Whisper

Open-source speech recognition model, not an app you sign in to

AI Everyday & LifestyleFree planOverseasβ˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 5.0

What is Whisper?

Whisper is OpenAI's open-source automatic speech recognition model, published with code and weights rather than as a finished product. It transcribes and translates audio in a wide range of languages, handles noisy recordings and accents better than many older systems, and ships in several sizes so you can trade accuracy against speed. Because it is a model, you use it through something else: the hosted API, a desktop app, or a local install with a wrapper. That flexibility is the point, and it also means setup is your responsibility.

Last updated: 2026-09-20. This site only provides an index; for exact features, pricing, and licensing, see the official website.

Key features

  • Speech-to-text transcription across a wide range of languages
  • Speech translation into English from many source languages
  • Several model sizes from tiny to large for speed or accuracy
  • Open weights under a permissive licence for local use
  • Timestamps and segment-level output for subtitle work
  • Runs offline once installed, keeping audio on your machine

Pros & cons

Strengths

  • Free and open source, with no per-minute transcription fee
  • Strong accuracy on accents, background noise and technical speech
  • Wide ecosystem of apps and wrappers built on top of it

Watch out for

  • It is a model, not an app: you need a wrapper or the API to use it
  • The largest models want a decent GPU for reasonable speed
  • No speaker labels or punctuation control beyond what the model gives

Best for & use cases

local transcription, subtitle generation, research on speech models and offline captioning

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FAQ

Is Whisper an app I can download and open?

Not by itself. It is a model with code and weights, so you run it through the API, a command line install, or one of the many desktop and web apps that wrap it. Choosing that wrapper determines the interface you actually see.

Does it work offline?

Yes, once the model is downloaded and running locally no network connection is needed, which is why it is popular for confidential recordings. You pay in hardware instead, since larger models are slow on weaker machines.

How accurate is it on non-English audio?

Quality is strong for a freely available model, but it varies by language and recording quality, and translation into English is less reliable than plain transcription. Reviewing output before publishing is still standard practice.