diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 1fdfe44..f6ea82b 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -229,3 +229,8 @@ OPERATOR_PASSWORD=
 # TTS_RATE=+0%
 # TTS_VOLUME=+0%
 # TTS_MAX_CHARS=2000
+
+# STT (optional) — transcribe Telegram voice notes.
+# Default implementation supports OpenAI Whisper, or attempts OpenRouter with an OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
+# STT_PROVIDER=openrouter
+# STT_MODEL=openai/whisper-1
diff --git a/src/channels/telegram.ts b/src/channels/telegram.ts
index b52571b..df80902 100644
--- a/src/channels/telegram.ts
+++ b/src/channels/telegram.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@ import {
   RegisteredGroup,
 } from '../types.js';
 import { registerChannel } from './registry.js';
-import { isTranscriptionAvailable, transcribeAudio } from '../transcription.js';
+import {
+  getTranscriptionStatus,
+  isTranscriptionAvailable,
+  transcribeAudio,
+} from '../transcription.js';
 
 export interface TelegramChannelOpts {
   onMessage: OnInboundMessage;
@@ -296,8 +300,8 @@ export class TelegramChannel implements Channel {
 
       try {
         if (!isTranscriptionAvailable()) {
-          content =
-            '[Voice message — transcription unavailable (missing OPENAI_API_KEY)]';
+          const stt = getTranscriptionStatus();
+          content = `[Voice message — transcription unavailable (${stt.reason})]`;
           throw new Error('transcription-unavailable');
         }
 
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index b496ff9..02711b5 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -128,6 +128,9 @@ const envConfig = readEnvFile([
   'TTS_RATE',
   'TTS_VOLUME',
   'TTS_MAX_CHARS',
+  // STT (speech-to-text, optional)
+  'STT_PROVIDER',
+  'STT_MODEL',
 ]);
 
 // ── Agent identity (single source — everything derives from this) ──
@@ -238,6 +241,8 @@ export const TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN =
   process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN || envConfig.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN || '';
 export const OPENAI_API_KEY =
   process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY || envConfig.OPENAI_API_KEY || '';
+export const OPENROUTER_API_KEY =
+  process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY || envConfig.OPENROUTER_API_KEY || '';
 
 // ── Prompt/token guardrails ────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -645,6 +650,14 @@ export const TTS_MAX_CHARS = Math.max(
   200,
   parseInt(process.env.TTS_MAX_CHARS || envConfig.TTS_MAX_CHARS || '2000', 10),
 );
+
+// ── STT (speech-to-text) ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+export type SttProvider = 'openai' | 'openrouter' | '';
+export const STT_PROVIDER: SttProvider = (process.env.STT_PROVIDER ||
+  envConfig.STT_PROVIDER ||
+  '') as SttProvider;
+export const STT_MODEL =
+  process.env.STT_MODEL || envConfig.STT_MODEL || 'whisper-1';
 export const WATCHDOG_MODE = (process.env.WATCHDOG_MODE || 'auto') as
   | 'auto'
   | 'slow'
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index edcac3c..890e3e6 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ import {
   MAIN_GROUP_FOLDER,
   METRICS_PORT,
   OPENAI_API_KEY,
+  OPENROUTER_API_KEY,
   PROJECT_ROOT,
   TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN,
+  STT_MODEL,
+  STT_PROVIDER,
   TTS_MODE,
   TMP_DIR,
   TRIGGER_PATTERN,
@@ -844,7 +847,12 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   await loadState();
 
   // Initialize voice transcription
-  initTranscription(OPENAI_API_KEY);
+  initTranscription({
+    provider: STT_PROVIDER,
+    model: STT_MODEL,
+    openaiApiKey: OPENAI_API_KEY,
+    openrouterApiKey: OPENROUTER_API_KEY,
+  });
 
   // Connect memory pool — required (db jail must be running)
   try {
diff --git a/src/transcription.test.ts b/src/transcription.test.ts
index 2544393..207a2b0 100644
--- a/src/transcription.test.ts
+++ b/src/transcription.test.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,13 @@ describe('initTranscription', () => {
 
   it('does not throw when called with an API key', async () => {
     const { initTranscription: init } = await import('./transcription.js');
-    expect(() => init('sk-test-key')).not.toThrow();
+    expect(() =>
+      init({
+        provider: 'openai',
+        model: 'whisper-1',
+        openaiApiKey: 'sk-test-key',
+      }),
+    ).not.toThrow();
   });
 });
 
