Edinburgh CSTR
Don’t want to install Edinburgh CSTR? Drop the file here.
The first 20 minutes of any recording are transcribed free: a recording up to 20 minutes transcribes in full, a longer one is previewed, and a pack from $6 (500 minutes) transcribes the rest and opens every export, and credits never expire.
Centre for Speech Technology Research — VCTK + Merlin TTS + Festival origins.
Best for tTS research; multi-speaker corpora; statistical parametric speech synthesis history. Pricing: free.
What it is
Edinburgh CSTR pioneered statistical parametric TTS (HTS, Merlin) and released VCTK, the canonical multi-speaker English corpus. Major academic hub for TTS + voice cloning.
Watch out for: Academic; tools open-source.
Install / use
Go to Edinburgh CSTR www.cstr.ed.ac.ukWhat people actually do with Edinburgh CSTR-style transcription
The tool is the means. These are the jobs — each one priced at published rates, each one wired up on its own page.
Features
| Speaker diarization | No |
| Word-level timestamps | No |
| Streaming / real-time | No |
| Languages supported | 0 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
Edinburgh CSTR vs Whipscribe
| Feature | Edinburgh CSTR | Whipscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Open source | Transcription APIs |
| Pricing | free | $6–$24 one-time packs (credits never expire) · first 20 minutes free |
| Speaker identification | No | Named in the summary, key quotes and chapters |
| Word timestamps | No | Yes |
| Streaming | No | No |
| Languages | 0 | 99 |
| Platforms | Web | Web, API, MCP |
Alternatives to Edinburgh CSTR
Frequently asked about Edinburgh CSTR
Is Edinburgh CSTR free?
Yes. Edinburgh CSTR is free and open source.
Does Edinburgh CSTR work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
Edinburgh CSTR runs in the browser, so it works on any desktop OS with a modern browser, and on phones and tablets.
How do I get started with Edinburgh CSTR?
There is nothing to install — Edinburgh CSTR is used in the browser. Create an account on the vendor's site and upload or connect your audio.
Does Edinburgh CSTR identify different speakers?
No. Edinburgh CSTR does not label speakers; a conversation comes back as one continuous text. If you need speaker labels, that is a separate tool or a different service.
Does Edinburgh CSTR give word-level timestamps?
No — Edinburgh CSTR produces segment or sentence timing only, so subtitle cues can land mid-word.
Can Edinburgh CSTR transcribe live audio?
No — Edinburgh CSTR works on finished files, not a live stream.
Is Edinburgh CSTR HIPAA compliant?
Edinburgh CSTR does not claim HIPAA compliance. For PHI, run it on infrastructure you control or choose a service that will sign a BAA.
What are the limitations of Edinburgh CSTR?
Academic; tools open-source.
Who is Edinburgh CSTR best for?
TTS research; multi-speaker corpora; statistical parametric speech synthesis history.
Does Edinburgh CSTR run offline?
Edinburgh CSTR runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.
Is there a Edinburgh CSTR desktop app?
No — Edinburgh CSTR is browser-only. There is nothing to install and nothing runs on your machine.
Who maintains Edinburgh CSTR?
Edinburgh CSTR is open source on GitHub, maintained by University of Edinburgh.
What kind of tool is Edinburgh CSTR?
In this directory Edinburgh CSTR is filed under research lab as a open-source tool.
What are the alternatives to Edinburgh CSTR?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/edinburgh-cstr-alternatives comparing Edinburgh CSTR with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
Can I automate Edinburgh CSTR-style transcription without running it myself?
Yes. If what you want is transcripts rather than the tool itself, Whipscribe does the same job as a hosted API: submit a file or URL, poll a job id, pull the result as txt, json, srt, vtt or docx. $0.012 a minute — about $0.72 an audio hour — bought as credits that never expire. The automation recipes on this site show it wired to Drive folders, Zoom recordings, S3 buckets and no-code platforms.
Whipscribe is a hosted transcription service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, paste a URL or drop a file in the form below — you'll have a transcript in seconds.
Transcribe your recordings
Running Edinburgh CSTR yourself? Send the same file here and compare the transcript. Transcribe any language, any recording · Transcription services from $0.29 an hour · Transcribe from any meeting or recording platform · How to transcribe, step by step
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Have the recording already?
Skip the setup and send the file or the link: see MP3 to text for long recordings, a podcast episode as text from its link and the SRT generator.
Comparing tools before you pay?
If you would rather pay a service than run software yourself: see the best transcription services side by side, affordable transcription priced per hour and how our transcription services work.