whisper.cpp ggml-org/whisper.cpp

Dependency-free C/C++ port of OpenAI's Whisper speech recognition, running on CPU or GPU across desktop, mobile and the browser.

Creator kit + Compare GitHub ↗ Install guide (official) ↗

whisper.cpp at a glance

Checked 15 Oct 2026

whisper.cpp runs OpenAI's Whisper models in plain C/C++ with CPU-only inference plus Metal, CUDA, Vulkan, ROCm and other backends. Memory ranges from ~273 MB (tiny) to ~3.9 GB (large). Code is MIT and the ggml model conversions are tagged MIT. You build it with CMake; the CLI wants 16-bit WAV input. Experimental speaker-turn marking (tinydiarize) works with one English model only. It does not summarise meetings or join calls.

Cite this pageRepoQuarry. “whisper.cpp.” Checked 15 Oct 2026. https://repoquarry.dev/projects/whisper-cpp

How much of ElevenLabs does it replace?

1 of 4 jobs. Local transcription; speaker turns only via experimental tinydiarize with an English small model.

Speech generation Not covered

Voice cloning Not covered

Speech recognition Full replacement

Voice agents Not covered

For speech generation, voice cloning, voice agents, see other ElevenLabs alternatives. You may also need to build an interface, an API server and hosting yourself.

How much of Otter.ai does it replace?

1 of 3 jobs. Transcribes recordings locally; no live meeting capture, named speakers or summaries.

Meeting transcription Partial replacement

Speaker identification Not covered

Meeting summaries Not covered

For speaker identification, meeting summaries, see other Otter.ai alternatives. You may also need to build an interface, an API server and hosting yourself.

Facts, with sources

Every answer links to where we found it. We read the documentation; we did not install it.

Report a correction

QuestionAnswerSourceChecked

Runs on my machine? Yes, CPU-only or GPU, fully offline Support for CPU-only inference github.com · whisper.cpp#readme ↗ 1d ago

Code licence MIT github.com · LICENSE ↗ 1d ago

Model weights licence MIT (ggml conversions of OpenAI Whisper weights) license: mit huggingface.co · whisper.cpp ↗ 1d ago

Commercial use Yes, MIT code and weights github.com · LICENSE ↗ 1d ago

Paid services needed? None required download one of the Whisper models converted in ggml format github.com · whisper.cpp#quick-start ↗ 1d ago

Hardware CPU fine; memory from ~273 MB (tiny) to ~3.9 GB (large) tiny | 75 MiB | ~273 MB ... large | 2.9 GiB | ~3.9 GB github.com · whisper.cpp#memory-usage ↗ 1d ago

Operating systems macOS, Linux, Windows (MSVC, MinGW), plus iOS, Android, WebAssembly Supported platforms: Mac OS (Intel and Arm) ... Linux / FreeBSD ... Windows (MSVC and MinGW) github.com · whisper.cpp#readme ↗ 1d ago

Setup effort Hard; build from source with CMake, then download a ggml model cmake --build build -j --config Release github.com · whisper.cpp#quick-start ↗ 1d ago