Record audio from your microphone, free and in your browser
This tool records your microphone straight to a WebM/Opus file inside your browser. There is no upload, no sign-in, and no time limit — the audio never leaves your device, so it is safe for voice memos, meeting notes, and quick narration.
How it works
When you press Start recording, the browser asks for microphone permission and then captures the stream with the built-in MediaRecorder API. A live meter shows the waveform and input level so you can confirm the mic is picking you up. Nothing is sent to a server — encoding to WebM/Opus happens locally, and the finished file is handed straight back to you for playback and download.
Steps
- Press Start recording and allow microphone access when prompted.
- Speak or play your source; watch the waveform and level meter to confirm it is being captured.
- Use Pause / Resume to skip gaps without ending the take.
- Press Stop when you are done.
- Play the result inline to check it, then Download the WebM file.
Example: record a 30-second voice memo, pause while someone interrupts, resume, stop, and you get a single recording-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.webm file about a few hundred KB in size.
Output format
The tool outputs WebM with the Opus codec because that is what browsers produce natively — no extra libraries and no quality loss from re-encoding. Here is how it compares to other common formats:
| Format | Codec | Native browser recording | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WebM | Opus | Yes (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) | Voice, web delivery | Small, high quality; limited on Safari/old iOS |
| Ogg | Opus | Sometimes | Voice | Fallback container for the same codec |
| WAV | PCM | No (needs manual encoding) | Editing, maximum compatibility | Uncompressed, large files |
| MP3 | MPEG-1 L3 | No (needs an encoder library) | Universal playback | Extra encode step; lossy |
When to use WebM vs convert afterward
Use the WebM/Opus file as-is for anything that plays in a modern browser or media player. If you need guaranteed playback on older Apple devices or in legacy editors, record here first, then run the file through an audio converter to MP3 or WAV.
Privacy
Everything runs client-side in your browser. Your microphone audio is captured, encoded, previewed, and downloaded locally — it is never uploaded, and closing the tab discards it.