>{{ $ctaLabel }}</span>
                 </a>
             </div>
         </div>
diff --git a/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php b/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php
index 154cdba..f70b639 100644
--- a/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ class="h-full scroll-smooth bg-white antialiased [font-feature-settings:'ss01']
     <meta charset="utf-8">
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
 
-    <title>writeout.ai – Transcribe and translate any audio file</title>
+    <title>writeout.ai - Transcribe and translate any audio file</title>
     <meta
         name="description"
         content="Transcribe and translate any audio file. Upload your audio file and get a transcript in seconds. Writeout.ai is a free online transcription service.">
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class="flex flex-col items-center border-t border-slate-400/10 py-10 sm:flex-row
                 </a>
             </div>
             <p class="mt-6 text-sm text-slate-500 sm:mt-0">
-                Copyright © {{ date('Y') }} Beyond Code. All rights reserved.
+                Copyright &copy; {{ date('Y') }} Beyond Code. All rights reserved.
             </p>
         </div>
     </div>
diff --git a/resources/views/transcribe.blade.php b/resources/views/transcribe.blade.php
index 8389922..3fbbe2a 100644
--- a/resources/views/transcribe.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/transcribe.blade.php
@@ -11,6 +11,31 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
                 Upload your audio file and we'll transcribe it for you. It's that easy.
             </p>
 
+            @if ($transcriptionDriver === 'local_whisper')
+                <div class="mt-8 rounded-md bg-emerald-50 p-4 text-left">
+                    <h3 class="text-sm font-medium text-emerald-900">
+                        Local Whisper mode is enabled
+                    </h3>
+                    <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-emerald-800">
+                        New uploads will be transcribed on this machine without using OpenAI billing.
+                    </p>
+                    @if ($translationDriver === 'mock')
+                        <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-emerald-800">
+                            Transcript translation is still running in demo mode for local development.
+                        </p>
+                    @endif
+                </div>
+            @elseif ($mockAiEnabled)
+                <div class="mt-8 rounded-md bg-amber-50 p-4 text-left">
+                    <h3 class="text-sm font-medium text-amber-900">
+                        Mock AI mode is enabled
+                    </h3>
+                    <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-amber-800">
+                        Uploads will complete with a demo transcript and demo translations, so you can keep building locally without OpenAI billing.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+            @endif
+
             @if ($errors->isNotEmpty())
                 <div class="rounded-md bg-red-50 p-4 mt-12">
                     <div class="flex">
@@ -32,13 +57,19 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
                     </div>
                 </div>
             @endif
-            <form class="pt-8 flex flex-col space-y-4" action="" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
+
+            <form class="pt-8 flex flex-col space-y-4" action="{{ url('/transcribe') }}" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
                 @csrf
 
                 <div class="text-left">
                     <label for="file" class="block text-sm font-medium leading-6 text-gray-900">Audio File</label>
                     <div class="mt-2">
-                        <input type="file" id="file" accept="audio/*" name="file"/>
+                        <input
+                            type="file"
+                            id="file"
+                            name="file"
+                            accept=".mp3,.mp4,.mpeg,.mpga,.m4a,.wav,.webm,audio/*,video/mp4"
+                        />
                     </div>
                     <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-gray-500">
                         Supported formats: mp3, mp4, mpeg, mpga, m4a, wav and webm. <br>
@@ -55,12 +86,44 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
                             rows="3"
                             class="block w-full rounded-md border-0 text-gray-900 shadow-sm ring-1 ring-inset ring-gray-300 placeholder:text-gray-400 focus:ring-2 focus:ring-inset focus:ring-indigo-600 sm:py-1.5 sm:text-sm sm:leading-6"
                             placeholder="The transcript is about Laravel which makes development with PHP a breeze."
-                        ></textarea>
+                        >{{ old('prompt') }}</textarea>
                     </div>
-                    <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-gray-500">The prompt can be used to provide additional information about the audio. This can be very helpful for correcting specific words or acronyms that the AI model often misrecognizes in the audio..</p>
+                    <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-gray-500">
+                        The prompt can be used to provide additional information about the audio. This can be very helpful
+                        for correcting specific words or acronyms that the AI model often misrecognizes in the audio.
+                    </p>
                 </div>
 
-                @if (auth()->user()->email && !$isSubscribed)
+                @if (! auth()->check() && $guestUploadsEnabled)
+                    <input type="hidden" name="public" value="1">
+                    <div class="rounded-md bg-blue-50 p-4 text-left">
+                        <p class="text-sm text-blue-900">
+                            Guest uploads are enabled in this environment. Your transcript will be public so you can reopen
+                            it without logging in.
+                        </p>
+                    </div>
+                @else
+                    <div class="text-left">
+                        <div class="relative flex items-start">
+                            <div class="flex h-6 items-center">
+                                <input
+                                    id="public"
+                                    name="public"
+                                    type="checkbox"
+                                    value="1"
+                                    @checked(old('public', true))
+                                    class="h-4 w-4 rounded border-gray-300 text-indigo-600 focus:ring-indigo-600"
+                                >
+                            </div>
+                            <div class="ml-3">
+                                <label for="public" class="text-sm font-medium leading-6 text-gray-900">Make this transcript public</label>
+                                <p class="text-sm text-gray-500">Anyone with the transcript link will be able to view it.</p>
+                            </div>
+                        </div>
+                    </div>
+                @endif
+
+                @if (auth()->check() && auth()->user()->email && !$isSubscribed)
                     <div class="text-left">
                         <div class="relative flex items-start">
                             <div class="flex h-6 items-center">
@@ -68,7 +131,7 @@ class="block w-full rounded-md border-0 text-gray-900 shadow-sm ring-1 ring-inse
                             </div>
                             <div class="ml-3">
                                 <label for="newsletter" class="text-sm font-medium leading-6 text-gray-900">Sign up to our newsletter</label>
-                                <p id="comments-description" class="text-sm text-gray-500">Stay informed about our developer tools, such was writeout.ai</p>
+                                <p id="comments-description" class="text-sm text-gray-500">Stay informed about our developer tools, such as writeout.ai.</p>
                             </div>
                         </div>
                     </div>
diff --git a/resources/views/transcript.blade.php b/resources/views/transcript.blade.php
index eea6bdf..1f73f09 100644
--- a/resources/views/transcript.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/transcript.blade.php
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
                 <p class="mt-4 text-lg tracking-tight text-slate-700">
                     We were unable to transcribe your audio. Please try again.
                 </p>
+
+                @if (app()->isLocal() && filled($transcript->error))
+                    <div class="mt-8 rounded-md bg-red-50 p-4 text-left">
+                        <h3 class="text-sm font-medium text-red-800">
+                            Failure details
+                        </h3>
+                        <p class="mt-2 text-sm text-red-700 break-words">
+                            {{ $transcript->error }}
+                        </p>
+                    </div>
+                @endif
             </div>
             @include('partials.banner')
         @elseif($transcript->isTranscribed() || $transcript->isTranslated() || $transcript->isTranslating())
@@ -54,8 +65,7 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
                                     </option>
                                 @endforeach
                             </select>
-                            <button type="submit" class="group inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md py-2 px-4 text-sm font-semibold focus:outline-none focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 bg-blue-600 text-white hover:text-slate-100 hover:bg-blue-500 active:bg-blue-800 active:text-blue-100 focus-visible:outline-blue-600"
-                               href="/transcribe">
+                            <button type="submit" class="group inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md py-2 px-4 text-sm font-semibold focus:outline-none focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 bg-blue-600 text-white hover:text-slate-100 hover:bg-blue-500 active:bg-blue-800 active:text-blue-100 focus-visible:outline-blue-600">
                                 <span>Change</span>
                             </button>
                         </form>
@@ -67,7 +77,7 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
                     'transcript' => $transcript,
                     'language' => request()->get('language') ?? '',
                 ]) }}">
-                        <span>Download transcript</span>
+                        <span>Download text transcript</span>
                     </a>
 
                     <a class="group inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-full py-2 px-4 text-sm font-semibold focus:outline-none focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 bg-blue-600 text-white hover:text-slate-100 hover:bg-blue-500 active:bg-blue-800 active:text-blue-100 focus-visible:outline-blue-600"
@@ -78,12 +88,12 @@ class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-5xl">
             </div>
             @include('partials.banner')
             <div id="webvtt-player"
-                 data-audio="{{ Storage::disk('do')->url($transcript->hash) }}"
+                 data-audio="{{ Storage::disk(config('writeout.transcript_disk'))->url($transcript->hash) }}"
                  data-transcript="{{ action(\App\Http\Controllers\ShowTranscriptVttController::class, [
                     'transcript' => $transcript,
                     'language' => request()->get('language') ?? '',
-                ]) }}"
-             />
+                ]) }}">
+            </div>
         @endif
     </div>
 
diff --git a/resources/views/welcome.blade.php b/resources/views/welcome.blade.php
index a6a2db3..e00e7ab 100644
--- a/resources/views/welcome.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/welcome.blade.php
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 @extends('layouts.app')
 @section('content')
+    @php
+        $demoTranscript = \App\Models\Transcript::query()->where('public', true)->first();
+    @endphp
+
     <div class="mx-auto max-w-7xl px-4 sm:px-6 lg:px-8 pt-20 pb-16 text-center lg:pt-32">
         <h1 class="mx-auto max-w-4xl font-display text-5xl font-medium tracking-tight text-slate-900 sm:text-7xl">
             Transcribe <span class="relative whitespace-nowrap text-blue-600"><svg aria-hidden="true"
@@ -27,11 +31,17 @@ class="absolute top-1/2 left-1/2 max-w-none -translate-x-1/2 -translate-y-1/2"/>
             <div class="text-center flex flex-col items-center">
                 <h2 class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-white sm:text-4xl pb-8">From audio...</h2>
 
-                <audio controls>
-                    <source
-                        src="{{ Storage::disk('do')->url(\App\Models\Transcript::firstWhere('public', true)->hash) }}"
-                        type="audio/mpeg">
-                </audio>
+                @if ($demoTranscript)
+                    <audio controls>
+                        <source
+                            src="{{ Storage::disk(config('writeout.transcript_disk'))->url($demoTranscript->hash) }}"
+                            type="audio/mpeg">
+                    </audio>
+                @else
+                    <p class="max-w-sm text-white/90">
+                        Upload a public transcript to preview the audio demo here.
+                    </p>
+                @endif
             </div>
             <div class="text-center">
                 <h2 class="font-display text-3xl tracking-tight text-white sm:text-4xl pb-8">...to transcript</h2>
@@ -39,11 +49,17 @@ class="absolute top-1/2 left-1/2 max-w-none -translate-x-1/2 -translate-y-1/2"/>
                 <p class="text-white pb-4 text-lg">
                     In more than 10 languages, including Klingon 🤓
                 </p>
-                <p class="text-white pb-4 text-lg">
-                    Take a look at the <a class="font-medium underline" href="{{ action(\App\Http\Controllers\ShowTranscriptController::class, \App\Models\Transcript::firstWhere('public', true)) }}">
-                        demo.
-                    </a>
-                </p>
+                @if ($demoTranscript)
+                    <p class="text-white pb-4 text-lg">
+                        Take a look at the <a class="font-medium underline" href="{{ action(\App\Http\Controllers\ShowTranscriptController::class, $demoTranscript) }}">
+                            demo.
+                        </a>
+                    </p>
+                @else
+                    <p class="text-white pb-4 text-lg">
+                        The demo transcript link will appear automatically once you have a public transcript.
+                    </p>
+                @endif
 
                 <video playsinline autoplay loop muted>
                     <source src="/videos/demo.mp4" type="video/mp4">
diff --git a/routes/web.php b/routes/web.php
index 7edf58d..416d6a9 100644
--- a/routes/web.php
+++ b/routes/web.php
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 Route::get('transcript/{transcript}', ShowTranscriptController::class);
 Route::post('transcript/{transcript}', TranslateTranscriptController::class);
 
-Route::group(['middleware' => 'auth'], function () {
+Route::middleware(config('writeout.allow_guest_uploads') ? [] : ['auth'])->group(function () {
     Route::get('transcribe', NewTranscriptionController::class);
     Route::post('transcribe', TranscribeAudioController::class);
 });
diff --git a/scripts/local_whisper_transcribe.py b/scripts/local_whisper_transcribe.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c477904
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/local_whisper_transcribe.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import argparse
+import json
+import logging
+import math
+import sys
+
+
+def format_timestamp(seconds: float) -> str:
+    total_milliseconds = max(0, int(round(seconds * 1000)))
+    hours, remainder = divmod(total_milliseconds, 3_600_000)
+    minutes, remainder = divmod(remainder, 60_000)
+    secs, milliseconds = divmod(remainder, 1000)
+
+    return f"{hours:02}:{minutes:02}:{secs:02}.{milliseconds:03}"
+
+
+def build_vtt(segments) -> str:
+    lines = ["WEBVTT", ""]
+
+    for index, segment in enumerate(segments, start=1):
+        lines.append(str(index))
+        lines.append(
+            f"{format_timestamp(segment.start)} --> {format_timestamp(segment.end)}"
+        )
+        lines.append(segment.text.strip())
+        lines.append("")
+
+    return "\n".join(lines).strip() + "\n"
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--input", required=True)
+    parser.add_argument("--prompt", default="")
+    parser.add_argument("--model", default="small")
+    parser.add_argument("--device", default="cpu")
+    parser.add_argument("--compute-type", default="int8")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    try:
+        from faster_whisper import WhisperModel
+    except ImportError as exc:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            "Local Whisper is not installed. Run `python -m pip install faster-whisper` first."
+        ) from exc
+
+    logging.getLogger("faster_whisper").setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+
+    model = WhisperModel(
+        args.model,
+        device=args.device,
+        compute_type=args.compute_type,
+    )
+
+    segments_iter, info = model.transcribe(
+        args.input,
+        initial_prompt=args.prompt or None,
+        vad_filter=True,
+    )
+
+    segments = list(segments_iter)
+    transcript = build_vtt(segments)
+    duration = info.duration or (segments[-1].end if segments else 0)
+
+    payload = {
+        "language": info.language or "unknown",
+        "duration": int(math.ceil(duration)),
+        "transcript": transcript,
+    }
+
+    json.dump(payload, sys.stdout)
+
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    try:
+        raise SystemExit(main())
+    except Exception as exc:  # pragma: no cover
+        print(str(exc), file=sys.stderr)
+        raise SystemExit(1)