Independent reviews. IonBin has no partnerships with the tools on this page and was not paid for these listings. Our evaluations are our own, based on public documentation and our research. Product names are trademarks of their owners and are used for identification only. How disclosure works.
Build your own
Some tools are worth building yourself: you keep your files local, pick your own models and pay only for what you use. With an AI coding agent (Cursor, Codex, Claude Code or Antigravity) and a GitHub repo, a small team can ship these in days, not months. Each guide covers the architecture, the parts and why, a step outline, costs to check, and risks.
Build your own Markdown editor with AI assist
A local-first Markdown reader, writer and editor: live preview, open and save files on your own disk, optional AI help for drafting and cleanup, and an optional MCP hook so your agents can read your notes. Start as a single web page, then wrap it as a desktop app.
Intermediate · a weekBuild your own dictation tool with Deepgram (Wispr Flow-style)
A push-to-talk dictation tool that works in any app: hold a hotkey, speak, and cleaned-up text lands where your cursor is. Streaming speech-to-text from Deepgram, an LLM pass to fix punctuation and filler words, and a paste step that restores your clipboard afterward.
Advanced · several weeksBuild your own "Jarvis" voice assistant
A full voice assistant: wake word or push-to-talk, Deepgram streaming speech-to-text with turn detection, an LLM or agent platform that can use tools through MCP, and ElevenLabs streaming text-to-speech. Covers turn-taking, latency, memory, safety and consent.
These guides draw on patterns from Drew's own builds and on official vendor docs. No affiliate links. Costs are listed as to-verify because usage-based prices change.
ElevenLabs is a trademark of its owner. IonBin is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by ElevenLabs. Product names are used for identification and review purposes only.