OpenAI Whisper API

by OpenAI

Hosted Whisper large-v3 from OpenAI — $0.006 per minute.

Category
Transcription APIs
License
—
Stars
—
Last push
—
Pricing
$0.006/min
Platforms
API

What it is

OpenAI's hosted Whisper API is the easiest way to get Whisper-grade transcription without running infrastructure. $0.006 per minute, pay-as-you-go. No diarization, no streaming — if you need those, pick a different endpoint or self-host whisperX. Last price check: 2026-04-20.

Best for: Teams already on OpenAI's stack who want Whisper without operating a GPU.
Watch out for: 25 MB file size limit; no diarization; no batch discount; latency dominated by upload for large files.

Install / use

POST https://api.openai.com/v1/audio/transcriptions

Features

Speaker diarizationNo
Word-level timestampsYes
Streaming / real-timeNo
Languages supported99
HIPAA eligibleNo

Alternatives

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Deepgram
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Nova-2 model, excellent streaming, strong at conversational audio.

from $0.0043/min
Rev.ai
Rev.ai

The API spin-off of Rev — strong English accuracy, topic detection, custom vocab.

from $0.02/min

Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, we're one click away.

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