Model family

Whisper Models

Whisper models are used for ASR, transcription, subtitles, podcast processing, meeting notes, and multilingual audio.

OpenAIUpdated 2026AudioTranscriptionSpeech recognitionLocal

Best for

Audio

Use this family hub to compare Whisper variants for audio workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Transcription

Use this family hub to compare Whisper variants for transcription workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Speech recognition

Use this family hub to compare Whisper variants for speech recognition workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Local

Use this family hub to compare Whisper variants for local workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Variants

Whisper models grouped by workflow

Audio

AudioSpeech recognitionTranscriptionOpen source weights and code

Whisper Large V3

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: Builders adding local transcription, podcast processing, meeting notes, or audio translation.

Local: Commonly used for local transcription workflows; GPU improves batch throughput.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Whisper Large V3 Turbo

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: Fast transcription and multilingual audio workflows

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Whisper Large V2

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: Accuracy-focused transcription baseline

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Whisper Medium

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: Balanced transcription workflows

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Whisper Small

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: Local transcription with lighter resource needs

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Whisper Base

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: CPU-friendly transcription experiments

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Whisper Tiny

OpenAI · Whisper

Best for: Very lightweight transcription tests

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Distil-Whisper Large V3

Hugging Face / community · Whisper

Best for: Distilled transcription workflows

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
AudioOpen weights where releasedaudiotranscription

Faster-Whisper Large V3

SYSTRAN / community · Whisper

Best for: Optimized runtime transcription workflows

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →

Compare

All Whisper models in the directory

ModelTypeBest forLocal runner notesLicenseDetail
Whisper Large V3AudioBuilders adding local transcription, podcast processing, meeting notes, or audio translation.Commonly used for local transcription workflows; GPU improves batch throughput.MITOpen
Whisper Large V3 TurboAudioFast transcription and multilingual audio workflowsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Whisper Large V2AudioAccuracy-focused transcription baselineUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Whisper MediumAudioBalanced transcription workflowsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Whisper SmallAudioLocal transcription with lighter resource needsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Whisper BaseAudioCPU-friendly transcription experimentsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Whisper TinyAudioVery lightweight transcription testsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Distil-Whisper Large V3AudioDistilled transcription workflowsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Faster-Whisper Large V3AudioOptimized runtime transcription workflowsUse the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen