12 Hobbies StudioTwelve hobbies, one habit:
build it open, run it yourself.
12 Hobbies Studio makes small, open-source, self-hostable projects across hardware and software. No lock-in, no subscriptions you cannot leave, no data you do not own.
your AI
OpenScribe
An open-source, self-hosted AI voice recorder in the spirit of a Plaud device - but you bring the AI. Record on a small ESP32-S3, sync over BLE or WiFi, transcribe and summarise with any AI you choose: open-standard, local, or a commercial API.
- Open hardware, open firmware, open API - build it and own it.
- Connect to OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, a local model, or your own server.
- Self-hosted transcription and summaries. No mandatory cloud.
Projects
One shipped, more in the workshop. Everything here is open source.
OpenScribe
Self-hosted AI voice recorder. Bring your own AI, open or commercial.
More soon
New hobbies, new builds. This grid grows as projects ship.
Your idea?
Open a discussion on the forge. The studio likes a good excuse to build.
Why open beats a locked box
A typical AI recorder ties you to one vendor's cloud and one subscription. The studio's approach, using OpenScribe as the example:
| Typical AI recorder | OpenScribe | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your audio lives | Vendor cloud | Your storage / NAS |
| Which AI transcribes it | Vendor's, fixed | Any - local or commercial |
| Cost model | Monthly minutes | Your provider, or free if local |
| The device | Sealed | Open hardware you build |
| The software | Closed | Open source, forkable |
| Export & API | Limited | Completely open API |
About the studio
12 Hobbies Studio is a home for maker projects that are worth doing properly and worth sharing. The through-line: build in the open, keep the data with the person who made it, and let anyone reproduce the whole thing from the repo alone. Firmware, servers and apps are copyleft; hardware is open-hardware licensed; docs are share-alike.