TED-LIUM 3
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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.
452h of TED talk audio + transcripts — the canonical lecture-style ASR benchmark.
Best for lecture-style + monologue English ASR; testing robustness beyond read audiobooks. Pricing: free.
What it is
TED-LIUM Release 3 is 452 hours of TED talks aligned with transcripts. Standard alternative benchmark to LibriSpeech for English ASR — monologue prosody, varied accents, live-stage audio. License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 (non-commercial).
Watch out for: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 · NON-COMMERCIAL ONLY · single-speaker monologue bias · English only. Cite: Hernandez et al., SPECOM 2018.
Install / use
from datasets import load_dataset; ds = load_dataset('LIUM/tedlium', 'release3')What people actually do with TED-LIUM 3-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.
Wire it into Make.comGoogle DriveEmergentNotionYouTubeAmazon S3
Features
| Speaker diarization | No |
| Word-level timestamps | Yes |
| Streaming / real-time | No |
| Languages supported | 1 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
TED-LIUM 3 vs Whipscribe
| Feature | TED-LIUM 3 | 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming | No | No |
| Languages | 1 | 99 |
| Platforms | HuggingFace, OpenSLR | Web, API, MCP |
Alternatives to TED-LIUM 3
Frequently asked about TED-LIUM 3
Is TED-LIUM 3 free?
Yes. TED-LIUM 3 is free and open source.
Does TED-LIUM 3 work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
TED-LIUM 3 runs on HuggingFace and OpenSLR. It is not listed for other platforms; check the vendor for anything beyond HuggingFace and OpenSLR.
How do I install TED-LIUM 3?
Download the installer for your platform from the vendor. No terminal needed.
How many languages does TED-LIUM 3 support?
TED-LIUM 3 lists 1 languages.
Does TED-LIUM 3 identify different speakers?
No. TED-LIUM 3 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 TED-LIUM 3 give word-level timestamps?
Yes — TED-LIUM 3 produces timing per word, which is what subtitle cues and clip boundaries need.
Can TED-LIUM 3 transcribe live audio?
No — TED-LIUM 3 works on finished files, not a live stream.
Is TED-LIUM 3 HIPAA compliant?
TED-LIUM 3 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 TED-LIUM 3?
CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 · NON-COMMERCIAL ONLY · single-speaker monologue bias · English only. Cite: Hernandez et al., SPECOM 2018.
Who is TED-LIUM 3 best for?
Lecture-style + monologue English ASR; testing robustness beyond read audiobooks.
Does TED-LIUM 3 run offline?
TED-LIUM 3 runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.
Can I use TED-LIUM 3 in the browser?
No — TED-LIUM 3 is a HuggingFace and OpenSLR application, not a web app. You install it rather than sign in to it.
Where is the TED-LIUM 3 source code?
On GitHub at github.com/LIUM/tedlium. It is maintained by LIUM (Le Mans University).
What kind of tool is TED-LIUM 3?
In this directory TED-LIUM 3 is filed under dataset as a open-source tool.
What are the alternatives to TED-LIUM 3?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/ted-lium-3-alternatives comparing TED-LIUM 3 with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
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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