Whisper
openai.com
OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model.
Quick Information
- Category:
- Speech & Transcription
- Pricing:
- Free
- Platforms:
- Linux, Windows, macOS, API
- Free Plan:
- Yes
- API Available:
- Yes
- Last Verified:
- October 2026
What Is Whisper?
Whisper is OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model. OpenAI's pricing page returned a forbidden error when I tried to read it, so I could not verify hosted API prices directly. Third-party sources report that Whisper's code and weights are MIT-licensed and free to self-host, and that the hosted whisper-1 API costs $0.006 per minute, or $0.36 an hour. They also list gpt-4o-transcribe at about $0.006 a minute and gpt-4o-mini-transcribe at an estimated $0.003, while OpenAI's own model page for gpt-4o-transcribe shows token-based pricing with audio input at $2.50 per million tokens, which I could not reconcile with the per-minute figure. One site mentions a Whisper Large V3 Turbo at $0.006 a minute, with no official confirmation that it is a hosted OpenAI model.
One secondary source says several older audio models, including whisper-1, gpt-4o-transcribe, tts-1 and gpt-4o-mini-tts, have shutdown dates in January and February 2027, which is a single claim to check against OpenAI's deprecation page before building on the hosted API. Self-hosting means paying for GPUs and engineering time, and vendors such as Gladia and Voicegain build managed services on Whisper-style models. Quality varies by language and accent, and diarisation is not built in to the open-source model. Treat Whisper as the baseline against which commercial speech APIs are compared.
Whisper suits developers who want a free, self-hosted transcription model or a cheap hosted API. Compare Deepgram, AssemblyAI and Speechmatics. Browse the Speech & Transcription tools directory for more.
What Can You Use Whisper For?
Self-hosted speech recognition
Open weights.
Low-cost hosted transcription
API.
Whisper Features
- Open weights — Reported MIT.
- Multilingual recognition — Many languages.
- Token-priced successor models — gpt-4o-transcribe.
Who Is Whisper For?
- Developers and researchers — Open model.
- Startups — Low cost.
Whisper Pros & Limitations
What We Like
- Free and open source
- Strong baseline accuracy
- Large ecosystem
Limitations
- Self-hosting needs GPUs
- No built-in diarisation
- API deprecation reported
Whisper Pricing
| Plan | Price | Main Features |
|---|---|---|
| Open-source model | Free (MIT per third-party sources) | Self-host; you pay for compute |
| Hosted whisper-1 API (third-party) | $0.006 per minute ($0.36 per hour) | Official page not readable; possible deprecation in early 2027, single source |
Pricing was last verified October 2026. Check the official website for the latest pricing.
AI Listing Jungle Ranking
- Global Rank:
- #736
- Overall Score:
- 56.1/100
- Monthly Users:
- –
- Rank Change:
- ▲ 1021
This ranking reflects AI Listing Jungle's own independent scoring methodology and is not an endorsement by Whisper or its company. How Our Rankings Work
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Whisper free?
The open-source model is, reportedly under MIT.
API price?
Reportedly $0.006 a minute.
Is the API being retired?
One source says shutdowns in early 2027; verify.
Does it do diarisation?
Not in the open model.
Our Take
The open baseline for speech recognition.
Check API deprecations.
Whisper Alternatives
Whisper Comparisons
Ready to try Whisper?
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