Free browser voice recorder with no signup required
Record audio online without uploading your file to a server. Orec runs entirely in your browser, exports WAV or MP3, and never asks for an account.
You can record audio in your browser right now, no account, no upload, no file size cap. Open the recorder, click record, and your audio goes to local storage on your device. When you stop, download the WAV. That's the whole flow.
Most browser recorders aren't built this way. Knowing what to look for helps you avoid losing takes.
What to look for in a browser voice recorder
No upload step. Good browser recorders use the Web Audio API and IndexedDB to capture and store audio locally. Your file should never touch a third-party server unless you explicitly share it. If a recorder asks you to wait while it "processes your recording," your audio went somewhere.
No time limits. A 10-minute cap is a business decision, not a technical one. The browser has no trouble recording for an hour. Caps exist to push you toward a paid tier.
Lossless export. WAV at 44.1 kHz stereo is about 10 MB per minute. MP3 at 128 kbps is about 1 MB per minute. A free recorder should give you both without gating either format. WAV is the right default if you plan to edit the file later.
Crash safety. If the browser crashes or you close the tab, an in-memory recorder loses everything. A recorder that writes chunks to IndexedDB every few seconds loses at most a few seconds. Orec writes every 3 seconds, so a crash is recoverable.
What typically goes wrong
The upload surprise. You record, click stop, and see a progress bar uploading to their server. You never agreed to that. Your audio is now on a server you can't identify, probably to enable an "AI summary" upsell you didn't ask for.
The time limit wall. You're 12 minutes into a 15-minute take and the recorder stops. Free tier. To get the rest, pay monthly.
The lost take. Tab crash, accidental close, laptop battery death. If the recorder only holds audio in RAM, it's gone. A 45-minute interview, gone.
Format lock-in. The recorder gives you an M4A or a proprietary format. Your editing software doesn't open it. You need a converter before you can start editing.
File size math
Before you choose a format, it helps to know what you're getting:
| Format | Bitrate | File size per minute (mono) | File size per minute (stereo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAV 44.1 kHz | uncompressed | ~5 MB | ~10 MB |
| WAV 48 kHz | uncompressed | ~5.5 MB | ~11 MB |
| MP3 | 128 kbps | ~1 MB | ~1 MB |
| MP3 | 192 kbps | ~1.4 MB | ~1.4 MB |
| Opus (OGG) | 64 kbps VBR | ~0.5 MB | ~0.5 MB |
A 30-minute podcast interview is about 300 MB as a WAV stereo file, or about 30 MB as an MP3 at 128 kbps. WAV is what you want for editing. MP3 is fine for sharing or archiving after the edit is done.
Orec exports WAV by default. You can re-export as MP3 any time. See the full comparison in which audio format should you export.
Record right now
Go to orec.live/recorder. Click the microphone button. Grant the microphone permission (one-time browser prompt). You're recording. Click stop. Download your WAV.
If you want to clean up the recording before downloading, the silence remover strips dead air automatically. The audio trimmer lets you cut the beginning or end. The LUFS normalizer brings the volume to a target level for podcast platforms (Spotify targets -14 LUFS, Apple Podcasts -16 LUFS).
To send the recording as a link instead of a file, read how sharing audio recordings with a link works in Orec.
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