NIST OpenSAT
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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.
Open Speech Analytic Technologies — noise-robust ASR + KWS + SAD challenge.
Best for robust ASR / KWS / SAD evaluation under reverberation + noise + low-resource conditions. Pricing: paid.
What it is
NIST OpenSAT/OpenASR is the open-evaluation successor to NIST RT and IARPA Babel — covering low-resource multilingual ASR + KWS + speech-activity detection.
Watch out for: LDC-distributed · paid · government-evaluation provenance. Cite: NIST OpenSAT/OpenASR plans.
Install / use
Go to NIST OpenSAT www.nist.govWhat people actually do with NIST OpenSAT-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 | 20 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
NIST OpenSAT vs Whipscribe
| Feature | NIST OpenSAT | Whipscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Open source | Transcription APIs |
| Pricing | paid | $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 | 20 | 99 |
| Platforms | LDC | Web, API, MCP |
Alternatives to NIST OpenSAT
Frequently asked about NIST OpenSAT
How much does NIST OpenSAT cost?
NIST OpenSAT is a paid product. Pricing changes; verify on the vendor's own page before budgeting.
Does NIST OpenSAT work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
NIST OpenSAT runs on LDC. It is not listed for other platforms; check the vendor for anything beyond LDC.
How do I install NIST OpenSAT?
Download the installer for your platform from https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/mig/openasr-challenge. No terminal needed.
How many languages does NIST OpenSAT support?
NIST OpenSAT lists 20 languages.
Does NIST OpenSAT identify different speakers?
No. NIST OpenSAT 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 NIST OpenSAT give word-level timestamps?
No — NIST OpenSAT produces segment or sentence timing only, so subtitle cues can land mid-word.
Can NIST OpenSAT transcribe live audio?
No — NIST OpenSAT works on finished files, not a live stream.
Is NIST OpenSAT HIPAA compliant?
NIST OpenSAT 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 NIST OpenSAT?
LDC-distributed · paid · government-evaluation provenance. Cite: NIST OpenSAT/OpenASR plans.
Who is NIST OpenSAT best for?
Robust ASR / KWS / SAD evaluation under reverberation + noise + low-resource conditions.
Does NIST OpenSAT run offline?
NIST OpenSAT runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.
Can I use NIST OpenSAT in the browser?
No — NIST OpenSAT is a LDC application, not a web app. You install it rather than sign in to it.
What kind of tool is NIST OpenSAT?
In this directory NIST OpenSAT is filed under benchmark as a open-source tool.
What are the alternatives to NIST OpenSAT?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/nist-opensat-alternatives comparing NIST OpenSAT with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
Can I automate NIST OpenSAT-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.
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Long recording to get through?
One file up to 10 hours, as an upload or a link: see how to transcribe an MP3 of any length, how to transcribe a podcast and an SRT subtitle file from any recording.
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