# Audio & Video Transcriber (Whisper) (`poised_beardlichen/audio-video-transcriber`) Actor

Use this when you need a transcript of an audio or video file. $0.006 per audio minute ($0.012 accurate mode); failed links free. Input: {"url":"https://.../talk.mp4"} (MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, WebM...). Output: text, timed segments, SRT, language.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/audio-video-transcriber.md
- **Developed by:** [Isaac](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Videos, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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 Transcriber (Whisper) for AI Agents

Turn any audio or video file into text, timed segments and SRT subtitles. Give it a direct file link and get a clean transcript back, with the language detected automatically.

### Use this when...

- An agent or workflow needs to **read a podcast, interview, meeting recording, lecture or voice note**.
- You need **subtitles (SRT)** for an MP4, MOV or WebM video.
- You want to **search, summarize or quote** spoken content with timestamps.
- You need speech-to-text **without managing GPUs, API keys or OpenAI accounts**: pay per minute, nothing else.

Supported: MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG, OPUS, FLAC, MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV and most other formats ffmpeg can read. About 99 languages (Whisper).
Not supported: web pages such as YouTube or Spotify. The URL must point straight at the media file.

### Pricing (pay per event)

| Mode | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (default) | Whisper base | **$0.006 per audio minute** |
| Accurate | Whisper small | **$0.012 per audio minute** |

Minutes are rounded up per file. Failed links, web pages and failed downloads are **free**.

Examples:

- 5-minute voice note, standard: 5 × $0.006 = **$0.03**
- 34-minute podcast episode, standard: 34 × $0.006 = **$0.204**
- 1-hour interview, accurate: 60 × $0.012 = **$0.72**

**Control your spend:** set *Max minutes per file* to transcribe only the beginning of each file, and set the run's maximum charge (Apify's "Max cost per run" option). The actor stops before going over it and never charges more than your limit.

### Input

```json
{
  "url": "https://archive.org/download/ElephantsDream/ed_1024_512kb.mp4",
  "model": "base",
  "language": "",
  "maxMinutes": 0
}
```

- `url` / `urls`: one or more direct media links.
- `model`: `base` (standard), `small` (accurate) or `tiny` (fast, standard price).
- `language`: ISO code such as `en`; blank means auto-detect.
- `maxMinutes`: only transcribe the first N minutes of each file (0 = all).

### Output

One dataset item per file:

```json
{
  "url": "https://.../talk.mp3",
  "success": true,
  "model": "base",
  "language": "en",
  "durationSec": 2013.4,
  "chargedMinutes": 34,
  "text": "Chapter five. ...",
  "segments": [{"start": 0.0, "end": 4.2, "text": "Chapter five."}],
  "srt": "1\n00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,200\nChapter five.\n"
}
```

Failed files return `success: false` and an `error` message, and aren't charged.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Add this tool to Claude, Cursor or any MCP client:

```
https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=poised_beardlichen/audio-video-transcriber
```

The agent passes a media URL and gets the transcript back. You can also call it from the Apify API, the Python or JavaScript client, Make, Zapier or n8n.

### FAQ

**How long does it take?** Standard mode usually runs several times faster than real time; a 30-minute file takes a few minutes.
**Is my audio stored?** Files are downloaded into the run, transcribed and deleted. Only the transcript is saved to your dataset.
**YouTube links?** Not supported. Use a direct file URL.

### Other tools by us

- [Bulk Email Verifier](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/email-verifier-bulk): syntax, MX, disposable and role-address checks at $0.30 per 1,000 emails.
- [Website Screenshot & PDF API](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/website-screenshot-pdf): bulk screenshots and PDFs of any page with cookie banners and pop-ups removed.
- [Website Screenshot & PDF for AI Agents](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/website-screenshot-pdf-agent): fast single-page screenshots and PDFs for agents, from $0.0015 per screenshot.
- [PDF to Text & Markdown with OCR](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/pdf-to-text-markdown-ocr): turn PDFs, DOCX and scans into clean, LLM-ready Markdown.
- [Image to Text OCR API](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/image-to-text-ocr): extract text from PNG, JPEG, TIFF and WebP images in 27 languages.
- [Bulk PageSpeed & Lighthouse Checker](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/pagespeed-lighthouse-checker): Lighthouse scores, Core Web Vitals and top fixes for many URLs.
- [Website Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/tech-stack-detector): CMS, ecommerce, analytics, CDN and 7,600+ other technologies behind any website.
- [Research Paper Search](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/research-paper-search): arXiv, PubMed and Crossref papers plus legal open-access full text from $0.0015 per paper.
- [SEC EDGAR Financials & Filings](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/sec-edgar-financials): US company financials, filings and 10-K sections as compact JSON.
- [Website Legitimacy & Scam Check](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/website-legitimacy-check): domain age, SSL, look-alike brands, VAT and LEI signals at $0.008 per site.
- [Bulk Phone Number Validator](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/phone-number-validator): validity, E.164 format, line type and region for any number at $0.70 per 1,000.
- [Company Contact & Profile Extractor](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/company-contact-extractor): generic emails, phones, socials and profile from any company website at $0.004 per site.
- [UK & Australia Company Check](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/company-registry-check): ABN, ACN, ASIC and Companies House status and red flags from $0.003 per company.
- [Company Careers & Open Jobs Lookup](https://apify.com/poised_beardlichen/careers-jobs-lookup): any company's open jobs from Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby and more at $0.0015 per job.

### Support

A file that won't transcribe? Open an issue on the **Issues** tab with the link.

# Actor input Schema

## `url` (type: `string`):

Direct link to an audio or video file (MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC, MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV...). Web pages such as YouTube are not supported.

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Additional direct media URLs, transcribed one after another.

## `model` (type: `string`):

Standard (Whisper base) is fast and good for clear speech. Accurate (Whisper small) is slower and better for accents, noise and non-English.

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

ISO code such as en, es, de. Blank = auto-detect.

## `maxMinutes` (type: `integer`):

Only transcribe (and pay for) the first N minutes of each file. 0 = whole file.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.archive.org/download/count_monte_cristo_0711_librivox/count_of_monte_cristo_001_dumas_64kb.mp3",
  "model": "base",
  "maxMinutes": 0
}
```

# 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 = {
    "url": "https://www.archive.org/download/count_monte_cristo_0711_librivox/count_of_monte_cristo_001_dumas_64kb.mp3"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("poised_beardlichen/audio-video-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 = { "url": "https://www.archive.org/download/count_monte_cristo_0711_librivox/count_of_monte_cristo_001_dumas_64kb.mp3" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("poised_beardlichen/audio-video-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 '{
  "url": "https://www.archive.org/download/count_monte_cristo_0711_librivox/count_of_monte_cristo_001_dumas_64kb.mp3"
}' |
apify call poised_beardlichen/audio-video-transcriber --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,poised_beardlichen/audio-video-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/oY1qMVeOEbDKA57By/builds/JT6ydp7gj5G3tFaZR/openapi.json