diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index b3b9394..74a52c7 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ MESSAGING_RATE_WINDOW=1
 # Voice Note Transcription (transformers Whisper; install with: uv sync --extra voice)
 VOICE_NOTE_ENABLED=true
 # WHISPER_MODEL: Hugging Face ID or short name (tiny, base, small, medium, large-v2, large-v3, large-v3-turbo)
-WHISPER_MODEL=openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo
+WHISPER_MODEL=base
 HF_TOKEN=""
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 18bb309..6953a06 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ uv sync --extra voice
 | Variable | Description | Default |
 |----------|-------------|---------|
 | `VOICE_NOTE_ENABLED` | Enable voice note handling | `true` |
-| `WHISPER_MODEL` | Hugging Face model ID or short name (`tiny`, `base`, `small`, `medium`, `large-v2`, `large-v3`, `large-v3-turbo`) | `openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo` |
+| `WHISPER_MODEL` | Hugging Face model ID or short name (`tiny`, `base`, `small`, `medium`, `large-v2`, `large-v3`, `large-v3-turbo`) | `base` |
 | `WHISPER_DEVICE` | `cpu` \| `cuda` | `cpu` |
 | `HF_TOKEN` | Hugging Face token for faster model downloads (optional; [create one](https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens)) | — |
 
diff --git a/config/settings.py b/config/settings.py
index 09b9223..7142d7d 100644
--- a/config/settings.py
+++ b/config/settings.py
@@ -78,10 +78,8 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     )
     # Hugging Face token for faster model downloads (optional)
     hf_token: str = Field(default="", validation_alias="HF_TOKEN")
-    # Hugging Face Whisper model ID (e.g. openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo) or short name
-    whisper_model: str = Field(
-        default="openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo", validation_alias="WHISPER_MODEL"
-    )
+    # Hugging Face Whisper model ID (e.g. openai/whisper-base) or short name
+    whisper_model: str = Field(default="base", validation_alias="WHISPER_MODEL")
     # Device: "cpu" | "cuda"
     whisper_device: str = Field(default="cpu", validation_alias="WHISPER_DEVICE")
 
diff --git a/messaging/transcription.py b/messaging/transcription.py
index 62f618c..70346b6 100644
--- a/messaging/transcription.py
+++ b/messaging/transcription.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def transcribe_audio(
     file_path: Path,
     mime_type: str,
     *,
-    whisper_model: str = "openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo",
+    whisper_model: str = "base",
     whisper_device: str = "cpu",
 ) -> str:
     """
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def transcribe_audio(
     Args:
         file_path: Path to audio file (OGG, MP3, MP4, WAV, M4A supported)
         mime_type: MIME type of the audio (e.g. "audio/ogg")
-        whisper_model: Model ID (e.g. "openai/whisper-large-v3-turbo") or short name
+        whisper_model: Model ID (e.g. "openai/whisper-base") or short name
         whisper_device: "cpu" | "cuda"
 
     Returns: