MERL Speech
Don’t want to install MERL Speech? 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.
Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs Speech Group — CHiME + speech-enhancement leaders.
Best for speech separation, enhancement, far-field meeting ASR research. Pricing: free.
What it is
MERL Speech (Hershey + Watanabe lineage) led CHiME challenge organizing, pioneered deep-clustering speech separation, and contributes to ESPnet.
Watch out for: Industrial-lab research output; per-release licenses vary.
Install / use
Go to MERL Speech www.merl.comWhat people actually do with MERL Speech-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 |
MERL Speech vs Whipscribe
| Feature | MERL Speech | 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 MERL Speech
Frequently asked about MERL Speech
Is MERL Speech free?
Yes. MERL Speech is free and open source.
Does MERL Speech work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
MERL Speech 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 MERL Speech?
There is nothing to install — MERL Speech is used in the browser. Create an account on the vendor's site and upload or connect your audio.
Does MERL Speech identify different speakers?
No. MERL Speech 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 MERL Speech give word-level timestamps?
No — MERL Speech produces segment or sentence timing only, so subtitle cues can land mid-word.
Can MERL Speech transcribe live audio?
No — MERL Speech works on finished files, not a live stream.
Is MERL Speech HIPAA compliant?
MERL Speech 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 MERL Speech?
Industrial-lab research output; per-release licenses vary.
Who is MERL Speech best for?
Speech separation, enhancement, far-field meeting ASR research.
Does MERL Speech run offline?
MERL Speech runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.
Is there a MERL Speech desktop app?
No — MERL Speech is browser-only. There is nothing to install and nothing runs on your machine.
Who maintains MERL Speech?
MERL Speech is open source on GitHub, maintained by Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs.
What kind of tool is MERL Speech?
In this directory MERL Speech is filed under research lab as a open-source tool.
What are the alternatives to MERL Speech?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/merl-speech-alternatives comparing MERL Speech with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
Can I automate MERL Speech-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 MERL Speech 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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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 file generator.
Looking at paid options?
Before you choose a transcription tool or service: see how the best transcription services compare, cheap transcription services and the real cost per hour and our transcription service with prices and turnaround.