rishiskhare

rishiskhare / parrot

Public

A free, offline, private AI text-to-speech desktop app built on Rust 🦜

tryparrot.vercel.app accessibility cross-platform kokoro-tts rust tauri-v2
37
1
100% credibility
Found Feb 23, 2026 at 18 stars 2x -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
Sign Up Free
AI Analysis
Rust
AI Summary

Parrot is a lightweight desktop app that reads highlighted text aloud using local AI voices, working offline after a one-time model download.

How It Works

1
📥 Download Parrot

Grab the free app from GitHub releases for your computer and install it quickly.

2
🎤 Pick and download a voice

Open the app, choose a natural-sounding voice model (about the size of a song), and let it download once.

3
✨ Highlight text and press shortcut

Select any text in your browser, document, or app, hit the simple shortcut like Option+Space, and hear it spoken aloud right away.

4
🔊 Watch the floating helper

A small overlay pops up showing it's reading, with easy pause or stop buttons.

5
⚙️ Customize your reader

Adjust speed, voice, language, or shortcuts in friendly settings to match your style.

🎉 Read hands-free anywhere

Now enjoy private, instant audio for articles, notes, or emails – all on your device, forever offline.

Sign up to see the full architecture

4 more

Sign Up Free

Star Growth

See how this repo grew from 18 to 37 stars Sign Up Free
Repurpose This Repo

Repurpose is a Pro feature

Generate ready-to-use prompts for X threads, LinkedIn posts, blog posts, YouTube scripts, and more -- with full repo context baked in.

Unlock Repurpose
AI-Generated Review

What is parrot?

Parrot turns selected text in any app into natural speech using a local 115MB neural TTS model, with one shortcut press. Built as a Rust-powered Tauri desktop app (TypeScript frontend), it runs fully offline after a quick model download, supporting 54 voices across 9 languages like English, Hindi, Japanese. Private by design—no cloud, accounts, or internet needed post-setup—it's like a free offline music app but for reading code, docs, or terminals aloud instantly.

Why is it gaining traction?

As a free github copilot alternative for voice-reading code without limits or subscriptions, Parrot skips API parrot github hassles and free github actions limits. Streaming playback starts audio mid-synthesis, plus pause/resume shortcuts, floating overlay, and CLI flags for scripting (e.g., `parrot --toggle-transcription`). Devs dig the lightweight CPU use and Linux Wayland integration via desktop shortcuts.

Who should use this?

DevOps engineers scanning logs or configs in terminals. Frontend devs tired of silent code reviews on free github account repos. Linux power users wanting free offline rpg games-style immersion for docs, or anyone bypassing free github copilot student limits with local TTS.

Verdict

Promising early fork at 13 stars and 1.0% credibility score—docs shine with platform builds and CLI examples, but test maturity lags. Grab it if offline TTS fits; solid for daily driver potential.

(178 words)

Sign up to read the full AI review Sign Up Free

Similar repos coming soon.