Fairseq
Don’t want to install Fairseq? 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.
Meta's seq-to-seq toolkit — home of wav2vec, HuBERT, XLS-R, MMS.
Upstream is archived. Fairseq’s repository has been set read-only by its owner, so there are no further releases, fixes, or security patches. The last commit landed 2025-09-30. It can still be cloned and run, and forks may be maintained elsewhere. See the repository.
Best for researchers needing the original implementations of wav2vec / HuBERT / MMS. Pricing: free.
What it is
The canonical research codebase for many SOTA speech encoders. MIT.
Watch out for: Maintenance-mode in favor of fairseq2; old PyTorch versions; setup pain.
Install / use
pip install fairseqWhat people actually do with Fairseq-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 | Yes |
| Streaming / real-time | No |
| Languages supported | 100 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
Links
Fairseq vs Whipscribe
| Feature | Fairseq | 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming | No | No |
| Languages | 100 | 99 |
| Platforms | Linux | Web, API, MCP |
Alternatives to Fairseq
Frequently asked about Fairseq
Is Fairseq free?
Yes. Fairseq is free and open source.
Does Fairseq work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
Fairseq runs on Linux. It is not listed for other platforms; check the vendor for anything beyond Linux.
How do I install Fairseq?
With pip: `pip install fairseq`. You need Python and, for most audio tools, ffmpeg on your PATH first.
How many languages does Fairseq support?
Fairseq lists 100 languages. That is the Whisper-family multilingual set, so quality varies by language — English and the large European languages are strongest.
Does Fairseq identify different speakers?
No. Fairseq 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 Fairseq give word-level timestamps?
Yes — Fairseq produces timing per word, which is what subtitle cues and clip boundaries need.
Can Fairseq transcribe live audio?
No — Fairseq works on finished files, not a live stream.
Is Fairseq HIPAA compliant?
Fairseq 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 Fairseq?
Maintenance-mode in favor of fairseq2; old PyTorch versions; setup pain.
Who is Fairseq best for?
Researchers needing the original implementations of wav2vec / HuBERT / MMS.
Does Fairseq run offline?
Fairseq runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.
Can I use Fairseq in the browser?
No — Fairseq is a Linux application, not a web app. You install it rather than sign in to it.
Where is the Fairseq source code?
On GitHub at github.com/facebookresearch/fairseq. It is maintained by Meta AI.
What kind of tool is Fairseq?
In this directory Fairseq is filed under toolkit, foundation, research as a open-source tool.
What are the alternatives to Fairseq?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/fairseq-alternatives comparing Fairseq with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
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 Fairseq 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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Comparing tools before you pay?
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