vsref
faster-whisper / whisper.cpp logo

faster-whisper / whisper.cpp Review

OSS

The de facto local Whisper runtimes: faster-whisper (Python/CTranslate2) and whisper.cpp (C/C++)

Among the 43 speech-to-text tools we track, faster-whisper / whisper.cpp has the 12th-widest language coverage - a fit for multilingual and localization projects.

See pricing

Facts verified Jul 20, 2026Website →

What we know about faster-whisper / whisper.cpp

faster-whisper / whisper.cpp is a speech-to-text apis platform: the de facto local Whisper runtimes: faster-whisper (Python/CTranslate2) and whisper.cpp (C/C++). This profile tracks every faster-whisper / whisper.cpp fact we have verified, each linked to a primary source and dated.

faster-whisper / whisper.cpp does not publish a public per-minute rate we have been able to verify, so the price figure here stays blank until we can confirm one. We would rather show nothing than a guessed number; if you have a current faster-whisper / whisper.cpp quote, it is the fastest way for us to close that gap.

On capabilities, faster-whisper / whisper.cpp covers language auto-detection, word-level timestamps, custom vocabulary / keyterm boosting, speech translation, gdpr / eu data residency, and self-host / on-prem option, and does not offer entity detection, sentiment analysis, and summarization endpoint. Each of those is verified against faster-whisper / whisper.cpp's own docs or dashboard, not marketing copy.

Among the 43 speech-to-text tools in our matrix, faster-whisper / whisper.cpp leads with the 12th-widest language coverage; the fact sheet below has the raw numbers behind that placement.

In total we track 21 verified facts for faster-whisper / whisper.cpp today, each linking the primary source it came from so you can check our work - and vendor claims we have not measured ourselves are labeled as such on the faster-whisper / whisper.cpp fact sheet below.

Reviewed by vsref Editorialfacts verified Jul 20, 2026Methodology →

Fact sheet

Capabilities
Capabilities facts
Languages supported99 languagesJul 20
Language auto-detection✓ YesJul 20
Speaker diarization✗ Not availableJul 20
PII redaction✗ Not availableJul 20
Word-level timestamps✓ YesJul 20
Custom vocabulary / keyterm boosting✓ YesJul 20
Entity detection✗ NoJul 20
Sentiment analysis✗ NoJul 20
Summarization endpoint✗ NoJul 20
Speech translation✓ YesJul 20
Compliance & trust
Compliance & trust facts
GDPR / EU data residency✓ YesJul 20
Self-host / on-prem option✓ YesJul 20
Model weights licenseMITJul 20
Build experience
Build experience facts
Official SDKsPython (faster-whisper)Jul 20
Supported audio formatsAny FFmpeg-decodable audio (faster-whisper via PyAV)Jul 20
Websocket streaming API✗ NoJul 20
Commercial
Commercial facts
Model size (parameters)39M (tiny) to 1.55B (large-v3); turbo 809MJul 20
Hardware to self-hostCPU-capableJul 20
Project maintenance statusActive - faster-whisper v1.2.1 released 2025-10-31Jul 20
GitHub stars24,400 starsJul 20
Local vs cloud processingLocal (on-device)Jul 20

Considering a switch? Best faster-whisper / whisper.cpp alternatives →