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Speech & audio

Porcupine

Lets apps and devices listen for a chosen trigger word, like "Hey Siri" style wake words.

What it does

Porcupine is a wake word engine. A wake word is a short spoken phrase, like "Alexa", that tells a device to start paying attention. Porcupine listens to a microphone all the time and signals when it hears one of the words it was set up to catch.

Its makers say it is small and efficient enough for tiny gadgets. It runs on many systems, from small chips like Arduino and Raspberry Pi to phones, web browsers and desktop computers. It can listen for several wake words at once, and developers can create custom wake words through the Picovoice Console website.

It supports English, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. It includes demos and building blocks for many programming languages. Using it requires an AccessKey, a code you get from the Picovoice Console.

Who it's for

Developers and hobbyists building voice-controlled apps, gadgets or smart home devices that need to react to a spoken trigger word.

Can I use it without coding?

Developers only. It is a software library meant to be built into other apps, and even the demos need programming tools and terminal commands. New to this? Start here.

Can I run it?

Cost
Free, but needs an AI accountThe software is free, but it uses an online AI service (like OpenAI or Anthropic), which usually charges for use.
Runs on
Mac, Windows, Linux, Phone, Web browser
Computer
An ordinary computer is fine
Privacy
Runs on your own device: your data stays with you
API key
Needed. An API key is a password-like code from an online AI service. What's that?

Try it

  1. Try the interactive web demo linked in the README to see how it works.
  2. Sign up on the Picovoice Console website to get your AccessKey.
  3. Pick the demo for your platform (such as Python, Android or the web) and follow its instructions, adding your AccessKey.
Official download page

Before you download

Plain-AyI is an independent guide: we link to each project's official pages, but we don't host, review or endorse the software, and we can't accept responsibility for how it works on your device. Please download and install at your own discretion.

Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?

Before you install

  • Only download from the official GitHub page or the official download page above. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
  • Plain-AyI is an independent guide and doesn't host or review the software it lists. Please check each project's official page before installing.
  • License (Apache-2.0): Permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
  • Keep your API key private. Never paste it into websites or share it, and set a spending limit with the AI service.
  • More on staying safe