# Audio, Video & Podcast Transcriber (Whisper Large v3) (`himanshu-data/audio-podcast-transcriber`) Actor

Transcribe audio and video files or the latest podcast episodes (RSS or Apple Podcasts link) with Whisper large-v3 on fast GPUs. 99 languages, translate to English, timestamps, SRT and VTT subtitles. Pay per audio minute.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/himanshu-data/audio-podcast-transcriber.md
- **Developed by:** [Himanshu Agrawal](https://apify.com/himanshu-data) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.00 / 1,000 audio minutes

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Audio, Video & Podcast Transcriber (Whisper Large v3)

Turn **audio, video and podcast episodes into text and subtitles** with **Whisper large-v3** on fast GPUs. Paste file links or a podcast (Apple Podcasts link or RSS feed) and get the full transcript, timestamped segments and ready-to-use **SRT and VTT subtitle files**. 99 languages, auto-detected, plus **translation to English**. A 10-minute episode takes about 15 seconds.

### What you can use it for

- **Podcasters and creators:** show notes, blog posts and searchable archives from every episode.
- **Video editors:** SRT/VTT subtitles for YouTube, Reels and courses, split into short two-line captions.
- **Researchers and journalists:** interviews, lectures, hearings and calls in any language, with timestamps.
- **AI and automation:** feed transcripts to ChatGPT, Claude or your RAG pipeline from Make, n8n, Zapier or the API.
- **Media monitoring:** schedule a daily run to transcribe the newest episodes of the shows you follow.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Audio or video file URLs | Direct public links: mp3, m4a, wav, ogg, mp4, webm. |
| Podcasts | Apple Podcasts show links or RSS feed URLs. The newest episodes are transcribed. |
| Episodes per podcast | How many of the newest episodes to transcribe per show (default 3). |
| Only episodes whose title contains | For example a guest name or a topic. |
| Spoken language | `auto` detects it, or set a code (`en`, `hi`, `es`, `de`, `ar`, `ja`...) for the best accuracy. |
| Task | Transcribe in the original language, or translate to English. |
| Subtitles | Creates SRT and VTT files for every transcript. |
| Max minutes per file | Longer files are skipped and not charged. |

```json
{
  "mediaUrls": ["https://your-site.com/interview.mp3"],
  "podcasts": ["https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indicator-from-planet-money/id1320118593"],
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 1,
  "language": "auto",
  "subtitles": true
}
```

### Output

One row per file or episode (real output, October 2026; text and segments shortened):

```json
{
  "title": "Supercore inflation, Bumble valuation and Pooh's repatriation",
  "podcast": "The Indicator from Planet Money",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-16T07:00:00.000Z",
  "episodeUrl": "https://www.npr.org/2026/10/16/nx-s1-6004278/supercore-inflation-bumble-valuation-and-poohs-repatriation",
  "durationSeconds": 644,
  "minutesCharged": 11,
  "task": "transcribe",
  "languages": ["en"],
  "text": "NPR. Waylon, is that an animatronic bird? Oh, why yes. This is Molly, my one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton. ...",
  "segments": [
    { "start": 6.6, "end": 28.4, "text": "Waylon, is that an animatronic bird? Oh, why yes. This is Molly, ..." }
  ],
  "srtUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/xOxjtjjRfNiiK6cT4/records/transcript-0002.srt?signature=...",
  "vttUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/xOxjtjjRfNiiK6cT4/records/transcript-0002.vtt?signature=...",
  "processingSeconds": 17
}
```

The subtitle files use short captions of up to two lines, ready to upload to YouTube or any video editor:

```
2
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,942
Waylon, is that an animatronic
bird? Oh, why yes.

3
00:00:10,942 --> 00:00:16,880
This is Molly, my one-of-a-kind
singing and dancing bird automaton.
```

### Pricing

Pay per audio minute: **$5 per 1,000 minutes** (that is $0.30 per hour of audio) on paid Apify plans, less on Scale and Business. Each file is rounded up to the next full minute. Files that fail or are skipped are never charged, and the run stops cleanly at your spending limit.

On the Apify free plan, each run transcribes up to 2 files of up to 20 minutes each. Any paid plan removes these limits.

### Tips

- Set the **spoken language** when you know it. It is faster and more accurate than auto-detect, especially for short clips.
- Spotify shows have no public audio feed. Use the show's Apple Podcasts link or RSS feed instead.
- YouTube page links are not supported. Use a direct link to the audio or video file.
- Files over 4 hours are skipped by default. Raise **Max minutes per file** for very long recordings.

# Actor input Schema

## `mediaUrls` (type: `array`):

Direct public links to files: mp3, m4a, wav, ogg, mp4, webm. One per line.

## `podcasts` (type: `array`):

RSS feed URLs or Apple Podcasts show links (https://podcasts.apple.com/.../id123456). The latest episodes are transcribed.

## `maxEpisodesPerPodcast` (type: `integer`):

How many of the newest episodes to transcribe for each podcast.

## `episodeTitleContains` (type: `string`):

For example a guest name or topic.

## `language` (type: `string`):

auto detects the language. Or give a code such as en, hi, es, fr, de, pt, ar, ja, zh for better accuracy.

## `task` (type: `string`):

Transcribe keeps the original language. Translate outputs English text.

## `subtitles` (type: `boolean`):

Adds download links to subtitle files for every transcript.

## `maxMinutesPerFile` (type: `integer`):

Skip files longer than this (not charged). Keeps costs predictable.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mediaUrls": [
    "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/model_tests/whisper/dinner_conversation.mp3"
  ],
  "maxEpisodesPerPodcast": 3,
  "language": "auto",
  "task": "transcribe",
  "subtitles": true,
  "maxMinutesPerFile": 240
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "mediaUrls": [
        "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/model_tests/whisper/dinner_conversation.mp3"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("himanshu-data/audio-podcast-transcriber").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "mediaUrls": ["https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/model_tests/whisper/dinner_conversation.mp3"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("himanshu-data/audio-podcast-transcriber").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "mediaUrls": [
    "https://storage.googleapis.com/falserverless/model_tests/whisper/dinner_conversation.mp3"
  ]
}' |
apify call himanshu-data/audio-podcast-transcriber --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,himanshu-data/audio-podcast-transcriber"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/qyRxdjbO0ihZheblc/builds/eCR9BQmfQNi1E8WaC/openapi.json