AI · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to WhisperAPI
$0.15/hr audio transcription API powered by OpenAI Whisper
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. WhisperAPI launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
- 101
Hey HN! I've been working on a side project to create an audio transcription API based on the OpenAI whisper model. Sign up link: https://whisperapi.com I tried to make the API really easy to use and get setup with. Also, because the Whisper model is so good, turns out I can offer the service for about 75% cheaper than what seems like the industry average. I'm always looking to make improvements, so would appreciate any feedback anyone has!
2022 · whisperapi.com · its alternatives →
- 2IM
2022 · freesubtitles.ai · its alternatives →
- 3
Fast voice-to-text on 92 languages
2023 · its alternatives →
- 4
Use OpenAI Whisper for free audio transcription
2024 · its alternatives →
- 5WO
Hey HN! Braden here, creator of Whispering, an open-source speech-to-text app. I really like dictation. For years, I relied on transcription tools that were almost good, but they were all closed-source. Even a lot of them that claimed to be “local” or “on-device” were still black boxes that left me wondering where my audio really went. So I built Whispering. It’s open-source, local-first, and most importantly, transparent with your data. Your data is stored locally on your device, and your audio goes directly from your machine to a local provider (Whisper C++, Speaches, etc.) or your chosen…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 6
Local transcripts with speaker labels, timestamps, + export
Dec 2025 · whispersnapper.com · its alternatives →
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10PO
Hi HN, OpenAI recently released a model for automatic speech recognition called Whisper [0]. I decided to reimplement the inference of the model from scratch using C/C++. To achieve this I implemented a minimalistic tensor library in C and ported the high-level architecture of the model in C++. The entire code is less than 8000 lines of code and is contained in just 2 source files without any third-party dependencies. The Github project is here: https://github.com/ggerganov/whisper.cpp With this implementation I can very easily build and run the model - “make…
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11IG
Hey HN. I’m Ivan, hacker from Ukraine. For about a year, I was working on Listenly — an app to listen to text content with OpenAI's natural-sounding text-to-speech model. At some moment, I realized that it would be cool to take all the public domain e-books and create audio versions for them. So I did it... kind-of. It would cost an immense amount of money to generate all the audio right away (OpenAI TTS costs approximately $0.84/hour of audio; 11labs, for comparison, is 10 times more expensive). So, I took a more gradual approach. I took all the metadata from the Project Gutenberg…
2024 · listenly.io · its alternatives →
- 12OS
I built Whispering because I believe transcription is too fundamental a tool to be locked behind paywalls. It's a cross-platform desktop and web transcription app that turns speech into text with a keyboard shortcut, among other things. The app lets you bring your own API key (OpenAI, Groq, etc.) and make direct calls. If you want complete privacy, it also supports local transcription. Either way, your audio never goes through any middleman servers. It's super lightweight (~22MB), built with Svelte 5 and Tauri, and works on Mac, Windows, and Linux. I've been using it daily for the past few…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 13
- 14
Privacy-first AI-powered transcription macOS app
2025 · whisperbuddy.com · its alternatives →
- 15
Lets you use your OpenAI key for affordable transcription
Oct 2025 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
- 16
- 17
Supercharge your transcription workflow using OpenAI Whisper
2023 · its alternatives →
- 18
Pay-as-you-go Whisper AI transcription (no subscriptions)
Jul 2026 · auratranscribe.vercel.app · its alternatives →
- 19
- 20
- 21
Generate English subtitles for videos in any language
2022 · its alternatives →
- 22
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- 24
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- $0.15/hr audio transcription API based on OpenAI Whisper alternatives
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- Whispering – Open-source, local-first dictation you can trust alternatives
- Whisper Snapper for Mac alternatives
Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →