# AssemblyAI vs whisper.cpp

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** AssemblyAI

| Attribute | AssemblyAI | whisper.cpp |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 77.8 (73% (medium)) | 57.7 (34% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 18 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 54,417 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A platform providing speech-to-text APIs for both pre-recorded and live audio, voice agent capabilities, and audio analysis features like speaker identification and sentiment analysis. Serves millions of developers with focus on accuracy and scalability. It is indexed under Speech To Text.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/lower-latency-new-pricing","question":"What is AssemblyAI?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AssemblyAI offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0.37. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/lower-latency-new-pricing","question":"Is AssemblyAI free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to AssemblyAI. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/lower-latency-new-pricing","question":"What platforms does AssemblyAI support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. AssemblyAI can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/lower-latency-new-pricing","question":"Can AssemblyAI be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for AssemblyAI, including Semantic Kernel .NET, Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI GPT-5.6 Luna, OpenAI GPT-5.6 Terra and Google Gemini. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/lower-latency-new-pricing","question":"What does AssemblyAI integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for AssemblyAI. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as AssemblyAI not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/assemblyai-obtains-soc2-type-2-compliance-for-2022-2023","question":"What security certifications does AssemblyAI have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"AssemblyAI is available worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States and the United Kingdom.","source":"https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/lower-latency-new-pricing","question":"Where is AssemblyAI available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source library that provides speech-to-text transcription capabilities, ported from OpenAI's Whisper model. It supports various hardware accelerators and runs on multiple platforms with a command-line interface. It is indexed under Speech To Text.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"What is whisper.cpp?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"whisper.cpp is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"Is whisper.cpp free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"whisper.cpp supports macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"What platforms does whisper.cpp support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. whisper.cpp can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"Can whisper.cpp be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. whisper.cpp is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/ggerganov/whisper.cpp","question":"Is whisper.cpp open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A hosted service offering speech-to-text transcription across 99 languages with real-time and batch processing, speaker identification, sentiment analysis, and infrastructure for building voice agents. | An open-source C/C++ implementation that brings OpenAI's Whisper speech recognition to local devices. It executes entirely offline without network connectivity and integrates into various hardware platforms from mobile to specialized computing systems. |
| features.capabilities | `{"pii_redaction":true,"word_timestamps":true,"custom_vocabulary":true,"real_time_streaming":true,"speaker_diarization":true,"punctuation_formatting":true}` | `{"open_source":true,"word_timestamps":true,"offline_on_device":true}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Semantic Kernel .NET"},{"name":"Vercel AI SDK"},{"name":"OpenAI GPT-5.6 Luna"},{"name":"OpenAI GPT-5.6 Terra"},{"name":"Google Gemini"},{"name":"Semantic Kernel","native":true,"category":"development","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"LangChain","native":true,"category":"framework"},{"name":"Twilio","native":false,"category":"communications"},{"name":"OpenAI","native":false,"category":"llm"},{"name":"Fireworks","native":false,"category":"infrastructure"},{"name":"AWS Bedrock","native":false,"category":"infrastructure"},{"name":"MiniMax","native":false,"category":"llm"},{"name":"Google Cloud Storage","native":false,"category":"storage"}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | C++ |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US","GB"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"streaming_hours_per_month":"333","pre_recorded_hours_per_month":"185"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-you-go","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.45,"currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","description":"Custom volume pricing and terms","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier with limited hours; pay-as-you-go from $0.45/hr","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.assemblyai.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-09-29T10:45:03.934Z","startingPrice":{"unit":"hour","amount":0.45,"currency":"USD"}}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://github.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-19T21:33:54.410Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":0.45,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 14 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.9.5","date":"2026-10-06T17:39:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/b5454","date":"2026-10-06T16:51:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"b5454"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.9.4","date":"2026-09-11T05:31:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/b5130","date":"2026-09-11T05:29:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"b5130"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/b5127","date":"2026-09-10T11:55:26Z","type":"prerelease","version":"b5127"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.9.3","date":"2026-08-20T11:39:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.9.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/b4938","date":"2026-08-20T11:33:19Z","type":"stable","version":"b4938"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.9.2","date":"2026-08-04T15:31:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.9.1","date":"2026-06-19T05:53:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.9.0","date":"2026-06-17T10:19:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.7","date":"2026-06-16T10:59:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.6","date":"2026-06-02T06:22:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.5","date":"2026-05-29T12:07:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.4","date":"2026-03-19T15:08:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.3","date":"2026-01-15T11:27:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.2","date":"2025-10-15T08:32:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.1","date":"2025-10-12T10:18:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.8.0","date":"2025-09-30T18:44:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.7.6","date":"2025-06-25T13:50:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/releases/tag/v1.7.5","date":"2025-04-02T14:34:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.5"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type 2","level":"Type II","status":"active","auditor":"independent third-party"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 5.1 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://www.assemblyai.com/security | https://github.com/security |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fggerganov%2Fwhisper.cpp%2Fbindings%2Fgo&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Speech To Text)

| Capability | AssemblyAI | whisper.cpp |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Real time streaming | ✓ | - |
| Speaker diarization | ✓ | - |
| Custom vocabulary | ✓ | - |
| Fine tuning | - | - |
| Word timestamps | ✓ | ✓ |
| Punctuation formatting | ✓ | - |
| Pii redaction | ✓ | - |
| Vertical model | - | - |
| Offline on device | - | ✓ |
| Open source | - | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:14:26.840Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*