JHU CLSP

by Johns Hopkins University

Don’t want to install JHU CLSP? 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.

Johns Hopkins Center for Language and Speech Processing — Kaldi + LibriSpeech + Sherpa origins.

Web  ·  free

TL;DR

Best for speech + NLP research at one of the oldest US speech-tech labs. Pricing: free.

Category
Open source
License
NOASSERTION
Stars
★ 15.4k
Last push
2025-09-22
Pricing
free
Platforms
Web

What it is

JHU CLSP (Center for Language and Speech Processing) gave the field Kaldi (Povey et al.), LibriSpeech (Panayotov et al.), MUSAN, RIRS-Noises, and the Sherpa runtime line. Annual JSALT workshops drive cross-institution speech research.

Best for: Speech + NLP research at one of the oldest US speech-tech labs.
Watch out for: Academic research output; tools open-source (Apache-2.0 Kaldi).

Install / use

Go to JHU CLSP www.clsp.jhu.edu

What people actually do with JHU CLSP-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.

Transcribe a whole back catalogue in one runThe archive is the asset, but one-at-a-time upload means it never gets done.…1,000 hours ≈ $480, onceTranscribe every new file in a Drive folderFiles accumulate in a folder nobody opens, and the knowledge in them is invisible to search.…≈ $0.29 per audio hour on the $24 packCut short-form clips out of a webinar automaticallyThe clips worth posting are buried somewhere in a 60-minute recording and finding them by scrubbing costs more than the…60-min webinar ≈ $0.72

Wire it into Amazon S3n8nMake.comGoogle DriveZapierSlack

Features

Speaker diarizationNo
Word-level timestampsNo
Streaming / real-timeNo
Languages supported0
HIPAA eligibleNo

Links

GitHub repo ↗

JHU CLSP vs Whipscribe

FeatureJHU CLSPWhipscribe
CategoryOpen sourceTranscription APIs
Pricingfree$6–$24 one-time packs (credits never expire) · first 20 minutes free
Speaker identificationNoNamed in the summary, key quotes and chapters
Word timestampsNoYes
StreamingNoNo
Languages099
PlatformsWebWeb, API, MCP

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Frequently asked about JHU CLSP

Is JHU CLSP free?

Yes. JHU CLSP is free and open source.

Does JHU CLSP work on Mac, Windows and Linux?

JHU CLSP 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 JHU CLSP?

There is nothing to install — JHU CLSP is used in the browser. Create an account on the vendor's site and upload or connect your audio.

Does JHU CLSP identify different speakers?

No. JHU CLSP 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 JHU CLSP give word-level timestamps?

No — JHU CLSP produces segment or sentence timing only, so subtitle cues can land mid-word.

Can JHU CLSP transcribe live audio?

No — JHU CLSP works on finished files, not a live stream.

Is JHU CLSP HIPAA compliant?

JHU CLSP 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 JHU CLSP?

Academic research output; tools open-source (Apache-2.0 Kaldi).

Who is JHU CLSP best for?

Speech + NLP research at one of the oldest US speech-tech labs.

Does JHU CLSP run offline?

JHU CLSP runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.

Is there a JHU CLSP desktop app?

No — JHU CLSP is browser-only. There is nothing to install and nothing runs on your machine.

Where is the JHU CLSP source code?

On GitHub at github.com/kaldi-asr/kaldi. It is maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

What kind of tool is JHU CLSP?

In this directory JHU CLSP is filed under research lab as a open-source tool.

What are the alternatives to JHU CLSP?

There is a side-by-side page at /tools/jhu-clsp-alternatives comparing JHU CLSP with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.

Can I automate JHU CLSP-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 JHU CLSP 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

Explore

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Long recording to get through?

One file up to 10 hours, as an upload or a link: see transcribing a long MP3 or M4A, how to transcribe a podcast and the SRT generator.

Looking at paid options?

Before you choose a transcription tool or service: see an honest roundup of the best transcription services, cheap transcription services and the real cost per hour and transcription services from $6.