Speaches alternatives
Short answer
We track 1 self-hosted alternative to Speaches: whisper.cpp.
Speaches has had no commit since Apr 18, 2026, which is one reason to look at alternatives.
whisper.cpp (speech-to-text servers): an actively maintained project (Speaches is stale) and larger community (54.6k vs 3.7k GitHub stars).
Last updated · how we rank · sources
Speaches alternatives compared
| # | App | Advantages over Speaches | Est. server cost | Official hardware | License | Stars | Last commit | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Speaches (this app) | Stale (no commit in 180+ days) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | MIT | 3.7k | Apr 18, 2026 | — |
| 1 | whisper.cpp Speech-to-text servers | an actively maintained project (Speaches is stale); larger community (54.6k vs 3.7k GitHub stars) | not estimated (no official RAM figure) | not published | MIT | 54.6k | Oct 19, 2026 | Speaches vs whisper.cpp |
Ranked by the number of objective advantages each alternative has over the app (cheaper estimated server cost, lighter official RAM figure, no GPU needed, fewer license conditions, better maintenance status, at least 1.5× the GitHub stars, simpler deploy). Ties: same-category apps first, then more GitHub stars. License order used: Permissive (MIT/Apache) → Open core → Copyleft (GPL) or Custom conditions → Network copyleft (AGPL) → Source-available. Archived projects are not listed as alternatives.
What each alternative is
- whisper.cpp (Speech & translation): Fast C/C++ port of OpenAI Whisper speech recognition with a small HTTP transcription server. Why it is listed: Both run Whisper-family speech-to-text models on your own server and expose transcription over an HTTP API.
Speaches alternatives: FAQ
What is the best self-hosted alternative to Speaches?
By our objective ranking: 1. whisper.cpp (an actively maintained project (Speaches is stale); larger community (54.6k vs 3.7k GitHub stars)). "Best" depends on the features you need; the ranking only counts cost, hardware, license, maintenance, community size and deploy complexity.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Speaches?
Not by our estimate. Speaches: not estimated (no official RAM figure). Alternatives: whisper.cpp (not estimated (no official RAM figure)).
Which Speaches alternative has the most permissive license?
None has fewer conditions than Speaches (MIT (Permissive)). Alternatives: whisper.cpp: MIT (Permissive). Not legal advice.
Is Speaches still maintained?
Stale (no commit in 180+ days). Last commit: Apr 18, 2026. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
Which SaaS products does Speaches replace?
In our mapping, Speaches is a self-hosted alternative to Otter.ai, with gaps listed on each comparison page.
Related
Sources
- Speaches GitHub repository: github.com/speaches-ai/speaches
- Speaches documentation, Speaches hardware requirements, Speaches deploy instructions: speaches.ai/installation/
- Speaches license: github.com/speaches-ai/speaches/blob/master/LICENSE
- whisper.cpp GitHub repository: github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp
- Hetzner Cloud pricing used for cost estimates (read 2026-10-22): www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance
- GitHub stars and commits: GitHub REST API, refreshed daily