@@ -96,7 +102,7 @@ describe('transcribeAudio — initialized', () => {
   it('returns transcript text on success', async () => {
     mockCreate.mockResolvedValue({ text: '  hello world  ' });
     const { initTranscription: init, transcribeAudio: transcribe } = await import('./transcription.js');
-    init('sk-test-key');
+    init({ provider: 'openai', model: 'whisper-1', openaiApiKey: 'sk-test-key' });
     const result = await transcribe(
       require('path').resolve(process.cwd(), 'tmp', 'audio.ogg'),
     );
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@ describe('transcribeAudio — initialized', () => {
   it('returns null on OpenAI error', async () => {
     mockCreate.mockRejectedValue(new Error('API error'));
     const { initTranscription: init, transcribeAudio: transcribe } = await import('./transcription.js');
-    init('sk-test-key');
+    init({ provider: 'openai', model: 'whisper-1', openaiApiKey: 'sk-test-key' });
     const result = await transcribe(
       require('path').resolve(process.cwd(), 'tmp', 'audio.ogg'),
     );
@@ -116,7 +122,7 @@ describe('transcribeAudio — initialized', () => {
   it('calls the transcription API with whisper-1 model', async () => {
     mockCreate.mockResolvedValue({ text: 'test' });
     const { initTranscription: init, transcribeAudio: transcribe } = await import('./transcription.js');
-    init('sk-test-key');
+    init({ provider: 'openai', model: 'whisper-1', openaiApiKey: 'sk-test-key' });
     await transcribe(require('path').resolve(process.cwd(), 'tmp', 'audio.ogg'));
     expect(mockCreate).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ model: 'whisper-1' }),
@@ -126,7 +132,7 @@ describe('transcribeAudio — initialized', () => {
   it('returns null for empty transcript text', async () => {
     mockCreate.mockResolvedValue({ text: '   ' });
     const { initTranscription: init, transcribeAudio: transcribe } = await import('./transcription.js');
-    init('sk-test-key');
+    init({ provider: 'openai', model: 'whisper-1', openaiApiKey: 'sk-test-key' });
     const result = await transcribe(
       require('path').resolve(process.cwd(), 'tmp', 'audio.ogg'),
     );
diff --git a/src/transcription.ts b/src/transcription.ts
index b58afc4..8889423 100644
--- a/src/transcription.ts
+++ b/src/transcription.ts
@@ -4,22 +4,99 @@ import fs from 'fs';
 
 let openaiClient: OpenAI | null = null;
 let transcriptionReady = false;
+let transcriptionReason = 'not initialized';
+let transcriptionProvider: string | null = null;
+let transcriptionModel: string | null = null;
 
-export function initTranscription(apiKey?: string): void {
-  if (!apiKey) {
-    logger.warn('OPENAI_API_KEY not set - voice transcription unavailable');
+export function initTranscription(
+  options?: {
+    provider: 'openai' | 'openrouter' | '';
+    model: string;
+    openaiApiKey?: string;
+    openrouterApiKey?: string;
+  },
+): void {
+  const provider = options?.provider || '';
+  const model = options?.model || 'whisper-1';
+  const openaiApiKey = options?.openaiApiKey;
+  const openrouterApiKey = options?.openrouterApiKey;
+
+  transcriptionProvider = provider || null;
+  transcriptionModel = model || null;
+
+  if (!provider) {
     transcriptionReady = false;
+    transcriptionReason = 'STT_PROVIDER not set';
+    logger.info('Voice transcription disabled (no STT_PROVIDER configured)');
     return;
   }
-  openaiClient = new OpenAI({ apiKey });
-  transcriptionReady = true;
-  logger.info('Voice transcription initialized with OpenAI Whisper');
+
+  if (provider === 'openai') {
+    if (!openaiApiKey) {
+      logger.warn('OPENAI_API_KEY not set - voice transcription unavailable');
+      transcriptionReady = false;
+      transcriptionReason = 'missing OPENAI_API_KEY';
+      return;
+    }
+    openaiClient = new OpenAI({ apiKey: openaiApiKey });
+    transcriptionReady = true;
+    transcriptionReason = 'ok';
+    logger.info({ provider: 'openai', model }, 'Voice transcription initialized');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (provider === 'openrouter') {
+    if (!openrouterApiKey) {
+      logger.warn('OPENROUTER_API_KEY not set - voice transcription unavailable');
+      transcriptionReady = false;
+      transcriptionReason = 'missing OPENROUTER_API_KEY';
+      return;
+    }
+    // OpenRouter uses provider-scoped model IDs (e.g. "openai/whisper-1").
+    const normalizedModel =
+      model === 'whisper-1' ? 'openai/whisper-1' : model;
+    transcriptionModel = normalizedModel;
+    openaiClient = new OpenAI({
+      apiKey: openrouterApiKey,
+      baseURL: 'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1',
+      defaultHeaders: {
+        'HTTP-Referer': 'https://codeberg.org/Clawdie/Clawdie-AI',
+        'X-Title': 'mevy-ai',
+      },
+    });
+    transcriptionReady = false;
+    transcriptionReady = true;
+    transcriptionReason = 'ok';
+    logger.info(
+      { provider: 'openrouter', model: normalizedModel },
+      'Voice transcription initialized (OpenRouter)',
+    );
+    return;
+  }
+
+  transcriptionReady = false;
+  transcriptionReason = `unsupported provider: ${provider}`;
+  logger.warn({ provider }, 'Voice transcription unavailable');
 }
 
 export function isTranscriptionAvailable(): boolean {
   return transcriptionReady && !!openaiClient;
 }
 
+export function getTranscriptionStatus(): {
+  available: boolean;
+  reason: string;
+  provider: string | null;
+  model: string | null;
+} {
+  return {
+    available: isTranscriptionAvailable(),
+    reason: transcriptionReason,
+    provider: transcriptionProvider,
+    model: transcriptionModel,
+  };
+}
+
 export async function transcribeAudio(
   audioPath: string,
 ): Promise<string | null> {
@@ -32,7 +109,7 @@ export async function transcribeAudio(
     const audioFile = fs.createReadStream(audioPath);
     const response = await openaiClient.audio.transcriptions.create({
       file: audioFile,
-      model: 'whisper-1',
+      model: transcriptionModel || 'whisper-1',
     });
 
     const transcript = response.text.trim();