Sherpa
by k2-fsa
Production server for k2/icefall + Whisper models (PyTorch).
TL;DR
Production server for k2/icefall + Whisper models (PyTorch).
Best for gPU streaming server using PyTorch icefall checkpoints. Pricing: free.
Category
Open source
License
—
Stars
—
Last push
—
Pricing
free
Platforms
Linux, macOS, Docker
What it is
Reference deployment runtime for icefall models. Apache-2.0.
Best for: GPU streaming server using PyTorch icefall checkpoints.
Watch out for: Replaced for most edge cases by sherpa-onnx / sherpa-ncnn.
Watch out for: Replaced for most edge cases by sherpa-onnx / sherpa-ncnn.
Install / use
pip install k2-sherpa
Features
| Speaker diarization | No |
| Word-level timestamps | Yes |
| Streaming / real-time | Yes |
| Languages supported | 40 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
Sherpa vs Whipscribe
| Feature | Sherpa | Whipscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Open source | Transcription APIs |
| Pricing | free | free beta |
| Speaker diarization | No | Yes |
| Word timestamps | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming | Yes | No |
| Languages | 40 | 99 |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, Docker | Web, API, MCP |
Alternatives to Sherpa
Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX 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.