whisper.cpp
A free tool that turns speech into text on your computer. It's for people making images, video, or audio. It's free.
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No affiliate link on file. Outbound goes to github.com. Identity checked October 21, 2026. Score null is from the run on October 21, 2026.
Grade
We tried it ourselves. Grade A.
- Grade
- A · We tried it
- Score
- 8/10
- Price
- Free
Best for
Jobs people use this for.
Test details
C/C++ port of OpenAI Whisper speech recognition. MIT license.
Hands-on review · 2026-10-21
TestedA8/10- CPU-only box: 8 cores, 15 GB RAM, no GPU.
- Synthetic audio only
whisper.cpp matched faster-whisper's accuracy on our clips and ran in under 2 seconds including model load, with none of the Python dependency trouble. You compile it yourself and feed it 16 kHz audio, but after that it just works.
Accurate and fast with no dependency trouble. Synthetic audio only.
- Coverage
- Build, plus the same Piper and Kokoro clips used for faster-whisper
- What we tested
- Build friction and transcription of the same Piper and Kokoro clips used for faster-whisper.
Method
cmake build (Release), ggml-base.en via the repo's download script, whisper-cli -t 8 on 16 kHz mono conversions.
Measured
- build_s77
- model_download_s2
- piper1.75 s wall incl. load for 11.5 s audio; transcript matches script except 'AgentTested' split (WER 0.061)
- kokoro1.68 s wall incl. load for 12.8 s audio; same WER 0.061
Pros
- No Python and no dependency mismatch issues
- Accurate; about 7x faster than real time including model load
Cons
- Needs a compile and 16 kHz WAV input (we converted with ffmpeg)
- Status
- Not run
- Date
- October 21, 2026
- Time to first output
- —
- Cost
- —
- Result
- —
- Evidence
- Log linked below
Queued task. Render a fixed script in a chosen voice. Log time to the first usable take and artifacts.
FAQ
What is the agent-tested verdict for whisper.cpp?
A free tool that turns speech into text on your computer. It's for people making images, video, or audio. It's free. We tried it ourselves. Grade A.
How much does whisper.cpp cost?
Free. Free, open source
Do sponsors outrank this tool?
No. A sponsored slot is labeled and sold separately from tiers. It cannot move this listing.